Jerkass Woobie/Video Games: Difference between revisions

* [[Troubled but Cute|Fenris]] from ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]'' won't pass up an opportunity to remind everyone how horrible and dangerous mages are and how magic spoils everything it touches. Of course, he happens to be an escaped slave from a country run by power-hungry [[Complete Monster]] mages and lost his memory of everything that happened before the ritual that gave him his lyrium markings (which amplify his fighting abilities at the cost of causing him pain and [[Hates Being Touched|an aversion to touching]]), so mages being horrible is literally all he knows of life before his escape. He has trouble adjusting to freedom, in part because his former master is still after him. He's illiterate, sucks at social interaction, justifiably paranoid, has trust issues, and often lets his temper get the better of him, for which he tends to apologize afterward. He also treats the mages in the party like crap; this is somewhat justified with Anders, as the story progresses, who is just as much of an ass, but he berates Merrill ceaselessly at the worst possible moments. Romancing him and helping him get over these issues is one of the many heartwarming moments in the game.

** We can't have Fenris without including the king of this trope, [[Byronic Hero|Anders]]. Replace every instance of "slavery" with "the mages' plight", and every "mage" with "templar" and his issues are nearly identical to those of Fenris'. Anders was abused in the circle and, now that he's free, he focuses all of his attention on gaining freedom for all mages, to the exemption of all else. He is the biggest hypocrite in the game, constantly whining about how Fenris has let one bad experience shape his life, and how Merrill is the worst person ever for [[Deal Withwith the Devil|dealing with a demon]]. Anders becomes more and more of a jerkass as the game progresses, to Hawke and all other party members. He kicks Merrill when she's down, gets on everyone's case for not choosing a side, gets on your case if you don't help every single mage you see, and even applauds if you agree to {{spoiler|sell Fenris back into slavery, even though he's fighting against the enslavement of mages!}} At the same time, if you played Awakening, you see how far he has fallen from the lovable wise-cracking cat-lover he was, and you can understand and sympathize with his decision to let the lost spirit Justice possess him. With each passing year in Kirkwall, you see him fall further into his obsession with freeing mages, and want to save him more. Unfortunately, even if you romance him, you can't heal him, and in the end, there's no stopping him {{spoiler|from blowing up the chantry and starting a war.}}

* Believe it or not, Jin Kisaragi from ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'' falls to this as well. He's a huge dick and can be called a disgrace to humanity in how he behaved. However, in the times when he was sane, he's actually a courteous man who seems to be ready to put his past as an [[Annoying Younger Sibling]] behind, until things from the past gets to him, and his [[Evil Weapon]] amplifies his emotions of the past, making him even more of a jerk than he usually is. There's also the fact that even when he worked his ass off to attain his position in NOL, his adopted family think that it's the family name that got him his position, making him feel like an outcast even in his own family. {{spoiler|His "reincarnation" as Hakumen}} proves that, without said [[Evil Weapon]], he can actually be a true hero, [[Good Is Not Nice|but still a jerk.]]

** The main "[[Anti-Hero|protagonist]]", Ragna the Bloodedge, qualifies as well. Though he does have his [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|good sides]] [[Pet the Dog|and moments]], he is for the most part rude, foul mouthed, verbally abusive and is perfectly willing to kill any and all innocent [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]] that get in his way on his quest to bring down the NOL... In fact, it could be argued that the only thing keeping him from being an [[Anti-Villain]] [[Villain Protagonist|Protagonist]] is the fact that 1) the ''real'' [[Big Bad Duumvirate|villains]] in the [[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]-verse are ''[[Complete Monster|MUCH]]'' [[Lack of Empathy|worse]] than Ragna could ''EVER'' be, and 2) the most active of the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] have seemingly made Ragna his designated victim, and has put lots of effort into fucking Ragna's life up as badly as possible. For example by possessing the earlier mentioned Jin, Ragna's little brother, and, through Jin, cutting off Ragna's right arm.

* ''[[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]'' is chock full of them. Ramsus & Hammer stand out the most. ''Xenosaga'' continues the tradition with characters like the tortured former serial killer/victim of government brainwashing/cultist/spy Cherenkov & Albedo, whose tragic life as a [[Tyke Bomb]] and [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|agonizing over the thought of outliving his brothers]] turned him into the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Memetic Molester]] we all know and love. There's also Virgil, a first-class [[Jerkass]] who keeps harassing Shion, but who watched the woman who loved him and saved his life get ''eaten alive''.

* The end of ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'' implies this about {{spoiler|Porky}}. While being the main villain and an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] who's doing it [[For the Evulz]], {{spoiler|Dr. Andronuts believes that the fact that he lived his life knowing that everyone hates him made him the insecure [[Psychopathic Manchild]] he was. In the end, a self-induced [[And I Must Scream]] is the only way he can be happy.}}

* ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]]'': Kratos, who has spent a good amount of his life as a [[Cosmic Plaything]] of the gods.

** In a way, [[Dark Action Girl|Sniper Wolf]]. She's a murderous [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] assassin/terrorist, but she has her [[Pet the Dog|kind moments]], and her backstory is rather tragic.

* Ittosai, ''[[Yo -Jin -Bo]]'''s resident [[Psycho for Hire]] who spends most of his time insulting the rest of the cast. If you follow his path through the game, you eventually learn that {{spoiler|his father was the one who messed him up terribly as a little kid in order to turn him into a bloodthirsty killing machine, even though he hated it.}} By the time he {{spoiler|becomes [[The Atoner]]}}, you're glad that Sayori is there to give him lots of hugs.

* ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'': Zelos Wilder. He's a jerk, pervert, and totally lazy, and {{spoiler|betrays the group a few times, feeling the need to side with the side he thinks is the strongest}}. If you talk to him at Flanoir, however, you find out that {{spoiler|he had to watch his mother die from an assassination attempt aimed at him. Her dying words were that he shouldn't have been born. He also says that his parents were forced together, which causes him grief. His people only see him as the Chosen and not as a person.}} If you choose Kratos's ending, {{spoiler|Zelos betrays you, further solidifying his Jerkass status, but he also says, smiling the whole time, that he did it because Mithos promised to transfer the Chosen title to his sister. He also suggests that he's generally tired of living}}.

* Ganondorf in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: theThe Wind Waker (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'', to a certain extent. Before that game, he was generally portrayed as a typical [[Evil Overlord]] who occasionally verged into [[Complete Monster]] territory ([[Moral Event Horizon|trying to feed all the Gorons to Volvagia comes to mind]]). His speech before the final battle in ''Wind Waker'', however, shows that his desire to conquer Hyrule stemmed from the awfully harsh life he had in the unforgiving desert. {{spoiler|Any sympathy he gains from players, however, gets a little diluted when he subsequently proceeds to beat the crap out of Link in order to snatch the Triforce of Courage}}.

** Also, Midna, in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', except she became a Woobie after becoming much nicer.

** Scrapper from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' is another example. He's generally very rude to Link, and unlike Midna, [[It Got Worse|never really gets any nicer.]] However, he is the last remaining one of his species. The fact that he's blissfully unaware of this, though, may qualify him as a full on [[Jerkass]].

* Doctor Zeppot from ''[[Dragon Quest VII (Video Game)|Dragon Quest VII]]'' isn't exactly a nice man, but his backstory as to ''why'' he's a jackass makes him oddly sympathetic.

* The ''[[War CraftWarcraft]]'' universe has a few examples.

** Fandral Staghelm is a racist who believes that night elves are the only true druids, is quite rude and patronizing toward players who do his quests, and, in Stormrage, {{spoiler|works with the villain, helping to trap Malfurion in the Emerald Nightmare and trying to corrupt Teldrassil}}. It is, however, revealed that his wife [[Death Byby Childbirth|died giving birth to their son]] and his son {{spoiler|was brutally executed in front of him during the war of the Shifting Sands. Fandral's going astray is the result of seeing a hallucination of his son, and his mind is completely broken by essentially losing his son a second time}}.

** [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Illidan Stormrage]] is a Type V [[Anti-Hero]] at best and batshit insane, but his instability is the result of [[The Punishment|ten thousand years of imprisonment]] plus watching all of his attempts at heroism [[Hero Withwith an F In Good|backfiring horribly.]]

* Dante from ''[[Devil May Cry]]''. He is constantly making snide remarks, complaining about money, extremely lazy (only works once a week), is in debt to all of his friends (and makes it clear that he won't be paying anyone back anytime soon), and is a major jerk to just about everyone. Then again, he consistently turns down payment (does the job anyway because it is the right thing) and refuses payment from the poor, saves the world on several occasions, takes care of Patty (to a certain extent), is shown to spare demons who are able to love and refuses to kill humans, and is shown to have a compassionate side as well as a kind side (he'll just give you a hard time).<br />The [[Jerkass Facade]] is to cover up the fact that he is miserable (it can be seen basically everywhere, especially in the anime; really, he never smiles except when he is slaughtering a demon or when he does a good deed!). The Woobie part is that he [[Missing Mom|witnessed his mother being slaughtered]] [[Mama Bear|while she protected him]] at the age of eight and [[Dead Little Brother|believed his brother to be dead as well]]. [[Disappeared Dad|He also believes that his father abandoned them at a young age]] and it is assumed that he basically raised himself. He finds his brother [[Cain and Abel|completely insane]] and is forced to defeat him, which leads to Vergil's apparent suicide (or so Dante believed), and forced to finally (all the while not knowing that it was Vergil) kill a possessed Vergil ten years later.<br />His friends constantely take advantage of him (manipulating him, forcing him to pay for clothing, etc.), he is forever hunted and hated by the entire demon world (and most humans hate him because of his demon heritage), and he has no hope of ever having a normal day (let alone a normal life). During everyday life, he is constantly being shot at (Lady shoots him point blank through the forehead twice and later through the stomach...in a period of six hours!), [[Impaled Withwith Extreme Prejudice|impaled]] (a [[Running Gag]] to be stabbed through the chest or stomach), and other things. Capcom really wanted to make sure that Dante had the worst possible upbringing and life possible, didn't they?

* Bowser, especially in ''[[Super Mario RPG (Video Game)|Super Mario RPG]]'' and the ''[[Mario and Luigi (Video Game)|Mario & Luigi]]'' series, and ''most'' especially in ''[[Mario and& Luigi: BowsersBowser's Inside Story (Video Game)|Bowser's Inside Story]]'', where he's the sympathetic [[Anti-Villain|Anti]] [[Villain Protagonist]].

* Subject 3 in ''[[Professor Layton and Thethe Unwound Future]]''. He was abducted and subject to many cruel experiments, resulting in him hating humans and taking on a very harsh [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!]] attitude.

* ''[[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]]'' gives us Cave Johnson, the insane CEO of Aperture Science. He is a [[Bad Boss]] of the highest degree, and doesn't care very much what happens to his employees. Yet still, most of the things he and his company invented were by accident. He wanted to make a diet pudding, he made the propulsion and repulsion gels instead (a pair of gels that are definitely ''not'' to be consumed). He had a similar intention with the conversion gel too, and even tried it on himself...only to find out that it is deadly as all hell and works better as portal conductors. On a related note, he definitely spent more time testing his products than actually marketing them due to how horrible Aperture was at that particular task. This eventually leads to his downfall as he eventually goes bankrupt and, in his last moments, he {{spoiler|uploaded his assistant's conciousness on to [[G La DOSGLaDOS]] so that she would be able to run the facility in his place (despite the fact that she did not want to)}}. In short, he would have been a millionare and an everyday hero if he had at least a little more sanity and some marketing ability, and the sense to use that ability.

* Silver, the rival from [[Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)|Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]. He's a huge [[Jerkass]], but once you learn about his past and [[Freudian Excuse]]...

** [[Big Bad|Cyrus]] in ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' (and ''Platinum'') counts. Destroying the universe and betraying his followers? Jerkass. His motivations for doing so? [[Cry for Thethe Devil|Aw,]] [[Freudian Excuse|poor]] [[Broken Ace|guy]] (especially in ''Platinum'').

* Herschell Biggs from ''[[LAL.A. Noire]]''. He refuses to accept Cole as his partner {{spoiler|after his affair with Elsa got out}}, but he begins to like him afterwards. It's just that during World War I, he has witnessed people burned and is close to retirement.

* Giygas from [[MOTHER 1 (Video Game)|the first Mother game]] is an alien that {{spoiler|loved Maria and she cared for him}}. However, he was forced to kill her when his people ordered an attack as vengeance on George stealing their PSI information.

* Liesolotte from ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume]]''. you'll want to reach through the screen and hug her, telling her it'll be alright...then break her ribs when you see what she did to Rosea in the "A" and "B" paths. (Heck, even what she tried to do to ''you''.)

* In the [[Grand Theft Auto (Video Gameseries)|Grand Theft Auto]] series: Sean "Sweet" Johnson from ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]''. Yes, he is a gangster. But all he wants is to build his gang on respect and loyalty rather than money, to keep his neighbourhood dope-free and to wreak righteous vengeance on those who try to get his friends hooked on crack. He is betrayed by the people he trusted more than anyone and sent to prison. Oh, and both his mother and little brother were killed by drug dealers.