Berserk Button/Neon Genesis Evangelion

"Maya: Plug depth over 180! It's extremely dangerous!
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion used the Berserk Button trope to great extents as a plot device.
 * Series protagonist Shinji Ikari, the pilot of the Evangelion Unit 01, gets his Berserk Button pushed more often, and to more disastrous effect, than any other character. An ironic trait, as his usual demeanor is so timid and passive. Many of the key Berserk Button moments are involuntary, the result of Shinji's Eva unit being knocked out of commission... and a certain subdued consciousness within the Eva taking control to avoid obliteration. On another level, however, the Eva units are adult extrapolations of of the children who pilot them. Shinji's Berserk Button is often connected to his feelings about his father and about his own powerlessness.
 * In the alternate universe retelling of the series, Evangelion 2.0, Shinji gained a new Berserk Button. For the love of all that's holy, don't you dare harm Rei. If you do, prepare to have him Eye Beam and Mind Rape you to death, complete with . You don't believe me? Ask Zeruel.

Ritsuko: Shinji, stop! You won't be able to regain human form!

Shinji: I don't care what happens to me... I don't care what happens to the world... But Ayanami... If nothing else, only Ayanami... I SWEAR I'LL SAVE HER!!! (knocks down Zeruel with an Eye Beam)"


 * Manga Shinji starkly replaces anime Shinji's lethargic passiveness with passive-aggressiveness and sometimes hot-headedness. He has attempted to punch his father Gendou (albeit with good reason), and his general attitude to others, including Asuka, is grumpier: the manga's Shinji gets irritated at behavior that the anime's Shinji would simply retreat from.
 * Asuka Langley Soryu (or Shikinami in 2.0), the pilot of the crimson-colored Evangelion Unit-02, has so many Berserk Buttons that it's arguable whether she should even be considered for this or Hair-Trigger Temper.
 * Although Misato Katsuragi's Berserk Buttons are generally tame compared with those of most of the cast, you still don't want to make any comments about her recent weight gain, her status as Christmas Cake, her generally slobbish lifestyle, or her deeper feelings for either Kaji or Shinji.
 * Things can get even nastier with her if you threaten Shinji's existence. Her manga version even tries to shoot Gendo.
 * Dr. Ritsuko Akagi displays one hell of a Berserk Button late in the series
 * It seems to run in the family.
 * New pilot Mari Illustrious Makinami, introduced in the Evangelion 2.0 retelling
 * Minor correction:
 * The Evangelion "robots" themselves, perhaps more than Shinji himself, could be considered characters with the real Berserk Buttons.
 * The Evangelion "robots" themselves, perhaps more than Shinji himself, could be considered characters with the real Berserk Buttons.