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"Anger ... it's a paralyzing emotion ... you can't get anything done. People sort of think it's an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling —- I don't think it's any of that —- it's helpless ... it's absence of control —- and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers ... and anger doesn't provide any of that —- I have no use for it whatsoever."
—Toni Morrison, interview with Don Swaim, 1987
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So Bob is constantly angry. Maybe he has a bunch of Berserk Buttons. Or maybe he has a Hair-Trigger Temper. Perhaps he's prone to Hulking Out and going into a frenzy. Sooner or later his friends get fed up with his temper. Or maybe Bob decides to learn to control his Temper on his own. Either way, he'll do whatever it takes to become a calmer or more peaceful person.

This Trope usually goes hand in hand with a Heel Face Turn for Villains, Anti-Villains, and even Anti-Heroes, although the last one depends on how dark they really are.

There are many ways they can go about to achieve this inner peach. One of the most prominent ways is Walking the Earth. The character leaves on a journey to learn more about themselves, the world, and their place within the world. This often involves leaving behind their posessions as well.

If the villain is the one who tames his anger, it may be because there's a bigger threat coming. The villain will put their hatred on hold until their common enemy is defeated.

A common trope in martial arts series. A new disciple will become the pupil of an Old Master or The Obi-Wan. The disciple will go from being a loud mouthed kid or an Arrogant Kung Fu Guy to a Martial Pacifist.

This Trope is Older Than Dirt. In Classical Mythology after killing his music teacher accidentally, Hercules is sent to a farm to become a more peaceful person. Another old example, is Moses from The Bible. After finding out that he was a Hebrew, Moses kills an Egyptian Slavemaster who's beating his slave and flees to Ethiopia. While there, he gets married and becomes a wiser and more peaceful person.

Contrast Teach Him Anger, where a Nice Guy or an Extreme Doormat, is given a backbone.

In a comedy, this often leads to We Want Our Jerk Back because Status Quo Is God.

Tropes used in Tame His Anger include:


Anime and Manga[]

Comic Books[]

  • Done more than once in Donald Duck comics: Daisy Duck tries to force him to control his temper at one point. Donald's nephews take advantage of this and misbehave, knowing that he won't spank them. They keep on pushing his buttons. Daisy tells Donald that it's okay to spank them as long as he does it with a smile. He spanks them in the end.
    • In the Classic Disney Short "Cured Duck", Donald is told by Daisy to control his temper. He answers an ad on the paper about a cure and gets a machine that doles out indiginties at him for ten minutes straight, and if he can sit through the ordeal without losing it, he's cured. Donald is eventually cured, only now Daisy is the one who loses her temper.
    • Another Donald Duck example with the short "Bellboy Donald", he is forced by his boss to be pleasant and control his anger around customers, with the threat of being fired otherwise. Following this, Pete's son Junior begins exploiting this mercilessly and pranks him at every turn. Donald finally snaps and drags Junior to the manager, who fires him on the spot before a satisfied Donald spanks Junior mercilessly.
  • The Incredible Hulk tries this a lot. It doesn't work very often. Usually because his enemies won't, 'Leave Hulk Alone'.
  • Just like the Hulk, Wolverine tries to do this a lot. And just like the Hulk, it doesn't last. Notable examples include the volume where Wolverine and Rose work at a mine in British Colombia and Wolverine finds peace and tranquility. That peace is interrupted when Dog kills Rose. Wolverine later meets a Native American woman called Silver Fox and they fall in love. Sabretooth, jealous of the peace Wolverine found, kills Silver Fox. Yeah. He tends to do that a lot.
  • In the The Death of Captain America, many heroes deal with the Death of Captain America in different ways. Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man deal with their anger over Captain America dying. Ms. Marvel decides to take out her anger by thrashing Tiger Shark, and Spider-Man takes out his anger by attacking Rhino. Funnily enough they're both stopped by characters who are well know for having HairTriggerTempers. Namor lectures Ms. Marvel on controling her anger, and Wolverine talks to Spider-Man about dealing with loss. Ms. Marvel even calls Namor out on this.
  • Subverted with Black Manta. Aquaman tries to use magic to make Black Manta a kinder and more peaceful person. And it seems to have worked, for a while. But in the end, at a critical moment Black Manta stabs him and tells him this:
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  Black Manta: "Y'see, deep down, in my most secret heart of hearts, I'm still a totally depraved sonuvabitch whose main goal in life is to watch you die. Slowly and painfully. Just like your kid."

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  • Batman: In Batman Bratty Half-Pint Damian Wayne starts out with almost little to no respect for anyone besides Batman and Talia Al Ghul. His anger leads to him nearly killing Tim Drake to replace him as Batman's sidekick. He's still a little bit of an angry Jerkass, not even showing his grandparents respect on the anniversary of their deaths, but he's a lot better.
  • Spider-Man: In the comics, he has a symbiote suit that turns him into a total angry Jerkass. Being that it's his Super-Powered Evil Side and Spider-Man's a hero, it doesn't last and he goes back to being the Nice Guy that he usually is.

Film[]

  • Spider-Man: In the films he has the same issue with the suit. It makes him very temperamental. A good example of this, is when he slams a guy to the wall just for touching him.

Literature[]

  • In the novel Windflower, by Gabrielle Roy the Deuteragonist Jimmy was always angry. However, after he started living in the wilderness, and by the ways of the Native Americans he becomes a much more peaceful person.

Live Action Television[]

Mythology and Religion[]

  • As mentioned above Moses and Hercules, are some of the oldest examples of this Trope. They make it Older Than Dirt.

Theatre[]

  • In Hamlet, the titular character spends much of the play angry over Claudius murdering King Hamlet. In his anger he kills Polonius which sets off a chain of events including Ophelia going insane and Laertes wanting revenge. By the end of the play, Hamlet has more or less come to accept the mistakes and enemies that he's made.

Western Animation[]