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Loners Are Freaks: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. (...) Anyone who (...) does not partake of society is either [[Complete Monster|a beast]] or [[A God Am I|a god]]."''|'''[[
Friends are great. Which is why having friends is often what separates the hero from the villain. An inevitable side-effect of [[The Power of Friendship]] is [[Friendless Background|if you don't have friends]], there's something wrong with you. Similarly, if a writer is going to create a sympathetic [[Anti-Hero]], they often choose to make the character a brooding loner. Although there are many other ways to make a flawed character--[[Pride]], addiction, and lust are all sympathetic, epic flaws. No, no, instead, writers opt for just plain asocial.
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It's hard to determine whether this trope originated from assumptions about loners in the real world or helped cause it...or whether that's ''another'' vicious cycle.
There are exceptions, as with all other tropes: [[The Hermit|the crusty old hermit]] or [[Witch Doctor]] who rebuffs the villains and helps out the heroes is a fairly popular stock character. And both of those are frequently portrayed at the very least as eccentric. The [[Misunderstood Loner
And, as ''[[Freaks]]'' proved, loners may be freaks, but freaks aren't loners.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'': The protagonist has an ever-growing [[Team Spirit|team of friends to support him]], and not do much else. [[The Rival]] doesn't have any, doesn't want any, and consistently fluctuates between bona fide antagonist and intolerable rich snob.
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', ''everyone'' is a loner to some degree, and it does none of them the least bit of good. Shinji is the most lonely, because of all the [[Butt Monkey|depressing, horrible, and just plain sad things]] that happen to him. Watching his mother die, being forced to pilot EVA-01 by his father, getting little respect from his peers and/or being bullied, {{spoiler|watching EVA-01 tear a rogue EVA to shreds beyond his control, and later finding out that the pilot was one of his friends who is now crippled as a result, being forced to kill the only person who truly understood him, and being forced to activate an apocalyptic event, leaving him and Asuka the only two people on Earth.}}
** [[Rebuild of Evangelion|Rebuild]] has an aversion in the form of {{spoiler|Mari, who outright states that she doesn't like involving others in her plans, deliberately cuts off the intercom when she [[Gundamjack|hijacks]] EVA 02, and is hardly shown talking with anyone but the protagonist. She still manages to be a very positive, badass character who teaches said protagonist an important lesson.}}
* Sara in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'', the [[New Transfer Student]] loner, is assumed to be an evil one by the Gambee pilots who need a [[Butt Monkey|scapegoat]].
* One of Ash's rivals, Paul, from ''[[Pokémon (
* On ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'', the evil Puppetmon was defeated specifically because he had no friends.
** He had the longest season out of the four <s> five</s> evil digimon allied with Piedmon though. I remember being stuck in that [[Lost Woods|FUCKING FOREST]] forever! So him having minions but not friends amplified the "theme".
*** In a sense, all of the evil Digimon were destroyed because they were loners. Puppetmon was simply the only one who had it spelled out to him, by both the Digidestined and Cherrymon (his childlike nature also meant that he angrily rejected the notion that no one was his friend).
* The relationship between ''[[
** Though it could be noted that after the time skip {{spoiler|Sasuke seems to be clearly one of the most powerful ninja on the planet.}}
*** But {{spoiler|he's also increasingly off his nut and [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|evil]]. This trope in relation to Sasuke was made pretty clear with him sacrificing Karin without a second thought to get to Danzo}}.
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*** Naruto's response to his backstory also fits. His first reaction was to fear Gaara because he thought someone who could willingly accept such loneliness must be incredibly strong.
* Exception: Kino of ''[[Kino's Journey]]'' is remarkably well adjusted and prefers to travel alone with just a talking motorcycle (yes) for company. Kino doesn't hate people, but doesn't want to form attachments that would hinder the ideal of the Traveler. It helps that most people and societies they encounter are really screwed up.
* The main message of ''[[
** Also, Zoro, Robin and Brooke. Zoro was even alone by choice. Also worth mentioning is Arlong, who cares as much for his [[True Companions]] as Luffy, and is a vicious bastard.
** Played straight in a very realistic way by Brooke who's fifty years of complete isolation drove him mad.
* Subverted in ''[[
** Contacts aren't necessarily friends though, and Light doesn't appear to be particularly close to anyone.
*** Either way, both are quite comfortable in social situations, easily making themselves centers of attention, and enjoying the admiration of others - very much unlike the loner L. Of course later in the series we come across a genuine freaky loner, Mikami Teru.
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*** The sad thing is, he only left the Hawks ''because he wanted to be a better friend and peer to Griffith'', and he believed that he couldn't do that unless he could find a dream of his own.
* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' has Autor, a character who is first introduced by several cameos of him sitting alone in a library, yelling at others to be quiet while employing [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]. Once he becomes integrated into the plot, it appears that he doesn't have many friends because he's consumed by his obsession with Drosselmeyer (as well as a belief that he's better than everyone)--although there's occasional hints that he's bothered by his position, including him having an angry reaction to Uzura calling him "Weird Autor". {{spoiler|In the end, he helps give Rue an epiphany using [[The Power of Love]], and also saves Fakir, ''possibly'' hinting that he's come to accept the boy as a friend.}}
* Johan of ''[[Monster (
** Though it could be argue that he never considered anyone his "friend."
** The closest things he has to friends are Tenma and his own sister Nina, the people whose lives he made hell and whom he tries to mindrape into killing him over the course of the series.
* While the heroes of ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure
** A more direct example is Part 4 [[Big Bad]] Yoshikage Kira.
* Sagara Sousuke from ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'' ''specifically'' tries not to get too attached to people, mainly because he wants to maintain his business-like, cold way of following orders. Unfortunately for him, people just seem to be [[Magnetic Hero|so attracted to him]] that, even if he doesn't want to, he constantly ends up with groups of [[True Companions]]. [[Stalker
* Pretty much the entire plot of ''[[Welcome to The NHK]]'' is how the protagonist Satou attempts to get over his social anxiety and connect with people after he realizes how unhappy he is as a loner.
* Averted in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', oddly enough. The hero himself is [[The Messiah|a very kind person]], but is also formal and uses Keigo with almost everyone. He tends to be rather distant otherwise. As it's an aversion and not a subversion, he's a loner but has no pathological case of avoiding people, he just doesn't socialize.
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** Being a lone Weapon is one of the fandom theories regarding {{spoiler|Justin Law's}} Face Heel Turn, especially considering he appears to have encountered the {{spoiler|Clown whom Maka and Soul 'defeated' through epic team-work.}} In fact, teamwork forms the basis for all of the significant victories of that pair (if not ''all'' of the meister/weapon groups) in the manga.
** {{spoiler|While Stein does get on with people to an extent, he does not exactly seek out company. Marie leaves Death City with Stein because "he is always alone". Spirit was told by Shinigami to keep an eye on Stein, something which he has apparently been doing since childhood.}}
* Shizuka of ''[[
* Ichise of ''[[Texhnolyze]]''.
* Yukiteru Amano of ''[[
** Then later on he {{spoiler|kills his friends in his quest for Godhood. To be fair, they did intentionally get in his way, try to tell him the truth that he couldn't bring people back to life (not a bad thing in its self, but considering his reasoning of 'I can bring everyone I've killed back, so it doesn't matter', it pretty much broke him) when it wouldn't have even mattered, they were kind of stupid.}} He was a freaky loner who got better, but it was too late for entirely other reasons.
* Konata from ''[[
** Kagami in particular sees Konata as the stereotypical [[Otaku]] and/or [[Hikikomori]], and considers Konata as a ''potential criminal''. (To be fair, Konata lacks most stereotypical otaku and hikikomori traits.)
* Tenshi/{{spoiler|Kanade Tachibana}} of ''[[
* Averted in ''[[Amanchu]]''. We never see any of Hikari's friends from before she met Futaba and the rest of the diving club, but she is shown to be cheery and outgoing, although perhaps a bit eccentric.
* In ''[[The Weatherman Is My Lover]]'' the cheerful but [[Stepford Smiler|emotionally detached]] Amasawa considers himself to fall under this. His lover [[Lonely Together|Koganei]] convinces him neither of them needs to be that way.
* All over the place in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. Homura doesn't have any friends because {{spoiler|she was hospitalized for a long time}}, Mami doesn't have any friends because she must distance herself from others due to her job, Kyouko doesn't give a damn about humans after all she went through, and Sayaka actually become freaks, {{spoiler|[[And Then John Was a Zombie|in so many ways]],}} when she decides to be a loner. In contrast, Madoka try to connect with them all.
* A major plot point in [[Its Not My Fault I'm Not Popular]], where protagonist [[No Social Skills|Tomoko's]] main goal is to [[I Just Want to Have Friends|be more sociable]] and avert this trope. [[Cringe Comedy|She often fails]] [[Hilarity Ensues|spectacularly]].
* In ''[[Saint Beast]]'', [[Stalker
* Anthy of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''.
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* Averted in ''[[Asterix]] and the Roman Agent'': while everyone else is bickering thanks to the titular spy's influence, the bard Cacofonix isn't, since he, besides being aphonic at the time, usually keeps to himself and thus keeps away from the agent's jealousy- and paranoia-inducing influence.
** This isn't necessarily a personal choice--as per his name, Cacafonix is an enthusiastic but [[Dreadful Musician|absolutely horrendous musician]].
* [[Depending
** This trope is one of the reasons many heroes are uncomfortable with him, being unaware that [[Papa Wolf|Batman]] has [[Badass Family|the biggest extended family of the DCU]].
* Both Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan of ''[[Watchmen]]''. Rorschach has difficulty relating to people on a social level, being paranoid, violent, and insulting. Dr. Manhattan pushes away from humanity due to his god-like powers.
** It's implied in his back-story that Dr Manhattan wasn't the most gregarious man in the world even before becoming omnipotent, omniscient and probably omnipresent if he felt like it.
* In many [[Legion of Super
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** And he's got his droids, so it's not really that he doesn't want company, he just wants ''better'' company.
* ''[[Taxi Driver]]'''s Travis Bickle just can't get a grip on relating to people. So he turns himself into a walking arsenal and decides to do some damage/good.
* In the film version of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (
* ''[[About a Boy]]'' features Hugh Grant in the loner role. Over the course of the film he learns {{spoiler|how to be a decent human being by making some friends. (starting with a 12 year old boy, no less!)}}
* ''[[War Games]]'' is driven by the fact that the hero is a lone geek (apart from a highly unlikely girlfriend for dramatic purposes.) Which is one of the things that dates the film, since today he would have a whole cyber-community "World_Destroying_Online_PC_Games.net".
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*** JK Rowling says on Pottermore that Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were quite close, bonding over similarities in their childhoods. Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore were also reported to be relatively close before everything went wrong.
** Luna Lovegood [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it when she says she has no friends because everyone thinks she's [[Cloudcuckoolander|weird]].
* This is made into a point in [[David Eddings|David and Leigh Eddings]]'s ''[[Malloreon]]'' series: The heroic Child of Light is surrounded by his friends and family (who also have the luck to be part of a prophetic [[Plot Tailored to
* ''[[Ender's Game]]'' [[Double Subversion|doubly subverts]] the heck out of this. Pretty much everyone intentionally isolates Ender to make him a more efficient commander. Which also makes him an asocial freak that he never really gets over. But useful!
** ''[[Enders Shadow]]'' goes back on this a bit, playing up the fact that Ender relied on his army while Bean was the real antisocial genius. Or, to be more accurate, Ender could project all the leadership qualities and bind their loyalty to him but was completely alone himself, except for Bean, who had no idea how to really connect to other people. This is something of a plot point and stated outright: Ender takes down his bogeyman by himself whereas Bean has learned how to form a [[True Companions|team]] that may or may not actually like him, but accept him.
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* Harry Dresden of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' is a loner of the harmless variety. He has a small circle of friends, but he's more or less antisocial, only being immediately nice to pretty girls (not because he's a pervert, he's just the chivalrous type). People treat him as a freak, but not because he's a loner. It's because he publicly advertises his being a wizard and people think he's nuts.
** Note that this is only really an issue in the first four books. During and following ''Summer Knight,'' Harry finally accumulates enough [[True Companions]] that he can no longer really be considered a loner.
* Played with extensively in [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s ''[[Childe Cycle]]'' series of novels. The "main character" of the series, Donal Graeme, finds he cannot accomplish his goal of uniting humanity alone; he not only has to travel in time (though not in the same body) to not only set historical events in motion, but ''to change their significance in history'' so that not only events but people are in place for a [[Final Battle]]. The trope listed here is also subverted in ''Soldier, Ask Not'' where a newspaperman with the power to influence people is thwarted in his attempts to bring down a entire race by one person of Faith, acting as he sees fit; and played to a extreme in the short story ''Brothers'' - about a set of twins that embody this trope, literally. When one is killed, the story follows thew other in his pursuit of the murderers, and leads to one of the most powerful scenes I have ever read, at the end.
* Subverted in ''[[The Andromeda Strain]].'' The Odd-Man Hypothesis states that unmarried males should be given command during times of crises, as their lack of attachment allows them to make the most unbiased decisions.
* Played frustratingly straight in the ''[[Kitty Norville]]'' series. [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Werewolves]] do ''not'' do well without a pack, and the further from civilization and multiple friendships, the worse the resulting monster becomes.
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* ''[[Speak]]'': This is the reason Melinda is spurned by her classmates at school, other than the police-calling incident.
* [[Everworld|Senna Wales]]. The first book, ''Search for Senna'' notes that she "[[Understatement|was not the most popular girl at school.]]" She doesn't allow anyone to know anything about her personality or motives at first, not even her <s> minion</s> boyfriend, David Levin. Later in the book it becomes apparent that she is an antisocial, scheming [[Witch Species|witch]] who is running her own plans. And that's the ''first'' thing we learn about her.
* Edward D'Eath in ''[[Discworld
{{quote| It was said later that he came under bad influences at this stage. But the secret of the history of Edward d'Eath was that he came under no outside influences at all, unless you count all those dead kings. He just came under the influence of himself.<br />
That's where people get it wrong. Individuals aren't naturally paid-up members of the human race, except biologically. They need to be bounced around by the Brownian motion of society, which is a mechanism by which human beings constantly remind one another that they are ... well ... human beings. He was also spiraling inwards, as tends to happen in cases like this. }}
* Another ''Discworld'' example, played with ''[[Discworld
* Boo Radley, of ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'', is seen as this by the rest of the town. He is a [[Misunderstood Loner
* [[Sherlock Holmes]], arguably embodies the loner trope, with the exception of Dr. John Watson.
* [[Frankenstein's Monster]]. Obviously.
** In fact, an [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] is that ''Victor'' Frankenstein is the villain and the "monster" his victim. The monster himself points out that Victor created him and then immediately abandoned him, never allowing him to know love or affection. It poses a sort of chicken-or-egg question: is the monster a loner because he's a freak or is he a freak because he's a loner?
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[
{{quote| ''My God, mannie, if Freckles hadna the birds and the beasts he would be always alone. It was never meant for a human being to be so solitary. He'd get touched in the head if he hadna them to think for and to talk to.''}}
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''The Song of the Cardinal'', the young cardinal, for all his [[Pride]], is wistful about a mate.
{{quote| ''The Cardinal was left boasting and strutting in the sumac, but in his heart he found it lonesome business. Being the son of a king, he was much too dignified to beg for a mate, and besides, it took all his time to guard the sumac; but his eyes were wide open to all that went on around him, and he envied the blackbird his glossy, devoted little sweetheart, with all his might. ''}}
* Tobias has a lot of this in ''[[
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[
* An interesting inversion of the trope can be found in the British spy series ''[[The Prisoner]]'', which features an unrepentant, mildly misanthropic loner as its protagonist. Instead of being seen as a liability, the character's "loner-ness" and drive towards individualism is the ''only'' thing keeping him sane. It's also the only weapon he has against the shady government officials who want to brainwash him and turn him into an obedient and conformist government servant.
** It's played straight in one episode, however, in which Number Six manages to make contact with other subversives within the prison; however, because they're all confident-but-intensely-secretive and insular types, they all think each of them is a double agent and end up scuttling their own escape. If they'd just trusted each other, they'd have gotten away.
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** ''[[Smallville]]'' lacks even the tiniest bit of sympathy for anyone who isn't attractive and outgoing. While popular party-going types do sometimes go bad, the show has never featured a real geek or nerd or loner as anything other than a hideous loser with serious issues or hideous deranged monster.(Chloe does not count, due to her failing the "unattractive" test by a country mile)
* Parodied in a sketch on ''[[Jam]]'', in which a desperately lonely woman goes to increasingly sinister lengths to make friends (from setting traps for cyclists to dressing as a police officer, telling a woman that her son died in an accident, then inviting the grieving mother to the theatre that evening)
* Ned from ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' walls himself off from contact, both because of [[Parental Abandonment]] in his past and because his [[Blessed
** Played with in the episode "Frescorts" where Ned insists that just because these people are lonely it doesn't mean that they're freaks. Emerson thinks it does.
*** In the same episode, a visible inversion occurs: {{spoiler|1=Buddy killed Joe because he (Joe) decided to quit to be with his girlfriend, which Buddy saw as abandonment. [[Ho Yay]] + [[Clingy Jealous Girl|Clingy Jealous Boy]] = Uh oh.}} Also, in the end, Randy tells Ned that Joe had taught him that there's nothing wrong with being by yourself.
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** Soran is not the best example, considering it was the loss of his family and desire to get back to them that made him go la-la.
** Khan wasn't really a loner; more so just the burden of being a [[Magnificent Bastard]] caused him to always be just slightly above everyone else. He had his wife on Ceti Alpha V for a while, and throughout the movie, he's seen conversing with Joachim as a good friend, {{spoiler|even promising to avenge his death.}}
** Thomas Riker's kind of a questionable example as well. Most of the conflict in the episode he appears in comes not from having been alone for so long, but from his resentment of Will for having lived those years while he was trapped. (Speaking of which, it's awfully dramatically convenient that the Enterprise happened to be the ship that found Tom Riker.) Neither is he really "evil" when he appears in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]''; he's working for the Maquis, sure, but that's morally ambiguous; and again, he doesn't seem to have joined them because of his time alone so much as to differentiate himself from Will.
*** Actually it's not dramatically convenient but rather logically convenient. The reason the Enterprise was assigned to attempt to retrieve the computer core is that Riker had been assigned to the planet and given his rank at the time he was would be the officer on a star ship to most likely be familiar with the computer systems. It was a time saving measure rather than training someone new on an undoubtedly outdated system.
** Reginald Barclay might be a better example. In his first appearance, he is shown as very much the Loner and his re-creation of members of the crew in the Holo-Deck is regarded as somewhat freakish. During the show, as he gains respect from his colleagues, he becomes less of a loner and deletes almost all of his Holo-Deck programs.
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** Given an interesting twist in "Solitary Man" where the killer essentially went crazy from loneliness, and that's what turned him murderous.
* Simon Bellamy from ''[[Misfits]]'' has no friends, and he's portrayed as mentally unstable, obsessive, nerdy, and a bit of a pervert. To be fair, he does actually ''want'' friends and genuinely tries to reach out to people, it's just that [[Dark and Troubled Past|years of bullying and isolation]] have left him painfully shy and socially inept. Plus he's actually shown to be far more kind, sensitive and empathic than most of the show's more extroverted characters, and his [[Sanity Slippage]] is mostly due to the [[The Woobie|traumatic things that happen to him]] and the fact that no one really offers him emotional support (or even acknowledges his existence most of the time).
* [[House (TV series)|House]] and Foreman are sometimes accused of this, especially by [[The Chick|The Chicks]] (Cameron and Thirteen).
* As a result of [[Genre Savvy|his father's training]], [[Dexter|Dexter Morgan]] is aware of this, and goes out of his way to cultivate a "reserved but sociable" persona to keep from being thought of as an emotionally withdrawn loner. It works on everyone but [[Only Sane Man|Sgt. Doakes]].
* A case of "Loners become freaks" in ''[[Life]]'', where Charlie is clearly a well adjusted guy with a job and a wife and friends until he spends an ungodly amount of time (unspecified, but measured in years) in solitary confinement. When they let him out again, [[Cloudcuckoolander|he's kind of crazy.]]
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* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] had an episode called ''Out of Mind, Out of Sight'' about a girl who'd magically turned invisible from social ostracization and set out to take violent revenge on everyone she deemed responsible.
** Also implied to be why Buffy is such an effective Slayer. Her ties to the world give her something to fight for, while other, more isolated, Slayers tend to have far shorter lifespans.
* Also in ''[[
* ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'' has Rick. He was constantly bullied by the likes of Spinner and Jay. And when he was abusive toward Terry (which may or may not be associated with a mental illness), the amount of hate toward him skyrocketed. It got to the point where, after being humiliated at a ''televised'' academic competition, he brings a gun to school, and shoots Jimmy in the back, causing him to be paralyzed.
** Worst, the show made ''him'' out to be a bad guy, even though he was obviously ridiculed by the rest of the characters. After accidentally shooting himself dead, and shooting Jimmy, his one friend Toby disassociated himself with him.
** It got a better example with Connor, who suffered from Aspergers. Once his violent outbursts were explained, even Ally stood up for him. In fact, the amount of suffering he got from the principal was made public, and got Shepard fired.
* In ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', the Winchester boys (Sam in particular) often had trouble fitting in due to having to move around so often. This led to a great deal of [[I Just Want to Be Normal]] on Sam's part that eventually caused him to have a falling out with his father. The fact that being called a freak is his [[Berserk Button]] is just icing on the cake.
* [[The X
* Toyed with in ''[[Dark Oracle]]''. Lance is an antisocial gaming geek, but is one of the main protagonists. His [[Cloudcuckoolander]] girlfriend Sage is similarly weird and isolated, but a very pleasant girl. [[Big Bad Wannabe|Vern]], [[Evil Counterpart|Blaze]], and [[Evil Twin|comic!Sage]] on the other hand, cross in [[Psycho Loner]] territory and stay there.
== Music ==
* [[
* "A Most Peculiar Man" by [[Simon and Garfunkel]].
* John Cale's "Half Past France":
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** Same with [[Changeling: The Lost
* A [[Discussed Trope]] in ''[[GURPS]] [[Transhuman Space]]: High Frontier'': In describing "Virts", people who do all their interaction through virtuality, it notes "Many Virts are somewhat secretive about their true nature,especially since several popular InVids depict Virts as either [[Lack of Empathy|dangerous sociopaths]], [[The Cracker|criminal hackers]], or as pathetic and terrified losers.
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* The protagonists of so many video games, especially older ones (i.e. before the dawn of multiplayer), are fully portrayed as [[Loners Are Freaks]]...but this is also played as being a ''good thing'', because no normal person, or even average soldier, could...
** ...fight a [[One-Man Army|one-man war]] against [[The Legions of Hell|Hell's armies]], eventually killing the big bad daddy of all demons, whose death throes destroy ''Hell itself''. (''[[Doom]]'')
** ...single-handedly face the seemingly inexhaustible resources of a [[Mega Corp|globe-spanning corporate hegemony]], with only a rag-tag group of ill-equipped, ungrateful [[La Résistance|Rebels]] backing you up on occasion. (''[[Crusader:
** ...save the world from a cyborg-mutant overlord and his plans to turn humanity into a peaceful [[Hive Mind]] of long-lived, super-intelligent beings...that would then be unable to procreate, resulting in inevitable extinction within a matter of centuries. (''[[Fallout]]'', which placed a lot less emphasis on the party than ''Fallout 2'')
*** ...mop the floor with the remnants of the American government, blowing up their main base, {{spoiler|Logic-bombing the freaking president}}, racking up a surreal kill count and casually blowing up cities with nuke launchers, either becoming the new Messiah or Satan's offspring. And above all, he is even named 'The Lone Wanderer' (''Fallout 3'')
**** [[Fallout 3|The Lone Wanderer]] and the [[Fallout: New Vegas|Courier]] are, infact, the most [[Incredibly Lame Pun|lonesome]] of the Fallout protagonists. They are allowed a maximum head cap of 1 human and 1 [[Non-Human Sidekick|non-human]] per "party". As opposed to the older games, which allowed you a reasonable 5 man team. Heck, depending on how you play, you may end up wandering the lonely wastes with naught but your [[My Master, Right or Wrong|faithful]] [[Loyal Animal Companion|hound]] as your only company. Or with absolutely no company at all.
*** In fact, in the ''Lonesome Road'' DLC, the Courier can get a perk that makes him stronger if s/he goes off to face [[The Rival|Ulysses]] by him/herself, aptly titled [[Title Drop|Lonesome Road]].
**** Fallout loves this Trope. {{spoiler|Fallout 1 makes the PC the person who is most adept to wander the "World Outside" in the first place and he/she ends up to be cast out by his superior. In Fallout 2 PC is descendant of the original PC who must be sent out to the Big World. In Fallout 3 you are child of a person who wasn't supposed to be there anyway. In New Vegas you are a courier, who was not meant to be there in the first place.}}
** ...gather a group of fellow loner freaks around himself and embark on a [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|vaguely surrealistic journey]] to uncover the nature of death and reality itself. (''[[Planescape: Torment]]'')
** ...expose the scheme of a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who intends to turn the last domestic motorcycle manufacturer into yet another maker of minivans. (''Minivans''!) (''[[Full Throttle]]'')
** ...repeatedly exterminate the [[The Virus|species that would become a threat to the universe]] if it were allowed to spread. (''[[Metroid]]'')
** ...destroy the entire pantheon of Greek gods. (''[[God of War (
** ...aid the formation of the unlikeliest military alliance in, well, quite some time anyway, in order to battle back a demonic apocalypse. (''[[Warcraft III]]'')
** ...escape a bizarre [[Death Course]] of a testing facility and destroy the homicidal AI running it. (''[[Portal (
*** Weighted Companion Cube: "I thought we were friends... T^T "
**** The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.
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* Other games, particularly Japanese RPGs, frequently highlight either a [[Ineffectual Loner|brooding loner hero]] who gradually gets better through the support of his [[True Companions]], or a kindly, happy-go-lucky hero who instead gathers people to him (including at least one Loner, usually [[The Sixth Ranger]] or [[The Lancer]]) and teaches them [[The Power of Friendship]].
** ''[[Final Fantasy|Final Fantasies VII and VIII]]'' are stellar examples of the first, while ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' provides an example of the second (who lapses briefly into being the first type and is then snapped back out of it). Almost all of the other games in the series feature at least one brooding loner learning that he needs to come out of his shell and join the hero crowd.
*** Then ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' goes and turns the trope on its ear, setting Squall up in the same "brooding loner" role he occupied in [[Final Fantasy VIII
** In ''[[
*** And Sho Minamimoto is the classic "evil (or at least crazy) loner that becomes an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]".
** In ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' this is the main subject in the first game. In the second game the theme was more like "fight for the friendship", which was just an extension of this trope.
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*** Depending on your alignment in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'', {{spoiler|you'll have to kill at least one of your allies, and no matter what both the Law Hero and Chaos Hero will die by the end.}}
*** Played straight in ''[[Persona 4]]'' with Mitsuo Kubo, a creepy [[Gonk]] who decided {{spoiler|becoming a copycat murderer was the only way he could ever get attention. His own shadow represents the fact that his true pathetic self hides behind video games and that he's practically dead inside. After being defeated he is later sent to an asylum after the characters learn he wasn't the true murderer.}}
* In ''[[
** Continued in Platinum where the player encounters Cyrus's grandfather, who tells you about how his grandson snapped at a young age due to parental pressure. Grandpa himself is quite a loner, holed up in a cabin in an eternal sandstorm that you have to pull off an impressive bike trick to even get to.
* ''[[Touhou]]'' features several characters noted for shunning most human (or monster) contact most of the time. How much they are portrayed as "freaks" for this varies widely, however.
** Marisa isolates herself most of the time so that she can [[Training From Hell|perfect her explosion-making skills]] in relative peace. Her [[Memetic Sex God|extreme charisma]] and [[Genki Girl|energetic speech patterns]] assure her of her popularity, however.
** Alice Margatroid, who lives in much the same situation as Marisa (even living in the same woods), however, is portrayed as an anti-social freak, or even a [[Stalker
** Fujiwara no Mokou likewise isolates herself, apparently feeling more connection to humans than [[Youkai]] society, she protects people who wander into the bamboo forest, but isolates herself from them otherwise. Her [[Bifauxnen]] appearance, and [[Les Yay]] relationship with Keine prevent anyone from calling her a freak, however.
** Kaguya Houraisan, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Immortal Enemy]] of Mokou, however, in spite of living with a friend and servants, is portrayed as a [[NEET]] and [[Fan Girl]].
* ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'': [[Shrinking Violet|Hanako's]] classmates see her as this, thinking of her as a strange hermit who never talks to anyone. In reality she's a very kind and intelligent girl who is just very uncomfortable around people she doesn't know every well. Becoming closer to Hisao reveals this, but doesn't really make her less of a loner - she becomes less anxious, but still tells Hisao matter-of-factly that she doesn't really like most other people, and Hisao doesn't really press her on that.
* In an old commercial for [[
== Web Original ==
* In the prequel comic of ''[[
** And, as Dr. Horrible works on his Death Ray, he also stops meeting with Penny or Moist.
* For some reason, a good portion of [[Survival of the Fittest]]'s version 4 are loners. Whether or not it is played straight, though, varies from character to character.
* Parodied in [http://www.theonion.com/video/potential-school-shooter-gunned-down-by-popular-jo,20877/ this] video of [[The Onion|Onion News]].
* [[
== Webcomics ==
* [[
** [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119657 Kyle], [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119669 Alice], and [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119663 Chu] were loners in school. That is why they joined some crazy cult and shoot up a school.
* [http://ozyandmillie.org/1999/12/02/ozy-and-millie-262/ This strip] of ''[[
* ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
* Abel Rewanz from ''[[DMFA]]'' is pretty much this trope personified.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Smurfs]]'' was sometimes accused of this, along with a number of children's shows accused of preaching conformity (ruthlessly parodied by the "Buddy Bears" on ''[[Garfield and Friends]]''). Smurfs often got in trouble for either working independently from the others or ignoring their informed warnings, depending on who you asked. This is a milder version of [[The Smurfs
* One episode of ''[[
* Eric, the loner in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* Prince Zuko in ''[[
* The Ice King in ''[[
** Lemongrab. He's a science experiment gone wrong, and is socially awkward and isolated- and a huge jerk. Apparently, he prefers to be alone... not that anyone would really desire his company, anyway.
* Prowl in ''[[
** While that is (or was) certainly what his ''teammates'' think, his actual personality is something of a subversion as he's shown to be very peaceful with an [[Friend to All Living Things|interest in nature]], he's just [[Not Good
* Jonny from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''. 'Nuff said
* Deep Six in ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' became a deep sea diver solely so he could go on missions alone. He's never been known for being sociable, and all of his teammates are constantly suspicious of ulterior motives that he simply doesn't have.
* Raven from ''[[Teen Titans (
* It is often joked that [[Danny Phantom]]'s nemesis Vlad Masters should get a lonely guy cat... which he does in Season 3. Considering [[Big Bad|who he is]], he does qualify.
* As [[Mark Evanier]] notes in the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* Mentioned in ''[[
* Played straight and subverted in the first episode of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Loners barely even seem to exist in the show; friendship is, quite literally, one of the fundamental forces of that universe. The biggest loner so far shown is Zecora (a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|faux-African]] witch doctor living alone in the dark woods), and she's a very sympathetic character - the first episode featuring her is all about how she's ''not'' a freak. On the other hand, even she is not a complete loner, as she keeps friendly relations with the main characters, doesn't mind visits to her hut and sometimes helps out with celebrations in Ponyville.
* Mr Freeze from ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
* ''[[
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