Do You Want Your Characters to Lose Their Sanity? Observe These Cases Carefully

The boundary between sanity and madness has fascinated artists and storytellers since time immemorial. In the comic book world, this thin line becomes a narrative and visual resource of extraordinary power that can completely transform your characters and take your stories to new dimensions of emotional depth.

Terror has existed forever because it feeds on our deepest fears of the unknown and death. It activates our instinctive sense of survival against possible threats to our lives. While it had its narrative origin in popular literature passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth in the form of myths and legends to educate communities in a particular culture, this doesn’t mean it hasn’t evolved over the years. The anxieties of ancient civilizations are not the same as those we have today. The advancement of science and technology has clarified many of the great mysteries that plagued those civilizations that didn’t know the origin of storms or earthquakes nor understood how they worked. Today, we even have the ability to predict these events, which is why horror has had to update itself on more than one occasion. Thus, we can establish a change that goes from fear of natural phenomena, to the creation of supernatural beings, and finally, to the mind itself.

The only thing that we seem unable to control effectively and completely is human psychology, and that’s what has fueled horror with a strong influence since the 19th century. Although several genre topics are being revived and reclaimed, as can be seen with the latest slasher film productions, psychological horror has been one of the most exploited in recent years.

In the world of comics, the topic of madness was common in the construction of villains, although the possibility that our beloved protagonists lose their sanity has also been raised, thus humanizing them. Looking for inspiration to create characters who dance on the edge of reason? Click here to expand your creative horizons. In any case, these are two different representations. Villains access madness to dare commit crimes of excessive cruelty, while heroes suffer so much that they must question their own sanity and morality due to the pressure of a life on the edge facing lunatic beings. However, the topic of “madness” has allowed for ambivalence between the “good” and the “bad,” giving greater importance to the social context from which each character comes and opening the game to a large scale of grays where nobody is perfect. If you want to know how to represent that limit we fear so much, keep reading to learn what some of the great creators of the ninth art have done.

The Green Goblin: The Deranged Duality

One of the most hated characters within the Marvel universe is the Green Goblin, and this is because he is one of the archenemies of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Additionally, he was one of those responsible for deeply affecting our protagonist’s sanity by throwing his girlfriend Gwen Stacy off a bridge in one of the most remembered scenes in mainstream comic book history. This character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1964, and since then, he has terrified us with each of his appearances. But let’s see how he was constructed visually.

In issue 121 of The Amazing Spider-Man, where the “The Night That Gwen Stacy Died” arc begins, we can observe this page where Norman Osborn becomes disproportionately angry with Peter Parker to the point of shaking him forcefully. The volume of his voice is represented by straight lines coming out of his mouth and the anger on his face by the hardness of his features. This is accompanied by the emphasis of the typography in yellow and the subsequent appearance of the Green Goblin. When he takes the form of a supervillain, he is characterized by a wide and threatening smile as well as a deformed anatomical quality that distances him from the human and rational. On the other hand, the colors chosen to bring this character to life are strident, and his costume brings him closer to the animalistic. Meanwhile, Peter’s face shows desperate fear since this enemy not only knows his identity but is also his best friend’s father. This, as expected, throws our hero off balance because it disarticulates all his spaces of security and trust; terror has arrived at the doors of his home and is no longer the responsibility of unknown beings but of those whom he, at some point, has considered part of his family.

The duality of the Green Goblin character represents one of the most fascinating archetypes within graphic narrative: the respectable man who hides an inner monster. This visual transformation not only changes the character’s appearance but symbolizes a complete break with social and moral norms. To achieve this effect in your own characters, it’s crucial to understand the psychology behind this transformation and how to manifest it graphically.

In that same issue, this panel is presented where the Green Goblin’s dangerousness is increased by his inability to control his mind. The memories and voices of other characters mix in his head, torturing him and causing his dissociation until pushing him to his evil identity, in a gesture in the best style of Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We can see the desperation on his face, how he tries to cover his ears to drown out his homicidal and self-destructive thoughts. Seeing him in full body, we can notice that he finds no comfort in his own being but rather everything seems alien to him, to the point of making him scream in a pointy, yellow speech bubble.

The representation of Norman Osborn’s fragmented mind is a masterful example of how to illustrate mental deterioration. The artists used various graphic resources to convey this psychological rupture:

• Contorted body posture that reflects internal conflict
• Exaggerated facial expressions that show pain and confusion
• Speech bubbles with irregular borders that indicate emotional instability
• Variable typography to represent changes in tone and volume of voice
• Contrasting colors that symbolize the internal struggle between his two identities

After the events of Gwen Stacy’s death, Green Goblin will die in a sequence that will cause Spider-Man a lot of guilt since instead of feeling accomplished by this fact, he will begin to feel empty and alone. This will subsequently trigger several scenes of depression and anxiety for Peter Parker that will be used in more than one story arc, such as “Kraven’s Last Hunt”.

A fundamental characteristic of great stories of madness is how it affects not only the main character but also those around them. The guilt that Peter Parker experiences after the Green Goblin’s death creates an interesting parallel: the hero who begins to question his own sanity as a result of his nemesis’s actions. Discover innovative methods to illustrate complex emotions like guilt and remorse by exploring this resource.

The Joker: The Laugh That Conceals the Abyss

This character introduced in Batman comics in 1940 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson has a distinctive peculiarity that produces fear and rejection. This has to do with the fact that, unlike the Green Goblin we’ve analyzed, this villain doesn’t have a feeling of guilt that torments him but rather feels pleasure with each of his criminal acts, even those that involve the death of innocents. He was the driving force behind “A Death in the Family” which was published between 1988 and 1989 from issue 426 to 429 of Batman by Jim Starlin in the script and Jim Aparo in the illustration, among others.

One of the Joker’s characteristics is his enormous smile and his clown makeup. For him, everything is a brutal joke to test the solidity of Batman’s morality. Like the Green Goblin, they share the color green, common to symbolize instability, greed, envy, ambition, and fortune.

The Joker’s perpetual smile represents perhaps one of the most disturbing elements of this character, creating a cognitive dissonance between the expression traditionally associated with joy and the acts of extreme violence he commits. This visual contradiction functions as a perfect metaphor for the chaos he represents: the subversion of all established values, laughter at others’ pain, beauty in destruction.

While the Green Goblin fights against his madness at certain moments, the Joker completely embraces it, elevating it to a kind of nihilistic philosophy. This fundamental difference shows us two distinct approaches to the representation of insanity:

1. Madness as internal conflict (Green Goblin)
2. Madness as liberation and reinvention (Joker)

This scene will be forever etched in our memories due to its excessive cruelty and violence. In the first panel, we can observe how the Joker hits Robin, making him spit blood. Not satisfied with that, he begins a sequence in which Batman’s rival beats the boy without restraint. The background colors vary between yellow, orange, and red, indicating the character’s euphoria. While Robin’s body is not shown to us, we can imagine, from the trajectories drawn by his enemy’s arms, that his impacts have great power and are defeating him. This is complemented by a variety of viewpoints that repeat the action but with different intensity. Throughout this narrative, the Joker’s smile doesn’t disappear but remains along with his dislocated gaze to construct a complete image of madness.

The use of color in this sequence is not casual: the warm tones (yellow, orange, and red) generate a sensation of urgency and violence that contrasts with the Joker’s emotional coldness. This chromatic palette functions as an indicator of the character’s mental state, suggesting that his madness is hot and explosive, not cold and calculated. The artist also employs various narrative resources to amplify the horror of the scene:

• Graphic onomatopoeias that reinforce the impact of each blow
• Variations in framing that maintain visual rhythm and increase tension
• Kinetic lines that show the trajectory and force of the blows
• Close-ups of the smiling face of the Joker that increase the psychological contrast

Shortly after, Grant Morrison and Dave McKean will return to this dislocated face until disfiguring it in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth from 1989.

This is another fundamental panel in the history of superhero comics. We face a close-up of the Joker where some of his features are darkened by the gloomy atmosphere of Arkham Asylum. But what stands out most in this particular case is the work with his enormous smile of cannibalistic-looking teeth due to their dimensions and because it seems that drops of blood explode from his mouth. On the other hand, his bulging eyes stand out to the point that it seems the area around them is raw flesh. But the artists didn’t stop at the character’s face but gave special importance to the typography of his dialogues thanks to the work of Gaspar Saladino. His work could give a greater presence to the Joker’s words unlike what we saw in “A Death in the Family.” Here he has no speech bubbles, and the red inking of his statements gives them a horrific bloody effect. At the same time, the lack of lines delimiting his expressions has its correlation in the character’s typical lack of control.

McKean’s interpretation of the Joker in Arkham Asylum represents another level in the visual representation of madness. By abandoning the more traditional comic style for a more pictorial and expressionist approach, the artist manages to convey a sensation of unreality and nightmare that perfectly reflects the character’s mental state. Dare to explore new artistic styles to represent altered mental states here.

This visual representation of the Joker departs from the usual conventions of mainstream comics to enter more experimental territories, demonstrating that artistic form can and should adapt to the content it intends to express. The elements that make this interpretation unique include:

• Use of mixed techniques that combine drawing, painting, and collage
• Extreme anatomical distortion that reflects mental distortion
• Typography visually integrated with the art, blurring the boundaries between text and image
• Restricted chromatic palette with focal points of intense color
• Claustrophobic composition that invades the reader’s space

The Art of Drawing the Broken Mind: Techniques and Considerations

Visually representing madness in your characters requires more than simply drawing contorted faces or exaggerated expressions. To create a true window into a character’s disturbed mind, you must consider multiple elements that work in harmony to convey that altered mental state. Below, we explore some specific techniques that you can apply in your own creations.

Significant Anatomical Distortion

The way you alter the anatomical proportions and positions of your characters can powerfully communicate their mental state. Consider these approaches:

• Exaggerate certain facial features (eyes, mouth, teeth) to emphasize the character’s obsession or fixation
• Distort body proportions according to the nature of their mental imbalance
• Use unconventional perspectives that suggest an altered perception of reality
• Incorporate symbolic elements that emerge from the body (such as objects or visualized memories)

An effective technique is to vary the degree of distortion throughout the narrative, increasing it in moments of greater psychological tension and reducing it in moments of temporary lucidity, thus creating a visual pulse that follows the rhythm of the character’s mind.

Strategic Use of Color

Color is perhaps one of the most powerful tools for conveying altered mental states. As we’ve seen in the examples of the Green Goblin and the Joker, certain colors can be directly associated with specific types of mental instability:

• Green: Traditionally associated with envy, toxicity, and moral ambivalence
• Red: Linked to anger, violence, and uncontrolled passions
• Purple: Related to the strange, the mysterious, and the unconventional
• Sickly yellow: Suggests deterioration, decay, and psychological malaise

Beyond palette choice, consider these chromatic strategies:

• Violent contrasts between complementary colors for scenes of internal conflict
• Selective desaturation to show disconnection from reality
• Abrupt palette changes to indicate changes in mental state
• Unnatural combinations that contradict our visual expectations

Color should not be simply decorative, but narrative, telling its own story about what happens inside your character’s mind. Deepen your understanding of the narrative use of color to represent extreme mental states by visiting this link.

Page Design and Composition

The way you structure your pages and panels can reflect the chaos or mental fragmentation of your characters. Some techniques to consider:

• Break the traditional grid for panels that represent altered perceptions
• Superimpose visual elements like intrusive thoughts over the main action
• Dramatically vary panel sizes to emphasize instability
• Use irregular or broken panel lines when the character’s reality fragments
• Create non-linear sequences that reflect chaotic thought patterns

This approach to page design not only visually represents the disturbed mind but makes the reader experience some of that confusion and uprooting, creating a more immersive experience.

Unreliable Narrative

A powerful way to represent madness is to use the character themselves as an unreliable narrator, allowing their distorted perception of reality to guide both the art and the narrative. This can be achieved through:

• Visual contradictions between what the character says and what is shown
• Obsessive repetitions of certain visual or textual elements
• Irrational transitions between scenes that only make sense in the character’s internal logic
• Mixture of memories, hallucinations, and reality without clear indications of what is what

This approach allows the reader to gradually discover the true nature of reality, experiencing the same confusion and revelations as the character.

When Heroes Lose Their Sanity: A Powerful Narrative Resource

While we have primarily analyzed iconic villains, the loss of sanity in protagonists represents a particularly powerful narrative resource. When a hero begins to question their own perception of reality or their moral values, a narrative tension is generated that can significantly elevate the story.

Batman himself has had numerous story arcs where his mental health is questioned, as in the aforementioned “Arkham Asylum” or in Grant Morrison’s “Batman R.I.P.” These moments allow us to explore the psychological vulnerabilities that hide behind the heroic facade.

To represent the loss of sanity in a hero, consider these specific approaches:

• Show the contrast between their heroic public image and their internal torment
• Explore how their past traumas resurface and affect their present perception
• Use mirror or reflection scenes where the hero sees distorted versions of themselves
• Incorporate recurring symbols that represent their deepest fears
• Visually question the distinction between the hero and their enemies

These types of narratives remind us that the line between hero and villain, between sanity and madness, is thinner than we would like to admit. As creators, this provides us with fertile ground to explore the human condition in all its complexity.

The Social Context of Madness in Comics

It’s important to recognize that the representation of mental illness in comics has evolved significantly over the decades, reflecting changes in our social and scientific understanding of mental health. Early representations often fell into simplistic stereotypes, while contemporary approaches tend to be more nuanced and compassionate.

As modern creators, we have the responsibility to carefully consider how we represent these mental states. Some important considerations include:

• Avoid perpetuating harmful stigmas that equate mental illness with evil
• Research specific conditions if you decide to represent them
• Consider the social context and experiences that contribute to the character’s mental deterioration
• Show the complexity of these conditions beyond binary simplifications

This doesn’t mean you should abandon dramatic or expressionist representations of altered mental states, but rather that you should do so with knowledge and purpose, being aware of the impact your representations may have.

Narrate with an Open Mind!

If you believe it may serve as a resource for your narrative to take your characters to the limit of sanity, you can use some of the representation examples we’ve seen. It’s important to ask yourself what the backstory will be that justifies this mental state and to keep in mind that it’s not always the villains who venture into these waters, but they are accessible to all who go through, as superheroes do too, traumatic moments from which it’s difficult to escape.

When designing characters that explore the limits of sanity, you face a creative challenge that can significantly elevate the depth and impact of your stories. Explore practical tools to master the visual representation of your characters’ psychology.

The difference between a superficial representation and a truly moving one of mental instability lies in research, empathy, and attention to detail. By studying how the great masters of comics have addressed this topic, you can develop your own visual language to express these complex states.

Remember that the best characters, whether heroes or villains, are not simply “crazy” without reason – their mental state is the result of experiences, traumas, and choices that have shaped their perception of the world. By understanding and representing this psychological depth, you can create truly memorable characters that will resonate with your readers long after they’ve closed the page.

The limits of sanity, when explored with artistic and narrative sensitivity, can become the most fertile ground for stories that not only entertain but illuminate deep aspects of the human experience. Take the next step in your evolution as a visual storyteller and discover resources that will enhance your ability to create psychologically complex characters.