You're Insane!

What's wrong with bringing death and destruction?

Lex Luthor: Come on, let me hear you say it, just once. C’mon.
Lois Lane: You're insane!
Luthor: NO! Ha ha. No, not that. The other thing. C’mon, I know it’s just dangling off the tip of your tongue. Let me hear it just once, please?
Lane: Superman will never-
Luthor: WROOOOONG!

—Superman Returns

A stock phrase typically spoken at the climax of a story.

The hero confronts the villain, especially one they used to trust before their true colours were revealed, about their actions. During the confrontation, the villain eagerly justifies the evil acts they've done with a repugnantly twisted logic that is devoid of any trace of humanity or ethics and is often about to commit his supreme atrocity with a wild grin. The hero reacts with outrage at this depraved justification with "You're insane!" and instantly attacks to stop him.

Sometimes "mad," "crazy," or "out of your mind" may be substituted for "insane," but the nature of the trope is the same.

Another heroic staple is this being one hero's response to another's proposal of a Zany Scheme—in which case the counterpoint is obviously, "Crazy Enough to Work!"

A villainous lunatic may well agree with you. A Mad Scientist will often retort that "They Called Me Mad!" Sometimes you can even say this to the villain when he's suffering a Villainous Breakdown. As a matter of fact, some Smug Snakes, Complete Monsters, Villain Sues or even Magnificent Bastards can go so crazy during their breakdowns that other characters love hitting them with this. Sometimes the character will have indicated that he's considered the accusation against himself already, and deciding it really doesn't matter, often with an "Am I?" statement.

If a villain's henchman is giving the "You're Insane!" speech, it's often because what the villain is planning was not what he or she signed on for. Contrast After-Action Villain Analysis for when the hero psychoanalyzes a villain after the fact.

See You Monster! for when a hero is outraged less at the sanity of the villain and more at the vileness of them, or This Is Unforgivable! when a hero is outraged at the terribleness of the villain's atrocities.

Examples of You're Insane! include:

Anime & Manga

  • In Code Geass, at the end of the second series, the Black Knights turn on Lelouch because he obviously went completely nuts and successfully took over the world.
    • Cornelia says this to Schneizel after he announces his plan to nuke all of his enemies, not just Lelouch, into submission and calls himself a god.
    • Schniezel says this to Charles in Nightmare of Nunnally as Charles has him arrested as part of his plan to bring about his Assimilation Plot. Charles responds that in his view, the world is insane.
  • Some mooks from Gun X Sword do this to The Claw. Ironically, their reasons for doing this are wrong.
  • Hellsing has this, with a Catholic fundamentalist (who isn't much better himself) saying it to the Nazi Big Bad. His response? "If your God would allow my insanity to spread across the globe, then, wouldn't it seem you to that any God like that would be just as insane?"
  • Sasuke says this to Itachi in Naruto.
    • As does Naruto himself to Gaara.
    • In the English dub during their battle at the Valley of the End Naruto says "You're crazy, Sasuke!"
    • Kin said it first to Shikamaru. He replies with "makes it kinda interesting, doesn't it?"
    • Pretty much everyone at the Kage Summit says this to Tobi after he told them his plan, then he says it to Kabuto after he revives the real Madara.
  • Pokémon Special: "LANCE, IT'S INSANE!!" *sigh* Oh, Lance. You've pissed off Yellow. Probably not a great idea.
  • In Full Metal Panic!! (especially notable in the novels), Sousuke is shown to get incredibly confused as to why Gauron acts the way he does. His bewilderment is shown to increase as Gauron's blood lust and incredibly gay flirting get more and more blaring and overt. And at the end of each time he wonders this, he repeatedly comes to this conclusion: Gauron is insane. There is no rational explanation for why he does what he does. And then he proceeds to beat the shit out of him.
  • Koji says this to Cherubimon in the dub of Digimon Frontier. Cherubimon replies, "Yes, perhaps I am."
  • Mirai Nikki: Yukki to Yuno in chapter 54.
  • Edward calls Kimblee insane in Fullmetal Alchemist when the latter explains his worldview to him.
  • Kazuya from Freezing gives one to Louis when Louis claims Satellizer as his property.


Comics

Robin: You're out of your mind, Joker!
Joker: Gloriously so. Isn't it wonderful?

Batman: You're insane.
Joker: Has it really taken you this long to notice?

  • The Transformers live-action movie follow-up comic Reign of Starscream had this chilling exchange right before Starscream murders her:

Elita-One: You're insane!
Starscream: No... I'm in charge.

Dwight: You're insane!
Ava: Insane? HA! That's so easy, so convenient -- and so wrong. Crazy people push shopping carts down the streets and talk nonsense. Crazy people sit in padded cells and soil their pants. A madwoman couldn't have pulled this off. No. There's a word for what I am, but nobody uses it anymore. Nobody wants to see the simple truth. If they did, they'd kill people like me as soon as we revealed ourselves. But they don't. They close their eyes and blather about psychology and say nobody is truly evil. That's why I've won. That's why I always win.

  • Used in Nextwave, but the Big Bad's logic doesn't even try to make sense.
    • Out of curiosity, does anyone's logic in Nextwave make sense?
  • In an issue of The Tick, the art-themed villain The Impressionist is called crazy by his roommate. (At the time, the Impressionist was trying to eat a paint omelet.) Impressionist's retort?

"I am not crazy! I am an artist! Was Michelangelo crazy? Was Renoir crazy? Was Van Gogh crazy? OK, bad example, but still.."

  • Kristin of Southern Knights told some kids a Tall Tale Origin Story about getting her Super Strength from fighting a Mad Scientist who was trying to take over her university (Clemson). She exclaimed in horror, "You're mad!" when he revealed his intent to seize the school's "true" position of authority: Athletic Director. "But the damage you could do with such power!"

Fan Works

Yami: Look, we're not intimidated by your silly behavio--
Melvin: I AM THE KING!
Yami: ... You're a loony.

  • Also lampshaded in the related music video Villain, which is a spoof on the song Hero:

Melvin: Am I insane? Have I crossed the line? Well, that's a good question! Let me ask your friends... Oh wait, I murdered them!

Javert: "Generous?! We are tragedies, you ass! There is nothing generous in making us repeat the same mistakes that cost us everything the first time!"

  • Rainbow Dash's response to a badly derailed Fluttershy in Pattycakes. She's not wrong.


Films -- Animation

Princess Bala: You're crazy!
General Mandible: (smiles and replies calmly) I believe history will see things differently.

EPA Agent: Sir, I think you've gone mad with power.
Russ Cargill: Of course I have. Have you ever gone mad without power? It's boring, no one listens to you!

"Does it really matter? There are alternate versions of me that you would find quite charming."

Bilbo: This is madness! 14 against 10,000?"
Thorin: Your kind will never understand... "This is WAR! WAAAAAR!"

  • In The Great Mouse Detective, Ratigan gets this from a crutch-using old man who is not happy with the fact that one of the most notorious criminals in the country has been announced as the queen's royal consort and has announced a tax on the elderly and infirm, among other things. Ratigan responds by snatching the old man's crutch, saying "I have the power!" and breaking it in half.
  • In Beauty and the Beast, the villains strangely love using this. Basically, they think Maurice is crazy just because he's a genius, and when he rants about a hideous, monstrous beast having "captured" his daughter Belle, they think he's just raving like a lunatic. Later, when Belle proves her father sane by showing everybody what the Beast looks like and telling them that he's changed to a kind and gentle soul, Gaston ponders how Belle could possibly fall in love with such a monster. Belle, of course, responds that the Beast isn't the one who's the monster - the real monster, as Belle points out, is none other than Gaston himself. Upon hearing that response, of course, Gaston just snaps. His response? "She's as crazy as her father!" Cue his resolve for everybody to kill the Beast and The Mob Song being played after that.
  • Jenny says this to Martin in The Secret of NIMH 2. His response? "Ah, thank you."


Films -- Live-Action

  • Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy gets this a lot. The most memorable instance was when he attempts to escape from Lord Beckett's ship in At World's End by blasting its mast down with a cannon and riding its rigging back to the Black Pearl. When Beckett sees this, he tells Jack "You're mad!" To which Jack replies "Well, thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work."[1]
    • But they say Jack "went mad from the heat", so anyone calling him mad may just have a point.
    • His madness is not always considered a bad thing, as seen in this exchange between Anamaria and Gibbs after Gibbs and Elizabeth have agreed on an unconventional battle plan:

Anamaria: "You're daft, lady! You both are!"
Gibbs: "Aye, daft like Jack."

  • In the movie Sneakers, Cosmo explains his plan to crash the entire world's monetary record-keeping systems to his old friend Martin. Bemused, Martin asks him, "You haven't gone crazy on me, have you?" Cosmo smiles: "Who else is gonna save the world, Marty? Greenpeace?" Disappointed and somewhat spooked, Martin concludes, "You are crazy." (This turns out to be the Wrong Thing to say.)
  • Speed has a pretty good comeback to this:

Jack: You're crazy. You're fucking crazy!
Payne: No! Poor people are crazy, Jack! I'm eccentric!

Hale: You're out of your mind.
Deakins: Yeah. Ain't it cool?

  • Inverted in Fight Club. The Narrator says this to Tyler Durden, who corrects him: "No, YOU'RE insane." It's pretty accurate, seeing as Tyler is the Narrator's split personality, and his physical presence in the movie is a hallucination.
  • Observe this delightful exchange from Red Dragon and both its film versions, when Graham is explaining how he caught such a criminal genius as Lecter:

Will Graham: You had disadvantages.
Hannibal Lecter: What disadvantages?
Will Graham: You're insane.

  • A minor villain in 300 uses a variant of this on the protagonist.
    • And before this moment: "Madman... you're a madman!"

Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!
Leonidas: Madness? THIS! IS! SPARTA!!!

  • James Bond is fond of this. Being Bond, he is witty enough to have a number of variations:

Bond: World domination. Same old dream. Our asylums are full of people who think they're Napoleon Bonaparte. Or God.

 Bond: (to Red Grant) Tell me, which lunatic asylum did they get you out of?

 Bond: Beautiful place Goldfinger has here.
Pussy: Yes, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Bond: Too bad it all has to end tomorrow morning (turns and looks at her). He's quite mad, you know.

    • When James Bond accuses media mogul Elliot Carver of insanity in Tomorrow Never Dies he replies: "The distance between insanity, and genius, is measured only by success."
    • In the book Moonraker, Hugo Drax has Bond tied up at the base of his rocket to be incinerated during its launch. Bond takes the opportunity to recount Drax's life as he's gathered the info, in all its ugly, humiliating detail, to conclude how it's made him such a mental case. Bond's intent is to enrage Drax enough to overlook what Bond needs to escape.
    • Woody Allen disavowed himself heavily from the 1967 Casino Royale, but this exchange with captive 007 (The Detainer played by Daliah Lavi) sure has his stamp:

 007: You're crazy -- you're actually crazy!
Jimmy Bond: They called Einstein crazy!
007: That's not true; no-one ever called Einstein crazy!
Jimmy Bond: ... well, they would have if he'd carried on like this.

Powers: You're insane, Goldmember!
Goldmember: Hah-ha-ha-ha, and that's the way, uh-huh-uh-huh, I like it!

 May Morrison: Can I do anything for you, Sergeant?
Sgt. Neil Howie: No, I doubt it, seeing as you're all raving mad!

 Vicki: You're insane!
The Joker: (smoothly) I thought I was a Pisces...

    • Earlier in the same film, one of the Mob Bosses, Vinnie Ricorsco, denounced Jack Napier as such after the latter electrocuted Antoine Rotellei and fried him to death as his gang entered, and joking about his demise.

 Jack Napier / The Joker: (Laughing Mad) Antoine got a little hot under the collar. (laughs)
Vinnie Ricorsco: You're crazy.
Jack Napier/The Joker: Haven't you heard of the healing power of laughter? (laughs while wiping his "skin" off to reveal a pale, clownlike skin underneath the forehead.) NOW GET OUTTA HERE!!

    • Then there's the Joker, before The Reveal, screaming at his boss Carl Grissom: "You set me up over a woman. A WOMAN! (darkly) You must be insane." However, Grissom actually seemed crazier than pre-Joker Jack.
  • The Joker gets this again in The Dark Knight. This time his reply is a very firm "No. I'm not.", as this version of the Joker has a very clear and focused objective. Towards the end he more or less concedes that he might be crazy, but only as crazy as Batman himself. And Dent. And the army of lunatics he predicts will be joining them in the mad house.
  • In Quest for Camelot, this happens after Ruber reveals his plan to coerce Juliana into sneaking his band of marauders into Camelot.

 Juliana: You're mad!
Ruber: I'm so glad you noticed. I've been working at it for years! (cue Villain Song)

 Lex Luthor: C'mon, let me hear you say it, just once.
Lois Lane: You're insane.
Luthor: No! Haha, no, not that, the other thing.
Lois: Superman will never--
Luthor: WRONG!

  • Street Fighter: This is M. Bison's Berserk Button. Twice, other people make the mistake of openly questioning his sanity, but for different reasons, Bison can't afford to kill either of them (in Dhalsim's case, he was still needed alive to finish the Blanka project, while Sagat had too many of his own lackeys with him).
  • In Bedazzled, Stanley is initially skeptical that George is the Devil as he claims to be.

 Stanley: You're a nut case, you're a bleeding nut case!
George: They said the same of Jesus Christ, Freud, and Galileo.
Stanley: They said it of a lot of nut cases too!

  • In Enchanted, when Narissa in dragon form grabs Robert and takes him to the top of the tower - erm, Empire State Building, he shouts, "You're crazy!"

  Narissa: No; spiteful, vindictive, very large, but never crazy.

  • In the documentary My Best Fiend, director Werner Herzog recalls one incident with actor Klaus Kinski:

 Kinski: "You've become a megalomaniac!"
 Herzog: "Then now there are two of us."

  • In the American dub of Curse of the Golden Flower, this line is said verbatim by the emperor to his youngest son who just stabbed the crown prince.

 Prince: Give the throne to me now! I want it all! He can rot in hell!
Emperor: You're insane!

  • In the film version of The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf has a rather snappy reply to Saruman suggesting that they join Sauron:

  "Tell me, friend.... when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness?"

Literature

  • A wonderful example in Mistborn, as Clubs finally realizes that Kelsier didn't in fact bribe Lord Renaux, but instead simply had him killed and replaced with a kandra.

 Clubs: You genius! You bloody insane genius! You had him killed, didn't you?
Kelsier: Both compliments are appreciated, and yes.

    • It should be noted that everybody is constantly calling Kelsier insane. His plans generally take Crazy Enough to Work Up to Eleven. Another great example: quoth Yeden, "You're going to visit the Lord Ruler? Are you insa... right. I forgot."
  • In the Star Wars Expanded Universe novel Shatterpoint, Depa insists she hasn't gone insane but has instead "gone sane". Also inverted in that the hero, Mace Windu, is often called insane—by his allies, no less. Finally he snaps and delivers a paragraph-long speech, saying that others call him insane so they don't have to face up to their own immorality.
    • More amusingly Nick, after exclaiming such whenever Windu proposes or does something that seems insane/crazy eventually just tells him to assume he's said it whenever he (Windu) says anything.
  • Dashiell Hammett's The Dain Curse concludes with one of the most effective "You're insane"s in literature.
  • Alex Rider says this to Herod Sayle, Dr. Grief, Sarov, Damian Cray, Julia Rothman, Nikolei Drevin and Winston Yu.
  • In the Artemis Fowl short story "LEPrecon" Julius Root is tricked into a human settlement (which is magically forbidden by Fairy law) by his evil brother Turnball, he calls him insane. Turnball's reply is "No. What I am is tired. Tired of being chased across the globe by my own brother. The whole thing is too melodramatic."
  • In Harry Potter, Harry comes out of the maze and Mad-Eye Moody who was actually Barty Crouch Jr, who up until then Harry had respected and sought advice from, drags Harry off to his office so he can gleefully tell him how he had orchestrated the entire scheme and would now have the honor of killing Harry for Voldemort. Harry sums this up by telling him that he's crazy.
  • In The Fountainhead, Ellsworth Toohey beats his victim to the punch during a Hannibal Lecture:

 Keating: Ellsworth... you're...
Toohey: Insane? Afraid to say it? There you sit and the word's written all over you, your last hope. Insane? Look around you. Pick up any newspaper and read the headlines. Isn't it coming? Isn't it here? Every single thing I told you?


Live-Action TV

Davros: Do you believe that I would let a lifetime's work be ended by the will of spineless fools like you? You have won nothing! I allowed this charade to be played out for one reason only: To find those men who were truly loyal to me and to discover those WHO WOULD BE-TRAY ME! WE-- I! WILL! GO! ON!
Gharman: You are insane, Davros!

    • "Tomb of the Cybermen", the second Doctor has faked out Klieg and gotten him to blab the entire plan.

Doctor: Now I know you're mad. I just wanted to make sure.

    • "The Brain Of Morbius", as Mehendri Solon is about to begin his gruesome experiment:

Sarah Jane: You're Insane, Solon, you're mad!"

  • Stargate Atlantis: This is Ronon's response in "Reunion", after a few of his old friends from Sateda relate their story of how they became Wraith worshippers.
    • Also used by Teyla in "The Kindred (Part 1)" when Michael the Wraith-human hybrid gives her a Not So Different speech.
  • In Farscape, as protagonist John Crichton became increasingly unhinged, it was more typical for the villains to question the sanity of the heroes. Often with good reason. This is perhaps most memorably demonstrated in The Peacekeeper Wars with this exchange:

Scorpius: This is insane, Crichton.
Crichton: God! Four years on and you're finally getting that.

    • Another variation is used earlier. One of the bad guys says to Aeryn "He's crazy!" She replies adoringly "Isn't it fun?" Also, when he plays chicken with a nuclear bomb Ahkna uses the line verbatim, and Aeryn concurs.
  • A variant is used in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", where a scientist tries to convince Capt. Kirk to participate in a twisted scheme to take over a planet of the Federation. Kirk responds, "You've convinced me; You've convinced me that you're dangerous!"
  • Averted Trope in the Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode "Gemini", where the perp manipulated his schizophrenic brother into murdering people. The final interrogation included this memorable exchange:

Spencer Anderson: "None of this is true. You said so yourself. He's crazy."
Detective Goren: "Yeah, he may be crazy, but you're evil."

  • Jack has said this to Locke a bunch of times on Lost, usually when Locke is talking about things like moving the island, or how Taller Ghost Walt told him to kill Naomi.
  • Spoofed in The Goodies (naturally) when Tim tells the villainous Music Master he's a raving loony. The Music Master simply responds "Thank you."
  • In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's said to an invisible girl in "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (1x11):

Buffy: There's one thing I didn't factor into all of this. You're a raving loony!

    • When Angel turns evil again in his spin-off series.

Rebecca: You’re crazy.
Angelus: Oh, no. I’m a vampire.

Simon: You're out of your mind.
Early: That's between me and my mind.

Adelle: You are spectacularly insane.

Bobby: You are nine kinds of crazy, boy.
Dean: It's been said.

  • Sylar gets this a lot on Heroes, what with the whole brain-stealing supervillain thing he's got going. He usually just brushes it off without responding directly to the accusation.
  • Bartlett says this to his wife in the fourth season opener of The West Wing after she cuts off his tie just before he walks into a presidential debate. Considering he'd been kvetching about how he wouldn't win without his lucky tie, she may have helped him win the debate, as the mad panic that ensued made Bartlett grab Josh's tie, which is very similar to how he ended up getting his first lucky tie.
  • In Get Smart, Smart and Agent 99 are captives of Mad Doctor Tom Poston:

99: You're mad!
Doc: Mad, am I??? MAAAD AM I??? MWAHAHAHAAA!!!
99: (anxiously) Don't do that!
Doc: (utterly straightfaced) Don't do what?

Tommy: Goldar...
Goldar: Say it.
Tommy: ...You are...
Goldar: Yes, go on.
Tommy: ...Out of your mind! Oo-ah! springs up in the air to land a flying punch on Goldar's chest and then kick his sword away, before proceeding to kick ass all over Goldar

Tommy: Why can't you just want to rule the Earth like all the other sickos?

  • What Barry Allen in The Flash says to Nicolas Pike after he's seen what his nemesis has done to Central City during his ten-year absence through accidental time travel.
  • Babylon 5 has several examples. One notable one, between Londo and G'kar:

Londo: You're insane!
G'kar: And that is why we'll win.

  • Except in early seasons, this exchange happens Once an Episode in Win Ben Steins Money, after he has explained the premise of putting his money on the line:

Ben: Now, why would I do this? Well, call me crazy.
Audience: You're crazy!

  • In the series 2 finale of Sherlock, when Holmes and Moriarty confront one another:

Sherlock: You're insane!
Moriarty: You're just getting that now?


Music

  • Nicki Minaj's "Roman's Revenge ends with her Martha alter ego saying "You've gone mad! Mad I tell you mad! They'll lock you away"


Theater

  • Calderon's play Life is a Dream:

 Clotaldo: Why, this is madness!
Rosaura: Yes it is.

  • From Pokémon Live, after Team Rocket's boss explains his world domination plans to his prisoners:

 Delia: You're mad!
Giovanni: Not mad. Maybe a little angry.


Toys

There's this little gem from Bionicle:

 Hahli: You’re insane!
Karzahni: I prefer the term 'creative.' Though I suppose there is not much difference between the two in the end, is there?


Video Games

  • In the story campaign of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Illidan Stormrage is confronted by his jailer of ten thousand years with a self-righteous "You're insane!" His calm reply? "Isolation can do that to the mind."
  • From Final Fantasy X:

 Seymour: With death on our side, we will save Spira, and for this... I will take from you your strength, Yuna, your life, and become the next Sin. I will destroy Spira! I will save it!
Tidus: You're totally nuts!

  • Said to Sephiran near the end of Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn.
  • In La Pucelle Tactics, the villain Noir seems sympathetic because of his tragic backstory and frequent statements about creating a Utopia. At the end of the game, the main character (as well as the player) finally discover exactly what his Utopia consists of: a world that is without suffering because there's nobody left alive to suffer. Cue the relevant Stock Phrase.
  • In Resident Evil (or at least, in the Updated Rerelease), after Wesker has started waking the Tyrant so that it can fight Chris and Wesker can get the battle data, Chris laughs derisively and responds with, "Wesker, you've become senile!"
  • Silent Hill 2. After Eddie's rant about how he'll kill anyone who makes fun of him, James asks "Eddie, have you gone nuts?" His response is less calm than the typical villain.
  • NeoContra has many moments of these in spades:

 Animal Contra: This ship is about to self destruct! You will die, a moth drawn to my flames!
Bill Rizer: You dog! You're gonna sacrifice you own men!

    • and:

 Master Contra: If we had society's foolish morals, we could never become ultimate soldiers.
Jaguar: You're crazy!
Master Contra: Muahahaha! Far from it!

 "Epsilon's ideas were dangerous. He knew all along that use of Supra-Force Metal involved the possibility of becoming Maverick. But at least he... was better than you. At least he wasn't a Maverick from the start. Redips, you're crazy!"

    • Mega Man Maverick Hunter X: "You think you have potential? You're insane, Sigma!"
      • In the opening flashback cutscene for Vile mode in the same game, Vile actually says this phrase to Sigma when Sigma mentions that he plans on going Maverick to draw out X's power, and this is coming from a character who is quite a Sociopathic Soldier.
    • X to Copy Sigma in Mega Man X8: "You plan to take revenge on every Reploid... Every human... In the entire world? You're completely mad! I'm putting a stop to this right now!"
  • Shows up several times in Dragon Age: Origins.
    • During the conclusion of the Broken Circle tower, Uldred will rant about the glorious power of the setting's version of Demonic Possession. Wynne will reply "You're mad! There's nothing glorious about what you've become, Uldred!"
    • When Leliana confronts Marjolaine after an assassination attempt, the latter assumes that Leliana left the Chantry to take revenge on her. Leliana will be taken aback, to say the least.

 You think I left because of you? You think I still have some plan for ... for revenge? You are insane! Paranoid!

    • Used in reference to the player character near the beginning of the game, if you chose to kill the Almost-Dead Guy yourself.

 Alistair: Does the word "insane" mean anything to you?
The Warden: I prefer the term "ruthless," myself.

 Hawke: Good to know you're barking mad! That makes things a bit easier!

 Princess Zelda: What are you laughing at, Ganondorf?! You're insane!

  • Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker: Miller, while Coldman is bragging about activating Peace Walker, leaking the false data to NORAD, and declaring retaliation to be inevitable, declares him to be such:

 Miller: Are you insane?! Do you think this will end here?! You're about to unleash all-out nuclear war!

    • Huey also indirectly asks if Coldman is out of his mind when he realizes that Coldman is intending to launch Peace Walker's nuke into the Carribbean Sea [specifically at Mother Base] so that the nuclear fallout will travel through the trade winds and poison Central America's fish and crop market, allowing for "free hands" by forcing the natives to participate in Peace Walker's mass production.
    • Snake also exclaims that Paz, who has stolen Metal Gear Zeke, is insane when he learns that they intend to launch a nuke at the East Coast.
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has Raiden stating this to Vamp when the latter reveals their plans to essentially nuke New York City to take down the Patriots because not only do they desire to annihilate the Patriots, but because the public believed every word that the Patriots' Kangaroo Court spoon-fed them about Dead Cell's (framed) terrorist attacks despite Dead Cell's explainations about their being framed, they felt the world of deceit they created should be annihilated with them.
  • Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia has Shanoa say this to Barlowe when, #1, she finds out that he's actually a Treacherous Advisor, and #2, when she refuses to use Dominus, he threatens to kill her and rip it right out of her bloody corpse.

 Barlowe: You give such a burden, young child... to give the life that man might realize his dreams... do you not see how wonderful that is?
Shanoa: You're mad...

    • Soma points out a similar trope to Graham in Aria of Sorrow.

 Graham: You're guilty of grand theft. Therefore, I sentence you to death!
Soma: You're insane!
Graham: And as a special treat, I'll be the one to deliver that punishment!

    • And again in Dawn of Sorrow...

 Dario: Can you imagine how crazy it would be with even more power?!
Soma: You're insane...
Dario: And you talk way too much! C'mon, punk! I'll roast ya to a cinder!

  • Rosenkreuzstilette: Spiritia and Lilli confront Iris in the final stage in the main game. Tia tells her that she's not getting away this time, and that's when Iris starts Laughing Mad as she finally figures out where Tia got all her energy. Lilli begins wondering what is wrong with her as Iris continues her maniacal laughter. Tia then says to her, "Iris, have you lost your mind!?"
    • Also, in the opening cutscene of Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert, Grolla has this reaction when she overhears Iris' plot to have RKS fight against the Empire just for her own personal amusement.

 Grolla: What do you think you're doing!? Iris, have you gone mad!?

  • Ragna the Bloodedge of BlazBlue says such a phrase to Rachel in her Continuum Shift Gag Reel when Luna begins coming to love him due to the effects of the Spectacles of Eros and Rachel admits that Ragna is head-over-heels in love with her.

 Ragna: You twisted, evil, blood-sucking rabbit! What the hell do you think you're doing?!
Rachel: Oh come now, Ragna! No need to be shy. Just admit your feelings... Admit that you are my devoted servant!
Ragna: Who are you calling a servant?!

    • He does the same thing to her, Nu, and Tager after they allow Jin and the rest of the H.M.S. Nirvana crew to take him leaving the three of his fellow U.S.S. Ragna crew members to enjoy their Ikaruga Tuna without him in - you guessed it - his own gag ending.

 Ragna: I'm seriously gonna kill all of you guys! You guys are insaaaaaaaane!

  • In the final cutscene of the Giant Tale questline of Adventure Quest Worlds, Andre the Giant thinks that everything the hero did up to the point of claiming the key from his Giant Necklace is insane (he even thinks the hero poisoned his giant son Andre Jr.), but the hero and Crychek tell him not to worry as his son is fine and just taking a nap in his soup.

 Hero: Next time, pick on somebody your own size, Andre.
Andre: Pick on someb- THIS IS INSANE! I'm just farming, trying to grow enough food for my family... then you tiny people show up, start infesting my yard, beat up my cat and then you POISON MY SON!!!
Hero: Relax, your son is fine. He's just taking a nap.
Crychek: ...In yer soup.

    • Also, there's that moment in Nythera's wedding event where Ryuuji says this to Nythera because when she says that the third and final challenge for the Test of the Suitor was to defeat a Void Giant she magically awakened and summoned to the Void Temple, Ryuuji realizes that the Void Giant is out of control and therefore needs to be stopped before it destroys the temple.

 Ryuuji: A VOID GIANT?! Are you INSANE?! We have to stop it before it destroys the temple!
Nythera: You mean I have to stop it.
Ryuuji: No, Nythera. WE have to stop. Neither of us can do this alone.

  • In Mass Effect 2, Tali'Zorah says this verbatim to Admiral Xen while on the Migrant Fleet.
    • Happens to Renegade Shepard during Thane's loyalty mission.

 Shepard: (Pulls out Hand Cannon) If I choose to, I could kill everyone in this room and walk away unscathed.
Lawyer: You're insane!
Shepard: Our suits have kinetic barriers. Your legal briefs don't. And I'm in a hurry.
Thane: The law is only a protection to those who agree to be bound by it. We don't.

  • One of the topics in Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay has this when McGillicutty plans to destroy La Esponja Grande in order for him to remain Poxed along with his crew forever:

 Guybrush: You're mad! Mad, I say!

    • Before that, there is also a part in The Curse of Monkey Island when smuggler King André believes that the Goodsoup Family Diamond and its energy flowing though it is the key to his power, and you can choose this:

 Guybrush: You're a madman!
André: Am I mad? Am I? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Is it madness to sit in a cave at the top of a deserted island, accumulating vast amounts of gold and jewels and stuffed animals, stockpiling plunder from across the Caribbean and passing the savings on to you? Is that madness? Or GENIUS?!?
Guybrush: [shrugs] Good point. I take it back.
André: I'm not crazy -- my prices are!

 Batman: You're insane.
Riddler: No, that would imply either mental illness or derangement. I suffer from neither.


Web Comics

Dr. VG: Are you insane?!
Mr. Rovainen: Alas. That comfort is denied me.

 Moloch: What? But that's insane! (realizes what he just said) Wow. Maybe you are the real thing.

  • Another similar variation from Narbonic:

"This is madness! MADNESS!"
"No. Not at all. Our plan is a pragmatic response to the problems we've observed..."
"This is sanity! Sanity!"

  • There was this exchange in Gastrophobia, during the "Lord Night-Sorrow" story arc... before it was changed by a Retcon:

 Night-Sorrow: Sorcery can accomplish what science cannot.
Filby: You're insane!
Phobia: Figured that out all by yourself, did you?


Web Original

 The Nostalgia Critic: My God. You're mad.
Bum: Am I? Am I?
Nostalgia Critic: Yes. Very mad.
Bum: Maybe it's you, who are mad?
Nostalgia Critic: No, I'm pretty sure it you.
Bum: You know what? You're just rude.

    • And then he starts destroying the world. In fact, the experience is probably one of the most creepy things that That Guy With The Glasses has ever done.
  • The Nostalgia Critic was on the other end of this during his review of The Room. Other reviewers kept showing up to try and talk him out of it: when he refused to listen to Linkara...

 "You're mad, Critic! MAD!"
"Begone!"
"Okay!"

  "What! No card games?!? YOU'RE INSANE! . . . I mean, more insane than the rest of us . . ."


Western Animation

  • In Danny Phantom, the episode that introduces Vlad Plasmius has this dialogue:

 Danny: Let me outta here!
Vlad: Why? So you can go back to stumbling through your adolescence desperately trying to get control of your powers?! Powers, by the way, that I've had for twenty years. I have experience, my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see! I could train you, teach you everything I know! And all you have to do is renounce your idiot father!
Danny: Dude. You are one seriously crazed-up fruit loop. That is never going to happen.

  • In the Gargoyles episode "Temptation", Brooklyn, disillusioned by the problems of humanity, is manipulated by Demona to steal a spellbook in order to help his leader, Goliath, "see the truth of the world". Brooklyn cooperates, but when Demona attacks Goliath with a spell from the book that makes him a mind-controlled slave, the young gargoyle protests that he only wanted to Goliath to see the truth. Demona intones with flashing eyes, "You wanted him to know the truth. Now, our truth will the only truth he ever knows!" At that brazenly evil pronouncement, Brooklyn yells to Demona, "You're insane!" and attacks her to get the book back.
  • Done frequently in Invader Zim, particularly because of Zim's megalomaniacal personality.
  • In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Stolen Memories", Superman meets Brainiac, the surviving major computer consciousness from Krypton. Although Superman is pleased to meet someone from his native planet, he later learns of Brainiac's true reason for coming to Earth. The intelligence has been ravaging the cosmos, gathering all the knowledge of worlds and then destroying them so he is the sole possessor of that information, and now wants to do the same with Earth. At this smug justification of serial omnicide, Superman yells, "You're insane!" and leaps into battle.
  • A cousin to Insult Backfire happens in an episode of Justice League where Superman is sent far into the future, After the End:

 Vandal Savage: The earth belongs to the cockroaches now... Oh, and me.
Superman: You're insane.
Vandal Savage: ... True. But that doesn't mean I'm not good company. Say, you want to come over to my place?
Superman: ...
Vandal Savage: Like you have anything better to do.

 Solomon Grundy: (to Luthor) You're crazy!
The Joker: (bursts into the room) And what's wrong with that? It's done wonders for me!

 Ra's: A most impressive plan, wouldn't you agree?
Batman: Yes... I can see it clearly now for the first time. (Dramatic Pause, giving Ra's the impression he's succeeding in recruiting Batman as his successor) You are completely out of your mind.

    • Also a Funny Moments especially as this is Batman saying it, a man who's normally all grim and serious 24-7.
    • In a later episode, Mr. Freeze has this response to Grant Walker's plan to freeze the entire world except for his own island. When a supervillain is the one doubting your sanity, you know you have problems.
      • Better yet, an ice-obsessed villain saying this about a plan to freeze the world.
    • Freeze was on the other end of the line in his DCAU movie.
  • Batman Beyond example. Shriek is blackmailing Comissioner Gordon in exchange for Batman's life.

 Barbara: You're out of your mind.
Shriek: Duh.

  • From the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon, in the episode "Ice Age" (sound clip available about a third of the way down this page):

 Mr. Zero: You're m-m-mad!
Dr. Wily: No, I'm ha-ha-happy!

 Larry: ... He's loopy!
Bob: No, he's eccentric.
Larry: What's the difference?
Bob: Eccentric is loopy, with money.

  • Transformers: Beast Wars has Tarantulas happily shrug this one off with a casual "So they say," and a particularly indulgent and spittle-y Evil Laugh.
  • Wakfu: During his fight against Nox in episode 17, Grougaloragran repeatedly calls him a madman, but Nox pays this no heed. Later, both Yugo and Adamaï give him a "You're insane!" speech at the end of the final fight in episode 26. However, since it is after Nox's whole plan is crumbling around him - with, literally, his giant clock mecha - this time the Xelor may actually be listening.
    • To specify, the first time Yugo calls him out on his mental instability, he just shrugs it off. Later, he's surrounded by the total ruination of his plans, only to have Yugo scream that his insanity killed entire countries for nothing. This time, he actually starts weeping.
  • In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Carl, Sheen and Jimmy travel to the Bahama Quadrangle so Jimmy can prove that nothing suspicious happens there. They end up trapped by a algae-obsessed scientist named Dr. Moist:

 Dr. Moist: I'd be happy to... Right after your transformation.
Jimmy: Transformation?
Dr. Moist: Into Algae-Men, just like all the other fools who've passed this way to spy on me!
Jimmy: Huh?!
Dr. Moist: That's right--your food was chock-full of mutant algae seeds,
Jimmy: Huh?!
Dr. Moist: Which even as we speak, are infusing your every cell with kelpy goodness!
Jimmy: Huh?!
Carl: Guys... I'm turning green!
Jimmy: But you ate it too; we saw you!
Dr. Moist: Yes, but I have the antidote! *drinks some of said antidote* Aww, that is good antidote!
Jimmy: You're insane!
Sheen: Oh gee, ya think?
Carl: What was your first clue?

 Batman: You're insane.
Owlman: Does it really matter? There are alternate versions of me that you would find quite charming...

 Bishop: Stockman, this is madness!
Stockman: No, Bishop. This is logic.

  • In the Regular Show episode "Go Viral", Rigby says this to the Warden of the Internet. Considering she's been capturing anyone who makes a viral video and imprisoning them in a Fate Worse Than Death, he's probably right.
    • Mordecai says the same thing to Rigby when he asks for that last solid.
  • In one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick and SpongeBob run away from home because they think they're going to get "locked up forever" for stealing a balloon. The two set up camp and share two candybars. Patrick eats his candybar and being the short-term-memory starfish that he is, forgets he just ate it and thinks that Sponge Bob took it. The end result is Sponge Bob eating his own candy bar while Patrick looks on in horror at the thought of his "only food" being eaten by his best friend and proceeds to freak out.

 Sponge Bob: (eats candy bar) Mmmmm mmmm mhhmmm!!
Patrick: YOU'RE A CRAZY PERSON!!

 Tony: "You're completely mad Rhona!
Rhona: "Mad? All the best people are mad. Lewis Carroll."

  1. ↑ In classic Sparrow fashion, it does work... and as revealed moments later, it worked without an ounce of rum in his system.
  2. ↑ Here it's also a way of saying, "Shove it up your ass"
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