Raging Barbarians in Fiction?

[the Jester]

Hawk of May.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

Mr. Furious from Mystery Men.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Godzilla?

Buffy (the Vampire Slayer)

Miss Piggy

River (Firefly)

I'm not so sure I'd classify River as a raging barbarian. She was more the hyper-competent killer. Reminded me of the Machine from the novel Armor.

 

[Wrathamon]

I would say maybe Ultra Man ... he gets all crazy when his chest starts flashing

 

[Tonguez]

Literary (of various forms) raging barbarians could include Cú Chulainn of Irish mythology and Sláine of 2000AD magazine and his own comics. Both experienced variations on warp spasms that could be handled by barbarian rage mechanics.

Pat Mills who created Slaine was quite explicit that Slaine was based primarily (though not exclusively) on Cú Chulainn.
Rage can indeed be used to model the Warpspasm but in the original story it was a monstrous transformation wherein Cú Chulainn would swell to many times his usual size; one eye would pop out of its socket and hang down on his cheek, and a gout of "poisonous" blood would shoot out of his forehead...

 

[Bedrockgames]

I will let others quantify the instances of barbarian rage in literature. For me it has always been one of those abilities that felt right more than anything else

My favorite rage though is BlackAdder's Tim McInnerny foaming at the mouth in Erik the Viking

 

[Dioltach]

Joe Abercrombie's Logen Ninefingers, when he becomes the Bloody Nine (and of course Lamb). Changes from an amiable and intelligent fighter into an unstoppable, bloodthirsty maniac. Years after his disappearance, one army scares another during battle just by mimicking his laughter.

 

[Ryujin]

I forgot about Mark the Red in Zombie Orpheus Entertainment's 2002 film "The Gamers." "BLOOD, DEATH, AND VENGEANCE!"

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The Conan yarn, "The Phoenix on the Sword" (rejiggered from the Kull tale "By This Axe I Rule"), specifically springs to mind:

"With his back to the wall he faced the closing ring for a flashing instant, then leaped into the thick of them. He was no defensive fighter; even in the teeth of overwhelming odds he always carried the war to the enemy. Any other man would have already died there, and Conan himself did not hope to survive, but he did ferociously wish to inflict as much damage as he could before he fell. His barbaric soul was ablaze, and the chants of old heroes were singing in his ears."

The berserkers of various Norse sagas (Like Grettir's), spring to mind, though they are more often depicted as villainous figures.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I don't think the trope is particularly strong for main characters in modern age fiction. I think it is more a callback to the legends of berzerkers.

However, in Lord of the Rings, King Theoden at the Battle of Pellenor fields is described, "Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins."

As for Conan, in Queen of the Black Coast: "The fighting-madness of his race was upon him, and with a red mist of unreasoning fury wavering before his blazing eyes, he cleft skulls, smashed breasts, severed limbs, ripped out entrails, and littered the deck like a shambles with a ghastly harvest of brains and blood."

Other examples: Literature / The Berserker - TV Tropes

I can think of several outside of fantasy literature. Marvel Comics Wolverine and Hulk certainly qualify. Pretty much any Red Lantern from DC. Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde is a classic one in literature.

Isn’t it Eomir who goes berserk, at the sight of Eowyn “dead”? He goes wild and screams “Death! Death!” And the other Rohirrim cry out with him.

I'm not so sure I'd classify River as a raging barbarian. She was more the hyper-competent killer. Reminded me of the Machine from the novel Armor.

She’s definitely a D&D barbarian, IMO, who are highly competent killers. She goes into a killer state and exceeds what is possible for other people while in that state.

 

[Umbran]

Isn’t it Eomir who goes berserk, at the sight of Eowyn “dead”? He goes wild and screams “Death! Death!” And the other Rohirrim cry out with him.

The quote I gave was from the moment of the charge.

"Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young."

The battle-fury thing is pretty clearly about Theoden in this passage.

And, Eomer does get a similar moment, but the description isn't quite as explicit - he could just be really freaking mad. And this happens late in the battle, which would seem odd for the barbarian type, who usually leads with RRRRarrghhhghh!, so I didn't mention it. And if we are going to interpret everyone who ever gets angry in battle as a barbarian... that's a lot of barbarians.

That said, Eomer is of the same bloodline. If you wanna call him berzerk, feel free.