Jerkass Woobie/Film: Difference between revisions

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* Darth Vader in ''[[Star Wars]]'' is responsible for many of the Empire's atrocities, particularly killing the Jedi. He did so in an attempt to save his wife from dying, but this ends up happening anyway as a result of his own actions. And (he thinks) his unborn child(ren) died with her. And before that, there was his mother. Then there's the fact that the whole galaxy hates him for trying to do the right thing. Palpatine convinced him that the Jedi were trying to overthrow the Republic and sends him visions of his wife dying, so Anakin tries to save her by learning the secrets of the Sith, only to be overcome by the Dark Side. Then his wife dies, his best friend dismembers him and leaves him to burn to death, and he has killed the rest of his friends. The only person he has left is his worst enemy, Palpatine - who got him into this mess to begin with - until he learns that his son, Luke Skywalker, is alive. [[Jerkass Woobie]] indeed.

* Ray in ''Nil by Mouth''.

* Mr. White, Marvin Nash and Mr. Orange in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]''. It's hard not to feel sorry for them, considering how much they had been through. And at the same time, it's hard not to get fed up by their [[Cluster F Bomb|frequent cursing]] and punch them in the face for it.

* Mr. White, Marvin Nash and Mr. Orange in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]''. It's hard not to feel sorry for them, considering how much they had been through. And at the same time, it's hard not to get fed up by their [[Cluster F-Bomb|frequent cursing]] and punch them in the face for it.

* Combo in ''[[This Is England]]''.

* The titular character in ''[[Bram Stokers Dracula (Film)|Bram Stokers Dracula]]'', in a departure from [[Dracula (Literature)|the original novel.]]

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* Louis Winthorpe in ''[[Trading Places]]''. He was a snobby [[Blue Blood]] commodities broker who ends up being framed for embezzlement and drug dealing, gets incarcerated, loses his home and wealth, and gets shunned by all his friends and fiance, who's also led to think that he's been cheating on her. The shock of all this proves so much that he gets [[Driven to Suicide]] ''twice''. [[Character Development|He gets better]] after he learns that he went through all that because of a bet by his bosses {{spoiler|of only one dollar}}, and he gets back at them magnificently.

* The titular character of ''[[Hedwig and The Angry Inch]]'' is this in spades. He/She gets a botched sex change operation in order to obtain a [[Citizenship Marriage]] out of [[East Germany]] and, upon arriving in America, has to work as a prostitute to survive. She is also a snappy, bad-tempered diva who treats her band members like absolute shit - esspecially Yitzhak - which delves into outright psychological abuse at time.

* The Red Queen from [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. Yes, she's ([[Composite Character|basically]]) the [[Ax Crazy]] [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen of Hearts]]. And yes, she's quite evil, what with [[Doomed Hometown|razing the countryside]], unleashing multiple [[Eldritch Abominations]], [[Kick the Dog|abusing the]] [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]], and ''killing'' [[Morality Chain|the King]]. Yet she's also desperately lonely, has an [[The Unfavourite|inferiority]] [[Well Done Son Guy|complex]] with [[Cain and Abel|her sister]], and knows that she's only safe as long as people are too afraid to revolt. Also, she does NOT have a [[Villainous Breakdown]] after her defeat and [[Fate Worse Than Death|punishment]] (despite her [[Psychopathic Manchild]] tendencies), merely making [[Tear Jerker|a TRULY heartbreaking face]] when she realizes that she'll effectively [[Dying Alone|die alone]]. Hell, she only descends into hysterics post-defeat when the Knave tries to kill her. Given that this is IMMEDIATELY AFTER she just said "[[You Are Worth Hell|At least we have each other]]", the audience is [[Moral Event Horizon|right there with her]].

* The Red Queen from [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. Yes, she's ([[Composite Character|basically]]) the [[Ax Crazy]] [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen of Hearts]]. And yes, she's quite evil, what with [[Doomed Hometown|razing the countryside]], unleashing multiple [[Eldritch Abominations]], [[Kick the Dog|abusing the]] [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]], and ''killing'' [[Morality Chain|the King]]. Yet she's also desperately lonely, has an [[The Unfavourite|inferiority]] [["Well Done, Son" Guy|complex]] with [[Cain and Abel|her sister]], and knows that she's only safe as long as people are too afraid to revolt. Also, she does NOT have a [[Villainous Breakdown]] after her defeat and [[Fate Worse Than Death|punishment]] (despite her [[Psychopathic Manchild]] tendencies), merely making [[Tear Jerker|a TRULY heartbreaking face]] when she realizes that she'll effectively [[Dying Alone|die alone]]. Hell, she only descends into hysterics post-defeat when the Knave tries to kill her. Given that this is IMMEDIATELY AFTER she just said "[[You Are Worth Hell|At least we have each other]]", the audience is [[Moral Event Horizon|right there with her]].

* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1984 film ''[[Amadeus]]'', a [[Jerkass]] and [[Insufferable Genius]], with an [[Annoying Laugh]] to boot. Once he gets around to writing the Requiem Mass, though, he starts breaking down physically and mentally, and you can't help but feel sorry him.

* At first, Bender from ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' comes off like a punk with no reason behind his behavior, but it's later revealed that he has a very bad home life stemming from his father's abuse. He doesn't really change by the end of the movie, but your impression of him is softened considerably.

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* From [[The Final]]: barring [[Complete Monster|Dane]], all of the other outcasts(Andy, Ravi, Emily and Jack). They've been [[Being Tortured Makes You Evil|warped]] by years of abuse at school and unhappy home lives. Even as they torture their abusers, they want to keep the one guy who was nice to them away from it all.

* ''[[Hugo (Film)|Hugo]]'': The Station Inspector. His leg was crippled in World War I, and beneath his stern, relentless persona is a lonely man who is harsh on orphans because it reminds him of the pain of being one himself.

* The [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] version of Loki is very much this trope, both in [[Thor]] and in [[The Avengers]]. On the Jerkass side, he kills an awful lot of people, to the point that even ''Thor'' seems to consider him to be this trope. However, you can't help but feel sorry for him when it's revealed that he's actually an adopted Frost Giant and it's revealed that his main motivation is to prove to his (adoptive) father that he is a worthy son. This also overlaps with [[Woobie Destroyer of Worlds]].

* The [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] version of Loki is very much this trope, both in [[Thor]] and in [[The Avengers]]. On the Jerkass side, he kills an awful lot of people, to the point that even ''Thor'' seems to consider him to be this trope. However, you can't help but feel sorry for him when it's revealed that he's actually an adopted Frost Giant and it's revealed that his main motivation is to prove to his (adoptive) father that he is a worthy son. This also overlaps with [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]].

* [[James McAvoy|Nicholas Garrigan]] in ''[[The Last King of Scotland]]'' is a conceited, ignorant and selfish individual, constantly chasing the skirts of married women. However, seeing him {{spoiler|getting meathooks shoved through his chest and then suspended from the ceiling}}, does make one feel sorry for him.

* [[Titanic]]: Cal. Being a product of his times, he genuinely cannot understand how Rose could possibly be happy as the wife of a homeless man with no financial security. He is a classic [[Crazy Jealous Guy]] who treats Rose like a possession rather a person, though it should be noted that this is also a direct by-product of his upbringing and culture. Rose and Jack themselves, meanwhile, are clearly ahead of their time as far as their values go(this may explain why so many people view them as anachronistic characters). In short, he genuinely loves Rose but does not know how to show it properly, he loses her to another man, and {{spoiler|then gets to New York thinking that she's dead.}}