Break the Cutie/Anime: Difference between revisions

*** Also from ''5D's'': [[Dark Magical Girl]] Aki Izayoi. We're first introduced to her as the [[Emotionless Girl]] and a closet sadist, as well as someone who refuses to think for herself and is a generally unsympathetic character, to both the audience and pretty much the entire world. Come Episode 40, where Aki is {{spoiler|comatose after dueling [[Evil Counterpart]] Misty (who pretty much breaks her brain by telling Aki that she killed her brother, and, indirectly, Misty herself) and witnessing the only person she really cares about fall to his death ([[Back from the Dead|or so they think!]])}}, and we meet her father. Who reveals that, aside from having serious [[Parental Abandonment|abandonment]] issues due to the fact that she adored him and he was never home, she suffered serious mental abuse and even a bit of physical abuse when she was a child, due to the fact that he couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had powers. When she grows up, she's ostracized by nearly every single person she meets for the same reason, and she can't get rid of it without turning into what is implied to be an even bigger social pariah in the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' universe, since ''everyone'' you meet plays cards. And I mean ''everyone.'' Yuusei forgives her for being a little psychopathic.

* Subaru Sumeragi in [[CLAMP]]'s ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]'' and ''[[X 1999]]'' was very carefully broken, and then some more, by his love interest Seishirou.

* Rena and Satoko from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' both qualify, though Rena tends to snap, while Satoko breaks. Rika also tends to get it pretty hard. In fact, it's hard to argue that any of the cuties of Hinamizawa ''aren't'' broken at some point.

** Shion, however, outperforms all other cuties in the fine art of breaking and snapping. Don't ask. Rather, instead of breaking/snapping, she [[Ax Crazy|explodes violently with the force of an anti-personnel mine, ripping everyone else apart with the shrapnel]].

*** And then there's Takeru/TK in the [[Digimon Adventure|original series]]... poor damn TK, it just wasn't fair. To elaborate, at age 8 he is dealing with his parents being divorced, his [[Aloof Older Brother]] being moody and unpleasant because of this, and then he witnesses his close friend and Digimon Patamon die ''right in front of him'' without the knowledge that he'd [[Disney Death|come back okay]]. He does manage to deal with this and becomes a level-headed [[Lancer]] in the second season... [[Berserk Button|unless he encounters anyone making use of the Powers of Darkness.]]

**** Speaking of the original series, Tailmon/Gatomon may be a [[Badass]], but that's partly because she went through this a long time ago. She was accidentally dropped in the forest as an egg when the Chosen Digimon were being transported to where they'd meet their partners, hatched and spent her entire early childhood isolated and lonely but still with a desire to be with her partner that she couldn't place, when she reached her Child/Rookie stage set off looking for her only to be captured by Vamdemon/Myotismon as a recruit for his army. She resisted for a while and ended up regularly beaten for it to the point that she gave in just to stay alive and eventually forgot the whole thing and got to be noted as one of his more valuable servants. When she ''does'' finally find Hikari and remember her past, nothing gets easier, seeing as she gets kidnapped and used to lure out her own partner and Wizarmon, her only real friend during her time under Vamdemon's service, is [[Kick the Dog|killed right in front of her]](twice), and even after Vamdemon seems to be defeated, her experiences don't entirely leave her.

** Aside from this, averted with Lulu, who {{spoiler|sees all of the other Schiff die off in ones and twos, and faces her own premature death from the Thorn.}} Despite this, she remains [[Genki Girl|happy and chipper]], and {{spoiler|eventually they find her a cure.}}

*** Pulled yet again in regards to Haji. Through a flashback, it is shown that the reason he went from being somewhat stoic to made of stone was because {{spoiler|his blood turned his One True Love and reason for living into a murdering psychopath who forgot who he was and ''cut his arm off'' during her rampage.}}

* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' revolves around this trope. Yui is raped basically within 5 minutes of her second trip there, and becomes a vengeful, hateful villainess, primarily because of her {{spoiler|bishonen bodyguard Nakago, who warped her mind to the point where she blames her best friend Miaka for the rape, since she wasn't there to help her. Eventually, it turns out that Yui was never actually raped, but the entire thing was a [[Gambit Roulette|ridiculously complicated plan]] by Nakago to pit them against each other as a part of a larger plan to stage a coup in Genbu. Later he tries to rape Miaka as well but fails, though he ''does'' get her to believe that it happened until someone else explains the mess.}}

** Also, that whole arc where {{spoiler|Yui drugs Tamahome to make him betray Miaka, who was temporarily broken until she breaks the spell with [[The Power of Love]]. Then, Miaka's own mistakes make everything ''worse'' for her, Tamahome, and their friends}}

** Suboshi and Amiboshi, impoverished twin orphans who have the misfortune of being recruited by [[Manipulative Bastard]] Nakago. Suboshi deals by becoming a [[Hot-Blooded]] [[Jerkass]], later crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]] and thereby losing his "cutie" status ([[Draco in Leather Pants|for most fans, anyway]]); Amiboshi fares much better, but even he still has {{spoiler|a [[Driven to Suicide|suicide attempt to his name]], and only reaches happiness when [[Tear Jerker|his memory of the preceding 15 years is completely erased]]... thanks by Suboshi, [[Pet the Dog|as his last act of kindness ever]].}}

* Misuzu from ''[[AIR]]'' arguably qualifies, since a lot of time and effort is put into presenting her as a sweet, lovable, although somewhat peculiar girl—only to {{spoiler|have her suffer enormous pain in the last few episodes and die in the arms of her adoptive mother, her aunt Haruko. Her final moments are still [[Tear Jerker|gruesomely beautiful]], though}}.

* In ''[[Chirin no Suzu]]'' a lamb named Chirin starts out as cute, friendly, and happy go lucky until his mother is killed by a wolf, so he seeks revenge but realizes that he's too small and weak to do any damage so he convinces the wolf to become his apprentice and he goes through [[Training from Hell]] until he becomes a deformed ruthless killing machine.

* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'''s backstory between Sōsuke and Kalinin, you can get a taste of young Sōsuke's [[Break the Cutie]] (though most of what you see is the huge contrast and aftermath). Especially noticeable from [http://pics.livejournal.com/fmp_misha/pic/0003a17w this] to [http://pics.livejournal.com/fmp_misha/pic/0003eq61 this].

* Ditto for ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]''. All 4 main characters have tragic angsty backstory.

* [[Break the Cutie|This]] [[Kill'Em All|happens]] to main character Sara Werec of ''[[Soukou no Strain]]''. In the ''first episode'' no less!

** There's a few other characters too, such as Freckles/Doll from the circus arc.

** Elizabeth in chapter 57.

** Oh yes, did I mention that Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, and Artemis all get killed and they don't get better? You can imagine what this does to (Chibi) Usagi and Diana.

* [[Rozen Maiden]]: Suigintou. In Overature, she starts out a very friendly doll {{spoiler|despite the fact that her father abandoned her (incomplete) and she's been literally crawling through N-Fields to find him. She happens to find Shinku, who takes her in and acts as if she cares. However, once Sugintou is killed the first time by Souseseki, Shinku reveals that Sugintou is not a complete doll, and looks on coldly as Sugintou begs Shinku to save her. Shinku refers to her as junk several times. Sugintou comes back, because Rozen decided to quit being a Jerkass, and tries to grab Shinku's Roza Mystica.}}

* Reika Kitami, the main villain of the ''Bible Black'' series experiences this in the Prequel. When she first arrives in high school, she's a sweet, [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] who bonds with a puppy, who wouldn't hurt a fly unless pushed, and is absolutely pure sexually and mentally. Unfortunately, these make her the prime target of the Rose Cross Coven (a cabal of 7 high school girls who practice black magic to make money and to hurt people they don't like). She also angers Kozono Nami, the school's resident [[Rich Bitch]], [[Alpha Bitch]], and [[Psycho Lesbian]] by refusing her advances. The result? First, the puppy she bonded with is used as a sacrifice, than she gets raped by a bunch of thugs (loosing her virginity in the most horrible way possible short of being tentacle raped), then she gets knocked out and wakes up on a human sacrifice alter in the school basement. While all this is going on, she's not only physically and emotionally traumatized, terrified and likely in shock, but doesn't even have any idea what the hell is going on. After getting stabbed... repeatedly... with a very large sword, she witnesses the rest of the cult members getting massacred by Nami after the ritual fails (since Kitami was no longer a virgin). After summoning the last of her strength to kill Nami she collapses mortally wounded. At this point, the Devil offers her a contract to save her life. At this point, Kitami is simply so terrified and in agony/shock that she accepts it without question. The very final scene in the prequal shows Kitami walking into the sunrise with a vacant grin, on a residential street... naked... and covered in blood.

** And if that wasn't bad enough, the process is repeated on Imari in the original series. Imari starts out exactly as Reika did. Cute, sweet, innocent high school girl, with an apparently reciprocated crush on the primary male protagonist, Minase. As soon as Minase finds the Black Bible used by the original Rose Cross Coven, it all just goes badly for Imari. It begins with her walking in on Minase having sex with another female student (after he invited her to come over and cook diner for him in the first place), she gets kidnapped by the new coven (Now taken over by Reika) thanks to Minase (who has become the 2nd under Reika after his own magical mind break), is drugged and subsequently forcibly sodomized by a [[Charm Person|magically]] [[Playing with Puppets|controlled]] but fully aware/struggling Minase. Then gang sodomized by numerous other anonymous men AND the demonically "gifted" Reika, then has her actual virginity taken by Reika as part of the ritual attempted with her in the prequel. By the end of the series, Imari is pretty much [[Empty Shell|gone]] with Reika having [[Demonic Possession|taken over her body]] completely. Don't think it gets more broken than that.

** Also, in the fanmade game ''[[Heta Oni]]'', {{spoiler|Italy}} is broken quite a few times, {{spoiler|because everyone continues to die while trying to protect him, and he has to watch it all. [[And I Must Scream|Again, and again, and again, and again...]]}}

* ''[[No. 6]]'': Sion in the Correctional facility during episode 10.

* Please don't be a female lead in a [[Mayu Shinjo]] manga. And ''specially'', don't name yourself [[Haou Airen|Kurumi Akino]] or [[Sensual Phrase|Aine Yukimura]]. Because you'll end up horribly broken not just by your boyfriend's rivals/enemies/scorned women, but [[Bastard Boyfriend|by your own boyfriend]].