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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"I am writing a list of tragic character flaws on my dollar bills with a felt pen. I am thinking of the people in my universe and distilling for each of these people the one flaw in their character that will be their downfall--the flaw that will be their undoing. What I write are not sins; I write tragedies."''
|'''Tyler Johnson''', ''Shampoo Planet''}}
[[Heroes]] have a '''Fatal Flaw''' which they wrestle with on a consistent basis. This may open them up for specific conflicts
In classic literature, a Fatal Flaw is often what prevents a [[Tragic Hero]] from succeeding, or serves as the cause of their [[Tragic Mistake]]. It is usually some sort of character deficiency listed below or, in conventional television, an addiction of some sort. In modern television, the Fatal Flaw is more likely to lead to a [[Very Special Episode]].
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Note the resemblance to the [[Seven Deadly Sins]].
If the
A literal fatal flaw, as often seen in science fiction, would be [[Phlebotinum Breakdown]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Whether it be a raging inferiority complex, self-endangering recklessness, an Oedipus complex, alcoholism, bizarre neo-mystic delusions, or a complete disregard for one's own life, pretty much ''everybody'' in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' had at least one of these. Quite a few have more then one.
* Light Yagami of ''[[Death Note]]'' has his overwhelming pride, which reaches [[A God Am I]] at its worst and blinds him to the point of refusing to even ''contemplate'' his own failure.
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** However, Suzaku is unable to see that the people he sucks up to due to his lack of self-worth and desperate desire to be a Britannian are everything that he does not want and he is doing everything he claims he is against on a daily basis.
** {{spoiler|Shirley's}} attraction to Lelouch gets her killed when she confronts Rolo. Even though, she doesn't remember him, she trusts him because Lelouch seems to trust him.
* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', Chrono's [[Our Demons Are Different|demonic instincts]] and [[Failure Knight|need to protect others]] (particularly Rosette) sometimes combine to give him a very, very [[Unstoppable Rage|dangerous temper]]. Since Chrono's powers [[Cast
* Death the Kid from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has his [[Super OCD|raging OCD]] and self-esteem issues; the presence or lack of symmetry in his surroundings (or remembering that he may have forgotten to symmetrically fold his toilet paper roll this morning) can take him out of a battle in a heartbeat.
** In one case, Liz actually uses this against him to avoid getting into a battle in the first place, as the factory containing the Clown scared her, (and with good reason). She does something similar earlier, when taking note of Free's ball and chain to provoke Kid to attack the werewolf.
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* The main characters of ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' have this. Allen [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|goes out of his way to save others]], even when it's [[Honor Before Reason|impossible for him to do so]]. Kanda is [[Good Is Not Nice|extremely arrogant and rude to the people he has to work with]]. Lenalee has a raging fear of losing anyone close to her. Krory is a [[Horrible Judge of Character]]. Miranda has next to no self-esteem and is [[The Eeyore|easily depressed]]. And Lavi is torn between his duty as a Bookman and the people he cares about.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'': Juudai's stubbornness, being headstrong, irresponsible, impulsive, and impatience are cute and endearing for two and a half seasons. Then all of those combine and (he thinks) gets four to five of his best friends killed.
* From ''[[Durarara!!]]'', Shizuo's severe anger issues and Kida's inability to face [[My Greatest Failure|his guilt head on.]] Not only does this put him in a position where he avoids his girlfriend Saki {{spoiler|they make up at the end of the anime series}} but by not facing this head on, {{spoiler|he repeats his whole guilt trip with his best friend Mikado by dropping out of school and leaving Ikebukuro. And Mikado didn't take this well...}}
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': Kamina's impatience, Simon's lack of faith in himself. (Of course, Simon beat his fatal flaw senseless about halfway along and went on to use its limp form as a club, but that's not important right now.)
** Kittan's inferiority complex led to his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when he {{spoiler|stole a kamikaze attack Yoko was about to volunteer for.}}
* [[Evil Matriarch|Precia Testarossa]]'s [[Heel Realization]] in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] [[The Movie]] 1st'': "I never notice things before it's too late."
* The characters in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' had their downfall brought by their respective
** Kyouko however, only died ''after'' she set aside her Selfishness. [[Death by Irony]]?
* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', Kotetsu has a noted tendency to [[Cannot Spit It Out|keep personal struggles to himself]], even when those personal issues don't just affect him. This starts really coming down hard on him in the second half of the series {{spoiler|when he can't work up the nerve to tell Barnaby he's retiring, or [[De-Power|the reasons]] behind it, and Barnaby takes it as a sign that he doesn't trust him}}.
** And Barnaby has his own flaw; the hell-bent obsession with revenge that made him an [[Ineffectual Loner]] who has rejected any close personal relationships for the past ''20 years''.
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== Fan
* In the ''[[.hack]]'' fanfiction [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4036084/1/ .hack//G.U.: The Staircase to Nowhere], each of the Epitaph users has one physical/mental flaw that can spell the end for them in the Goddess Morganna's war; Haseo has his photophobia (his sensitivity to light), Atoli's fear of being alone, Endrance's weak lungs, and Kuhn's color blindness.
* In the [[Glee]] fanfic ''[[Hunting the Unicorn]]'', Blaine's [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|Wide-Eyed Idealism]] has gotten him [[True Companions|the Warblers]], [[Official Couple|Kurt,]] an [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|unlucky high school friend,]] [[Parental Neglect|an emotionally estranged father,]] and {{spoiler|''a stalker''}}. Not to mention that {{spoiler|he lost his virginity to a guy who did ''not'' share his belief that [[Sex Equals Love]].}}
==
* ''[[Back to The Future]]'''s Marty McFly and his compulsion to prove that he's not "chicken".
* ''[[Plunkett and Macleane]]'''s main character Macleane has a weakness for women and gambling. Both get him into serious trouble.
* In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels, Anakin Skywalker's fatal flaw is his [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]], ironically causing him to turn to [[The Dark Side]] in his narrow-minded effort to [[Always Save the Girl|save Padmé]] [[Moral Event Horizon|at all costs]].
* ''[[
* [[Saw|Jigsaw's]] MO is setting people up in traps (or as he calls them, tests and "games") where someone must overcome their
** Nine times out of ten, they lose.
*
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* Hubris is a common tragic flaw in mythology and classical literature. One of the more famous examples is Odysseus, who is forced to undergo a 10-year voyage home after angering Poseidon with his arrogance.
* ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'': Not a hero, but William is absolutely terrified of a [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]]. It's a flaw because others use it to exploit him and make him do their bidding.
* In ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'', it's explicitly stated that every demigod has a
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Harry saves people. [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|It's just what he does.]] At one point, someone immediately figures out that he's harboring a fugitive because that's Harry's schtick; people come to him for help, [[We Help the Helpless|he helps them]].
** In the Backup Novella a "[[Femme
* [[Harry Potter|Voldemort]]'s
** Voldemort also cannot understand [[The Power of Love|love]], though he can't help that - he's [[The Sociopath]] whose complete incapability for love and compassion were caused by the fact that his mother coerced his father with love potion, which is not true love.
** And then there's Harry himself, whose
*** In another sense, Harry's fatal flaw is that he has a martyr complex that keeps him from asking for help or back-up at times when it would really be a smart idea. He does this to keep the people around him safe but it tends to really work against him. {{spoiler|Voldemort uses this to manipulate him into events that lead to Sirius's death.}}
** Sirius's recklessness - basically, his
** Severus Snape hangs on to the past to the point that he makes seemingly irrational choices simply because of some event or another that happened a long time ago.
** When he was young, [[The Dumbledore|Dumbledore]] had a whopping case of [[Pride]], {{spoiler|planning to create a "new world" with [[Those Wacky Nazis|Grindlewald]] in which wizards would rule over muggles.}} He snapped out of it {{spoiler|with the death of his sister}} and spent more than a century deliberately avoiding powerful positions because he didn't trust himself (Headmaster of Hogwarts not being that powerful a job, apparently).
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== Live
* ''[[Homicide: Life
** Same goes for [[24|Jack Bauer]].
* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' - Walter White's pride causes him to start cooking meth instead of accepting charity in the first place, and continues to get him into escalating trouble from there.
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* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': Dean for Sam, Sam for Dean and both of them for John while he was still alive. Ah, the joys of being a [[Thicker Than Water|clingy]], [[Dysfunctional Family|screwed-up family]] filled with [[Martyr Without a Cause|martyrs]].
** Both brothers have no sense of self-worth thanks to [[Parental Neglect|Dad]], who refuses to show any affection or let anyone help him, preferring to keep his sons completely in the dark. Not the greatest planner with [[Crusading Widower|vengeance on his mind]], this works out badly.
** Dean's self-loathing. His struggle to hold his broken family together, along with his sluttiness, death-wish, general bone-headedness, and feeling that he's only valuable as a "blunt instrument", all seem to stem from efforts to ''do'' enough that he feels worthwhile.
** Sam's insecurity. His [[Horrible Judge of Character|gullibility]] and [[The Only One|pride]] seem to be born of his overriding desire to believe that bad people can be
* Many of the characters in ''[[ER]]'' have one at some point or another. Examples include Abby's alcoholism, and Carter's painkiller addiction.
* On ''[[American Gothic]]'', Dr. Crower's fatal flaw would quite obviously have to be his struggle with alcoholism (and [[Backstory|the tragic event which resulted from it]]). Gail's, apparently, is [[Evil Is Sexy|sex]].
* In ''[[Scrubs]]'', the character Dr. Kevin Casey is an example of [[The Ace]] with a hidden
* Nate's alcoholism in ''[[Leverage]]'', which has gotten the team into trouble in at least one episode. Although, {{spoiler|the way the new season looks, he might be on his way to beating that.}}
* In [[The Chosen]] Rebbe Saunder's near-fatal flaw was fear that his son would be unworthy. It is overcome because Danny loves his father enough to endure the harsh training that his father thinks he needs.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In the system called ''House of the Blooded'', the characters are all nobility, seemingly built for high drama and Mary/Marty Sue-ism. Each character has six characteristics, each based off of one of the major families, and there is no rolling involved. You have four points for one characteristic, three for two others, two for two more... and the sixth characteristic gets a ''zero'', meaning you can never use it. A zero in Strength means you are too physically weak to force open a sticky door, for example, thus ensuring that ''all'' characters have an inbuilt
* In ''[[Traveller]]'' the
* This trope is present (and ''of course'' taken [[Up to Eleven]]) in ''[[Exalted]]'':
** The Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals all get various versions of the Great Curse, a psychological affliction thrown at them by the Primordials for besting them in war. The Solars and Lunars enter a brief psychotic period called a [[Limit Break]] (ranging from berserker rage to uncontrolled crying at the suffering of the world to becoming cold and uncaring about the suffering of others), the Dragon-Blooded get a lighter version of the same, and the Sidereals [[A Simple Plan|can't seem to make any of their big plans work right]].
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* [[White Wolf]] are generally pretty fond of this trope. ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]'' and ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' are particularly good examples as every sub-flavour of supernatural ("Kith" in ''Changeling'', "Clan" in ''Vampire'') has its own supernatural disadvantage.
* The ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' also has the option during character creation of giving a character a flaw which could potentially hinder them and - if done right - give extra experience points. Some of the flaws include addictions, Coward, Forgetful, and Behavior Blind.
* The Traitor Primarchs of ''[[Warhammer
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** [[Macbeth]] is blinded by power and paranoia and [[Out, Damned Spot!|plagued by guilt]]. He's also very wrathful.
** Lady Macbeth is overly ambitious.
** [[Hamlet]] waited too long, and is [[Alternate Character Interpretation|very likely crazy]]. And yet he is completely [[Genre Savvy]] about this:
** [[Romeo and Juliet]] are so obsessed with each other they forget about anything else. Romeo is a bit of a hothead, too.
** Friar Lawrence thought his [[Crazy Enough to Work]] plan would actually work.
** [[Othello]] is too rash, not to mention gullible (to be more precise, he believes the people he shouldn't and doesn't believe the ones he should) and prone to jealousy.
* Shown explicitly in Arthur Miller's play ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''. The main character, Willy Loman, is so entranced with his own dreams and desires, that he denies and ignores anything contrary to his beliefs. Willy's conviction that just being well liked is enough to lead to success eventually leads to his downfall, as he can't understand why his sons, who were popular in high school, can't seem to get successful jobs. After Willy commits suicide, the play ends as a [[Shaggy Dog Story]], with [[Lonely Funeral|nobody attending Willy's funeral]]. One of Willy's sons even [[Lampshade
* In Miller's ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'', Eddie Carbone's
* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'': Sweeney Todd's obsession with revenge against Judge Turpin (combined with waiting a little too long the first time he had him in his hands) ends up costing him everything in the end (as well as {{spoiler|his willingness to trust someone he really shouldn't have concerning his wife's fate}}).
* In ''[[Electra]]'', the title character's unrelenting lust for revenge combined with her nigh incestuous obsession with her brother, Orestes, and her father, Agamemnon, makes for her fatal flaw.
* Though not fatal, [[My Fair Lady|Henry Higgins']] superior attitude causes Elisa to leave him.
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* ''[[Dungeon Keeper]] 2'': Turned on its head in execution, but still used perfectly straight. One of the earlier campaign missions pits you against Lord [[Theme Naming|Avaricious]] in his impenetrable fort. The elegant way to win (as opposed to a head-on slaughter) is to have your imps mine away almost all of the gold beneath his realm, enraging the man enough to lead the charge personally. [[Karmic Death|It doesn't end well.]]
* In ''[[Touhou]]'', the Lunarians as a whole has a titanic ego and tendency to underestimate those they believe to be impure. To their credits, they ''are'' more powerful than most people in Gensokyo. {{spoiler|Their arrogance eventually render them vulnerable to Yukari's [[Plan]]... to steal Lunarian sake, Now that's just petty.}}
** Note that in ''Touhou'', a lot of people have the
* ''[[Eien no Aselia]]'': Yuuto's fatal flaw in would be his stubbornness and anger. His life to this point has been more difficult than it needed to be due to the former, and because of the latter {{spoiler|he nearly kills Kaori.}}
* In ''[[The Sims Medieval]]'', every Sim in your kingdom has some sort of fatal flaw that directly affects their mood or performance (ex.: Gluttons have to eat more frequently, and require more than one meal to be fully satisfied; [[Casanova Wannabe|Licentious]] Sims get in a bad mood if they don't kiss or [[G-Rated Sex|Woohoo]] with other Sims after a set amount of time). Succeeding in certain quests allows them to drop their fatal flaw and replace it with a Legendary Trait, which can't be selected during character creation.
* Flying Fox in ''[[Heavenly Sword]]'', a terrifying [[One-Man Army]] who wiped out entire clans by himself, is ultimately defeated by Nariko and Kai because of his cockiness and sheer lack of pragmatism in favor of showing off and doing everything with style. He lets a first opportunity to stop Nariko go to waste because he likes her style and wants another shot later, then hangs Kai in a spectacular fashion but fails to notice that she actually survives, and after two intense phases of boss fight with Nariko, his last phase is him getting shot in the head by Kai ([[Bond Villain Stupidity|because she still had access to her big repeating crossbow for some reason]]) [[Death by Irony|in the most anticlimactic fashion imaginable]].
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== Web Comics ==
* Vaarsuvius of ''[[The
** He/She is working on that, though, and is limiting him/herself to low-level enhancements unless he/she needs them, as opposed to just going all out.
** There's also Redcloak, whose inability to back down from the path and plan he's chosen, despite all the senseless sacrifices, really bites him in Start of Darkness.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': Danny has two: His [[Start of Darkness|darkness]] which manifests into him constantly abusing his powers which if he isn't careful, would result in a very, very, ''very'' [[Bad Future]]. The other is his emotions which he has a trouble time
* Robin of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' tends to become so devoted to one goal, he neglects other aspects of his life until the issue is resolved. This characteristic has damaged, or even risked losing, many of his friendships and sometimes even proved his undoing.
* While it is undeniably played for laughs most of the time, Omi, from ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'' has a massive superiority complex, constantly talks down to his friends as if they're beneath him, and it has gotten him in trouble more than a few times.
** Also demonstrated with Raimundo. Due to being singled out of a promotion and treated as inferior by Omi, again, Raimundo [[Face Heel Turn|betrayed the team]].
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]],'' Iroh's bizarre
* Discord from ''[[My Little Pony:
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