Welcome back to Fanundrums, fellow fans! This week we’re going to take on a fun new topic: berserk buttons! (Edited to provide link to TV Tropes, which is where we first heard the term. Enter at your own risk. It's a rabbit hole.)
As in, what makes a character go from mild-mannered to HULK SMASH!
Precisely. For example, in Leverage, every one of the main characters has a berserk button. For Nate, it’s sick children. For Elliot, it’s children being in danger or messing with his food. For Parker, it’s orphans. For Hardison, it’s messing with Lucille (his van). For Sophie, it’s questioning her talents as an actress and a grifter.
In general, if you hurt a child in Leverage, you’re going to get slammed. Hard. By very scary, talented people.
Basically, don’t mess with kids. And don’t be a dishonest insurance company, because that’s Nate’s other button. So why are buttons important?
Well, berserk buttons reveal a lot about a character. They show values and personality. For example, you can learn a lot about Nate by the fact that he gets angry over sick kids, and you can see how he’s different from Sophie, who loses control if you call out her skills. You can see that Nate has a soft spot (maybe from a past event) regarding sick children and that Sophie takes pride in her skills.
