I Am Completely Serious

This term describes a situation in which a female character possesses some sort of power comparable to or greater than that of male characters, and her possession of this power is shown to be toxic to her and to those around her.

The power in question might be psychic or magical powers, martial arts skill, political power, wealth, business acumen, skill at sports, cooking skill, board game skill - or any other sphere which a sufficiently motivated manga artist might attempt to transform into a competition. "Power" can also apply to simple self-confidence, particularly in conjunction with a lack of romantic interest in or rudeness to a male character intended to be sympathetic.

The toxicity of power commonly manifests itself as a lack of self-control or self-knowledge on the part of the female character. In its classical form, lack of self-control leads to Crazy-Eyed Antics. This is when a woman who had appeared emotionally stable earlier in the narrative - at a time when she either did not possess her power, was not exercising it, or was not exercising it to its fullest extent - opens her eyes wide and develops dark circles under them as an accompaniment to destructive behavior. When engaged in Crazy-Eyed Antics, a character is as much as or more of a danger to herself and her loved ones than she is to her enemies. Beloved childhood stuffed animals should be stored in a safe place during episodes of Crazy-Eyes.

( Common triggers for Crazy-Eyed Antics include: )

More examples requested! (Also, is there a TV Tropes entry with a similar premise to this?)

Edit: Please note that there are major spoilers for the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender at the bottom of the Dreamwidth comments!

Originally published at I Am Completely Serious. You can comment here or there.

(The encyclopedia of manga tropes will totally exist someday when I am not lazy.)

This character type appears most often in shounen manga. The Tiny Infuriated Bastion of Heteronormativity is a young boy - markedly childlike in appearance compared to other male cast members - whom the narrative makes a point of proving “more manly” than the male protagonist. When he is stoic he is more stoic, when he is angry his speeches are more impassioned, when he is in love he is more awkward and monosyllabic, and when he loses a fight his urge for vengeance is greater.

He will frequently attempt to prove himself better and more masculine than the main male character, particularly if said character has taken away the attention of an enemy or love interest on whom he was himself fixated. He will often be sensitive about his height, and there may be non-consensual cross-dressing.

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