Jerkass Woobie/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions
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Examples of [[Jerkass Woobie]] in [[Anime and Manga]].
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* From ''[[
* ''[[
** Not to mention that, in End of Evangelion, {{spoiler|she finally gets to see her mother inside Unit 02 and feel love and acceptance from her...only to be shortly thereafter forced through the experience of being eaten alive by vultures. If that's not punishment enough to make everyone feel sorry for her, I have no idea what is.}}
** Let's not forget that one of the later episodes features Asuka naked and in a tub, when she's well passed the [[Despair Event Horizon]], with hollow cheeks and stating that she no longer has the will the live. The tub appears to be filled with a red liquid indicating that ''she tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists.'' Poor Asuka...
*** Lets not forget [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgWWfRlxyyQ the case of Asuka].
* ''[[
** Gaara of the Sand before {{spoiler|Naruto beat the crap out of him.}}
** Sasuke's status is [[Base Breaker|debatable]], but he essentially [["Well Done, Son" Guy|struggled for his father's approval]], only to lose his entire family in the Uchiha clan massacre.
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** Utakata, the Jinchūriki of the Six-Tailed Slug. He is quite aloof toward Hotaru and tries to [[Shoo the Dog|rid himself of her at every opportunity]], but this is largely the result of him being a fugitive for {{spoiler|killing his master when he tried to extract his Tailed Beast}}, an experience that left him quite bitter and unwilling to trust others. And just when he comes to terms with this, {{spoiler|Pain captures him and extracts the Six-Tails, killing him}}.
** [[Manipulative Bastard]] Kabuto has become one. He had a deep existential crisis after {{spoiler|Orochimaru's death}} (Naruto inspired him to continue) and he is shown thinking that all he wanted was for someone to notice him. He just wanted to be acknowledged. Still doesn't excuse his monstrous moral event horizon crossing moments though.
* Impmon/Beelzemon from ''[[
* ''[[
* Akito from ''[[
** Kyo to a lesser extent. While not as bad as Akito in terms of Jerk Assery, he still came across as an asshole to everyone in the first few episodes. But then again, would you be a nice guy if {{spoiler|you were the family outcast, your mother committed suicide because of you, your father resented you because of said suicide, and then got Tohru's mother, a woman who acted very [[Parental Substitute|motherly]] towards you, killed (not intentionally, mind you) because you'd risk exposing your secret?}}
* Bonten from ''[[
* A large portion of the cast of ''[[
** There's also Mao, who takes this trope in a different direction. His personality is [[Jerkass|abrasive]] and many of his actions are [[Moral Event Horizon|utterly cruel]] but he [[One-Scene Wonder|still]] inspires sympathy from some measure of the viewers once they learn that he's essentially [[Adult Child|a child in the body of a seventeen-year-old]] who has [[Moral Myopia|no sense of perspective whatsoever]], [[Unhappy Medium|in constant pain]] [[Blessed
* Misa Amane from ''[[
** She turns even more woobie-ish when {{spoiler|you learn she kills herself eventually.}}
** Her live-action movie incarnation is even more of an example of this trope, as the death of her family is more focused upon (she mentions that she's fine with dying because "she should have died along with her family" when they were murdered, and she even keeps a picture of them in her room next to one of Light). The movie also shows that, if not for her insane fixation with Light, she could be a good person (she ends a killing spree out of hesitation when called a murderer, and later cries when she realizes that Light {{spoiler|is willing to kill his own father.}})
*** Misa in custody. Imagine the mental state of the poor girl. {{spoiler|She's taken off the street, continuously blindfolded and restrained for two ''months'', under constant surveillance, and ''she has no idea why she is there or if she will ever be untied.''}} If she wasn't crazy before, she has every excuse to be afterward.
** To a smaller degree, Kiyomi Takada. Specially because of {{spoiler|[[Alas, Poor Villain|her VERY ugly death]], [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|orchestrated by none other than]] [[Villain Protagonist|her beloved Light]].}}
** Light Yagami himself qualifies. He [[Used to Be
** Mello, a mob boss that kidnaps innocent (and not-so-innocent) girls and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|a overbearing jerk that shouts at people]] but he acts that way out of a severe inferiority complex. He {{spoiler|blows up his base, blows up his face, gets his best friend killed, and dies horribly at the hands of Takada.}}
** Beyond Birthday from ''[[
* Lucia from ''[[
* ''[[
** Similarly, Boa Hancock was introduced as a literally [[Kick the Dog|puppy-kicking]] [[Vain Sorceress]]. She showed herself to be an aloof, arrogant, complete [[Jerkass]] who wasn't above defenestrating her grandmother for giving the sincerest of warnings and [[Taken for Granite|petrifying]] her subjects for allowing a man (Monkey D. Luffy) [[Lady Land|onto their island]]. She was even complacent with her two younger sisters, Marigold and Sandersonia, ''breaking them in their petrified state'' just to mess with Luffy - just a hair's breath of crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. However, when Luffy defeated the sisters and spared their pride by hiding their tattoos, this brought to light another side of Hancock unseen before: as she explained to Luffy, the tattoo was forced upon Hancock and her sisters (sensing a pattern here...), and is an eternal source of shame from slavery under the [[Aristocrats Are Evil|World Nobles]], descendants of the founders of the World Government and, as shown in the previous arc, a whole 'nother ball of the MEH wax, known for kicking, shooting, and ''blowing up'' their slaves if they get frustrated or bored with them. The three sisters, who were just pre-teenage girls back then, spent four whole years enslaved to those [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] and were force-fed a Devil Fruit [[For the Evulz|strictly for their entertainment]]. Hancock's own experience was such that she couldn't even talk about it without being reduced to tears. The very fact that she kept the law of her island to the letter could be explained due to her personal experience with one particular World Noble who was in her words "the very object of terror itself", [[Does Not Like Men|which jaded her view on the opposite gender]]. It's only that Luffy didn't care that she and the other two were slaves, and hates the World Nobles anyway (for shooting a friend of his, who ''wasn't even one of their slaves'') that caused [[Defrosting Ice Queen|her icy persona to warm up a bit]], and even fall in love with the guy.
* Shinn Asuka from ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]''. Yes, he may be an abrasive jerk who needs to wake up and stop seeing the world in black and white, but during the story, he goes through such hell that you can't help but feel sorry for him. Especially considering how badly Sunrise and [[Fan Dumb]] abused him, coincidentally contributing to his total breakdown.
** If you don't think that Fllay from the original ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' is [[The Scrappy]], you'll see her as this.
** Once you get glimpses of their backstories as {{spoiler|[[Artificial Human|Artificial Humans]] who were bred ''only'' to pilot Gundams}}, the Trinity siblings from [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]] come off a pretty damn pitiful. Of course that does '''not''' excuse the heaps of shit they pull on everyone [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|except for each other]].
*** [[The Smart Guy|Tieria Erde]]. At first, he's cold, stern and the most dedicated to Celestial Being's mission. However, after (thefirst) Lockon's death in season 1 and the separation from VEDA, we see that Tieria is a very insecure man.
* Any teen character in ''[[Ranma ½
** Ranma Saotome has had a ''horrible'' childhood that, among other things, means that he has been inflicted with a [[Gender Bender]] curse that not only embarrasses him and frequently gets him into strife, but puts him at the risk of having to commit [[Seppuku]] at the hands of his [[Yamato Nadeshiko|good-hearted]] but [[Cloudcuckoolander]] [[Hot Mom]] -- which means that he will not only die painfully, but die knowing that he disappointed his beloved mother so badly that she thought it would be best to die. He also routinely harasses his (admittedly, no saint herself) fiancée by hitting her where it hurts her the most (her ''relatively'' small chest [in comparison to his [[Gender Bender]] form and the rest of his fiancees]] and her inability to be properly feminine no matter how hard she tries), sometimes actively encourages his fiancées, and loves to harass and torment his rivals, despite ''knowing'' that they'll come after him with the aim of brutally thrashing him.
** Ryôga Hibiki has terrible luck, is cursed to assume the form of a [[Baleful Polymorph|small, defenseless pig]] when he gets wet, has one of the worst ever seen cases of [[No Sense of Direction]], the direction issues are inherited from both his parents and so he almost never sees his family, is a [[Courtly Love|dedicated romantic]], is too shy to even talk to other girls (despite the fact most would probably find him [[Mr. Fanservice|highly attractive]]), and the one girl he's in love with is engaged to someone else. He's also bad tempered and masquerade as her pet to get affection from her, even if it's only as her pet.
** Mousse spins a heartbreaking tale of devotion and unrequited love that spans the better part of a decade, refusing to give up on his attempts to woo his childhood acquaintance no matter what blows life deals, to the point that an audience in-series cries after hearing it. However, the object of his affections makes it clear that he's more a [[Stalker
** Akane Tendô is [[Naive Everygirl|a generally nice, placid]] [[Girl Next Door]] who has [[Overshadowed
** Shampoo, particularly in the anime, genuinely loves and cares for Ranma, but gets little affection from him. Due to his [[Harmful to Minors]] training and a [[Baleful Polymorph]] curse inflicted on her as punishment early in the series, he actually runs away from her quite frequently. She's also a stranger in a strange land and has no friends at all outside of Ranma and Mousse (Akane might have counted as well if she and Shampoo had not been rivals in love). However, she's also coldly efficient to the point of being frighteningly amoral, perfectly willing to kill off someone she considers an enemy, and her preferred victims are the aforementioned Mousse and Akane, treating the first with incredible cruelty and being determined to get rid of the latter.
** Ukyô Kuonji is Ranma Saotome's [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]], who felt so ashamed after Ranma apparently broke their [[Childhood Marriage Promise]] and stole her father's cart that she devoted her life to seeking revenge and even became a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] because she felt that she was unworthy of being a woman. Even when she gives this up and tries to resume her courtship of Ranma, he not only does his best to avoid giving her any romantic favors at all, but he ruthlessly exploits her feelings. However, she is also quite willing to beat the hell out of any perceived rivals for his hand, slap Ranma around if he gets her flustered and upset, and team up with others (like Ryoga and Shampoo) to try to get the upper hand.
** The Kunô siblings. Kodachi is just as willing as Shampoo to commit murder - she's just not QUITE as adept in combat; she has repeatedly used poisons on her personal ninja Sasuke as well as her own brother in an effort to master the art of chemical mind control. Speaking of her brother, (Tatewaki) Kunô only manages to not end up as a serial rapist in training by his status as a massive idiot with vaguely romantic pretentions (and by his attraction to girls that could mop the floor with him). They both pursue Ranma and/or Akane despite being pretty much the only ones in [[Love Dodecahedron|this entire series]] to be flat-out rejected. And then you find out that they, like pretty much everyone else in the series, suffer from Dead Mother Syndrome, their father returns from America after abandoning them for years out of an obsession with Hawaiian culture, and now they are both at risk of being attacked in their own home and getting shaved bald. Plus, he (their father) becomes the principal of his son's school, so Kunô can't even get a break during the day.
* Ataru from ''[[
* ''[[
** Ivan/Russia. A creepy, mentally unstable [[Stepford Smiler]] who [[Psychopathic Manchild|has fun]] terrifying and abusing his subordinates, especially [[The Woobie]], Lithuania...but his [[Despair Event Horizon]]/[[Start of Darkness]] is nothing short of heartbreaking, and he truly loves his [[Fragile Flower]] older sister, Ukraine, as much as his insanity lets him. You also can't help but feel sorry for him as he's constantly being pursued by his even crazier sister, Belarus, who wants to marry him. Also, Himaruya's new profile on him points out that he truly wants to have new friends. However, if that is true, it won't happen, because he's so scary that he ends up driving away potential friends.
** Gilbert/Prussia can also qualify. He's an unrepentant, egotistical [[Memetic Badass]] who delights in causing trouble for others and seems to only think about himself...but at the same time, he's also something of a [[Butt Monkey]] who [[Small Name, Big Ego|isn't as awesome as he likes to think he is]], and is shown to be secretly lonely and trying to pretend that he doesn't care about not being a nation anymore or not having any friends at all. And if you see him with [[Shipping Goggles]] on, there's the added "pain" of being the [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] to a [[Ninja Maid]], who's head over heels in love with the local [[White Prince]].
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** Belarus, a terrifying [[Ax Crazy]] [[Yandere]] became this when Russia threatened to send her to Siberia because Lithuania expressed reservations about accompanying him to a meeting. Can you imagine your own brother caring so little about you that he uses sending you to the horror that was the gulags as an incentive to make someone else do what he wants? If this happens on a regular basis, her bitterness comes as no surprise. Even if it's Belarus, that's just not right. There's also the fact that the poor girl is hopelessly and creepily but also very genuinely in love with Russia, her brother, who will never, ever return her feelings. Of course, let's not forget the [[Jerkass]] part, specifically how she scares off anyone who is around her brother because she's jealous of them and how she once broke Lithuania's fingers on a date with him (the poor guy is such a sweet [[Nice Guy]]... but he refuses to see that Belarus not only is flawed, but that [[Dogged Nice Guy|she does NOT owe him pussy just because he likes her]].)
** Even though France is a [[Anything That Moves|lech]], a liar and an all around [[Manipulative Bastard|bastard]] at times, he has his moment to be pitied. At the end of the first volume, there is a sketch of a much younger France with a girl with short hair and wearing armor. And she tells him, "I'm fighting for you, you know!" Yeah, she's Joan of Arc. We know how that ended. To think of France, hedonistic and arrogant, startled and then drawn to this one girl, only to lose her- it makes you feel for him at least a little, right? That's not counting the French Revolution, the Terror...on second thought, those pretty much explain (along with Jeanne's death) why France became the way he is.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** Seto Kaiba, though less so in the anime adaptation, where he ''stays'' a jerk long after the finale of the Battle City arc, which, in [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (
** Pegasus and Marik also fit this trope, what with their heartbreaking tragic pasts.
** Also Aki of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
* ''[[
** Hansel and Gretel. It gets easy to see why they were so fucked up and at least feel sorry for them. Then, after Balalaika gives Hansel a [[Shut UP, Hannibal]] treatment as punishment for harming the subordinates she's so protective of, she orders her men to blow his hand and leg off. When he's lying there, crying and bleeding to death, it's easy to forget that he was a mass murderer. This is taken to further extremes with his sister Gretel, who states that she always wanted to see the ocean and has a heartbreaking [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]] moment when Rock offers her kindness and even sheds tears for her. When they finally reach a seaport and her wish is granted, she has her brains blown out by an assassin hired by Hotel Moscow.
** Also, Balalaika. Thanks to the Afghan War, the cute teenager who wanted to become an olympic sniper ended up as a cynical, stylishly brutal Mafia queen and cold-hearted [[Magnificent Bitch]]. She's also quite the [[Mama Bear]] who shows no mercy to anyone who harms her subordinates, which proves that she's still human: those men are all she has anymore, so she protects them fiercely.
* ''[[D
** Kanda Yu turns out to have a very good reason for being so cynical and rude to nearly everyone. {{spoiler|Namely, [http://www.mangareader.net/210-43761-16/dgray-man/chapter-190.html this], over and over again for ''months''. Additionally, he was created artificially and ''knows it'', grew up with very little human affection, and was eventually forced to kill his only friend, who had [[Break the Cutie|gone berserk and killed 40-some people]].}} Also, {{spoiler|the Second Exorcist project, which Kanda is a product of, involved ''implanting the brains of dead Exorcists into new bodies'', and he eventually started ''regaining memories of his own death''.}} Kanda's life sucks so much that using an [[Exposition Beam]] to show someone his memories qualifies as [[Mind Rape]], and the local [[Creepy Child]] [[Even Evil Has Standards|feels sick when she sees them]].
** If you don't feel bad for Kanda after seeing [http://www.mangareader.net/210-46708-37/dgray-man/chapter-191.html this], you're a horrible person.
* Kaede from ''[[
* Akira Inugami from ''[[Wolf Guy
* ''[[
** Although he claims to be a complete asshole, Guts is actually a [[Jerk
** Griffith too. Until he crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]] and became [[Complete Monster|utterly unsympathetic]].
** Rosine, the [[Big Bad]] of the Lost Children arc, qualifies because of the horrible home situation that drove her to become an Apostle, and her yearning for elves to be real. Though she and her "children" commit a number of acts that should make her cross the [[Moral Event Horizon]] into [[Complete Monster]] territory like many of ''[[Berserk]]'''s other villains, she comes across instead as a misguided, emotionally damaged little girl who just wanted a little happiness that she couldn't find at home.
* Souma and Sakurako from ''[[
* ''[[
** And Break. Sure, he's not always nice, and it's not obvious that he's a [[Jerk
** Leo too. He becomes crazy and lonely after {{spoiler|Elliot's death}} and becomes more of a jerk. {{spoiler|He feels like Elliot's misfortune and death are all his fault.}}
* Since almost the entire sympathetic cast of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' consists of [[Woobie|woobies]], there's a few of these.
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** Sôsuke Sagara. Originally a sweet, innocent kid, his heartbreaking backstory turns him into a cold-hearted [[Jerkass]]. He finds it extremely hard to understand other people's feelings, and tends to do very [[Sociopathic Hero|morally ambiguous things]] without much consideration for others. Most of the time, it's played for laughs. There are numerous times where he finds himself unable to understand why someone feels fear or sadness (even when someone died). The poor guy goes through so much crap throughout the series, though, including his childhood as a [[Child Soldiers|child soldier]], so it's easy to feel sympathy for him despite his flaws.
** Xia Yu Fan and Xia Yu Lan. Out of all the villains, these two seem to garner a lot of sympathy among fans. The fact that they were taken in by ''[[Ax Crazy|Gauron]]'' of all people at such a young age certainly deserves sympathy.
* ''[[
** Hitagi Senjougahara. She acts cold and abusive towards others, especially towards her eventual boyfriend, Koyomi Araragi. She also pulls out a stapler and a box cutter, threatens Koyomi with them by shoving them in his face, and promises to disfigure him with them if he reveals her secret, then uses them anyway (stapling his face as a warning). All this within minutes of the start of the first episode. In episode two, Hitagi recounts how her mother joined a cult when Hitagi was sick, and that one night, her mother brought a higher up from the cult home. Hitagi injured him as he attempted to sexually assault her, while her mother watching without aiding her. As a result, her family was broken apart with Hitagi feeling that she's responsible. After that, she met a crab which took her feelings(weight) and memories of her mother. Hitagi begs the head crab to return to her the lost memories of her mother and her feelings(weight), but despite this, she has forever lost her mother.
** Mayoi Hachifuji. She knows that she is caught in or actually is a supernatural event and doesn't want anyone else to have to get involved. She's a 'snail,' otherwise known as a spirit that distracts people who are avoiding going somewhere and makes them follow her. She knows that she's dead and won't reach her destination, so she tells anyone who talks to her that she hates them so they'll leave her alone and not waste their time on her.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Sae Kashiwagi of ''[[
* ''[[
** Mugen is a crazy, [[Badass]], insane [[Anti-Hero]] whose childhood makes anyone want to cry...
** Jerkass may be a strong word, but Fuu fits as well. She's often temperamental, unappreciative of her bodyguards (to be fair, they do abandon her a few times), and seems to recklessly search for someone with almost no leads. But like Mugen, she's also lonely and her search for the sunflower samurai turns out to be {{spoiler|because he abandoned her mother.}}
* ''[[
** Gilbert. He may be antagonistic and even violent toward Serge (especially in the beginning), but he sure went through a lot of crap in his life...
** While he doesn't hold a candle to Gilbert when it comes to sheer woobiness, Rosemariné nonetheless qualifies once certain aspects of his past come to light. Yes, he's ill-tempered and physically abusive (particularly towards Gilbert himself) but he's also rather pitiable in his own right.
* ''[[
** Nagi somehow manages to earn the love and sympathy of the audience in spite of being a self-centered little brat. Maybe it's her adorably innocent [[Cry Cute]] moments.
** Although Nagi has outgrown the self-centeredness, Athena seems to have taken her spot. She harshly taught Hayate for her own gain, but has had moments when you can't help but feel sympathy for her.
* Louise of ''[[
** One must not forget that Saito was kidnapped from his world, treated sub-humanly, made into a slave for a bratty, over-privileged little girl, and had his mind screwed with a bit magically (though he doesn't know it).
* Gareki of ''[[
* ''[[
** Muramasa. Sure, he personally instigated the [[Empathic Weapon|Zanpakuto]] Rebellion and {{spoiler|incinerated Katen Kyokotsu and Sogyo no Kotowari to death}}, but as Kouga descended deeper into madness, he quickly became a [[Smug Snake|self-centered, arrogant, abusive]] [[Jerkass]] that frequently treated Muramasa as a mere tool, instead of an actual person. However, since Muramasa was the one that led Kouga to his crazy, power-drunken self, one could say that he brought it on himself. This disharmony caused Muramasa to literally lose the ability to hear his master when needed...which led to Kouga [[Kick the Dog|stabbing]] Muramasa as soon as he was unsealed, completely uncaring about Muramasa's explanation.
** Also, Homura from the third movie. There's no denying that Homura was a stubborn, jealous, possessive, and irrational teenage girl, who had the potential to be as unstable as Loly can get at times, with an almost-unhealthy obsession towards Rukia to top it all off; but for all her faults, she was a sincerely sweet and cheerful girl, whose only wish was to reunite with the only other friend and loved one she had. In fact, she wasn't even evil to begin with, just selfish, naive, and misguided, with a justifiable excuse for her implied hatred (and fear) of the Shinigami. Considering her past, her interactions with Rukia are all the more heartwarming; as an orphan, she was forced to survive on her own in a lawless slum district, ended up getting murdered by an (albeit mind-controlled) Shinigami, absorbed said mind-controlling hollow into herself as a fail-safe to keep it from killing Rukia (thereby making it into the subconscious source of her power), and unintentionally causing the now-innate hollow spirit energy to revive and transport them to Hueco Mundo, where she presumably spent most of her life relentlessly fighting for survival against hundreds of cannibalistic monsters in a dimension she knew nothing about after forcing the still-barely alive hollow into submission. And keep in mind that, at the time, she was barely over the age of ten. The final kicker is that Homura was a genuinely likable and sympathetic character, even taking into account her [[Yandere]]/PsychoLesbian tendencies, which makes her death scene even more of a [[Tear Jerker]] than it already is.
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** Yukio. His sadism might've been biological, but he would've been far less homicidal if his parents gave enough of a damn to raise him properly. Fully explained in chapter 471: he was a former [[Cute Mute]] who was kept locked away by his parents due to his speech impediment, and was so lonely that he first used his powers to recreate images of his parents as sort-of [[Imaginary Friend|Imaginary Friends]].
** For some, that would be Loly. A few also feel for Melony, too, since her primary problem is that she follows Loly loyally in spite of her own doubts.
* Ichise of ''[[
* Edmond (or The Count of Monte Cristo) from ''[[
* Genkaku from ''[[
* Eva Heinemann in ''[[Monster (
* Harry MacDoogal from ''[[
* Uzuki of ''[[
* ''[[
** Nanami Kiryuu. Good lord, what a bad day she has had... {{spoiler|After discovering that her brother Touga, who she loved ever since she was a child, was not her blood sibling, she feels like the connection she had was fake, and now has nothing to hold on to. After that, she runs away from home, into the house of a pair of close, happy siblings, only to walk in on them having sex. And after that, she walks in on Touga making out with a member of her old gang, to hear her brother say that he never loved her to begin with, and to have her ex-friend claim that she has no connection to her anymore. And then after that, she gets the Akio Car treatment, where Touga attempts to rape her, which she fights off in fright, and then loses her duel, sobbing that she feels like she's just a face in the crowd and has no way to reconnect with the brother she loves. It's very hard not to feel sorry for her after all that, even though she was a raging [[Alpha Bitch]] [[Yandere]] most of the time. She does seem to become nicer afterwards, too, warning Utena to not hang around with Akio or Anthy anymore as she thinks they're up to no good, but her warnings fall in deaf ears.}} Ouch.
** Mikage Souji could qualify as well. {{spoiler|Just as he was beginning to evolve out of his computer-like personality and developed feelings for a woman named Tokiko, Akio seduced her just so he could manipulate Mikage into burning down the memorial center. And, of course, killing the 100 boys trapped inside. Not only that, but Akio gets Mikage to work for him years later as a puppetmaster, pulling the strings of the black rose duellists. Unfortunately, Mikage doesn't know that he's a puppet at all, and that Akio has tampered with his memories.}}
** Saionji too. Yes, Saionji was a total [[Jerkass]], but not even he deserved Touga's horrible treatment and manipulation of him.
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** In the Watanagashi/Meakashi-hen arcs, {{spoiler|Shion Sonozaki}} pretty much fits the bill. On the one hand, there's everything that she has had to go through as [[The Unfavourite]] of her family, never mind the [[Cold-Blooded Torture]] she's put through just before she finds out about {{spoiler|her boyfriend Satoshi's disappearance}} -- which she had gone through specifically in order to ''prevent''. On the other hand, her [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] goes [[Ax Crazy|so far off the rails]] (specially in the case of {{spoiler|Satoko, whom she straps to a cross and tortures to death, and Mion, whom she forces to watch as she murders poor Satoko}}) that it's hard not to be relieved {{spoiler|when she finally gets her [[Karmic Death]] near the end}}, if only for her own sake.
** {{spoiler|Takano, to an extent. Growing up and being tortured into insanity in an [[Orphanage of Fear]] after the death of her parents after a massive traffic accident caused by [[Contrived Coincidence|the bus driver]] dying of a sudden heart attack, having her guardian's life's work trampled on by his colleagues [[Determinator|made her do everything to prove that the man who had cared for her wasn't full of shit.]]}} Possibly inverted by the time of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* ''[[
* Nakai of ''[[
* ''[[
** Ebisu typically exhibits both aspects of the [[Jerkass Woobie]] simultaneously, rather than appearing to be a jerk with a more sympathetic side. In the past, he lived without parents, and supported himself by commiting petty crimes with his skills as a medium. When a ghost turned on him, he got saved by Goryo, and became his assistant in his Magical Law business, which had become ruthless in the way it did business. He's typically fairly arrogant and condescending towards most people besides Goryo, but at the same time, comes off as pitiable after {{spoiler|being fired for failing to execute one of Goryo's plans, even if he eventually gets back together with Goryo}}. He never completely changes and doesn't regret his actions, even if he acknowledges that many of them are less than noble, but his past shows that he mainly does what he does out of loyalty, and he helps to teach Roji a lesson about how he can best help Muhyo.
** The Cortlaw siblings are this to varying degrees, with Mick being the heaviest on the [[Jerkass]] end ({{spoiler|killing Panza when she tries [[Taking the Bullet]] for Roji}}) {{spoiler|until his final moments}}, Ivy a mixture of both, and Kid being mostly a standard [[Woobie]] complicit in Ark's plans (albeit largely through manipulation with a few critical lies). They lost their parents to the MLS ({{spoiler|unaware that they resisted arrest and killed some of those sent after them}}) and are willing to resort to dark magic to bring them back. Kid {{spoiler|admitting he was wrong and hoping to [[Together in Death|see his family again]] as he is dying}} is particularly [[Tear Jerker|heart-wrenching]].
** George Schyuter keeps Muhyo and Roji out of the investigation largely out of pride and the belief that they're unable to help, and even puts a sword to Roji's throat when he tries to help. It turns out, however, that his attitude and belief in working alone was the result of losing all of his partners and being blamed for it. He found a way to practice Magical Law alone, but derived no satisfaction from it, since no one was with him to share his defeats or victories.
* Arguably, [[
* Ayato Naoi of ''[[
* ''[[
* Kevin of ''[[
* Kuromi from ''[[
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'':
** Vita was used as a personal soldier for the owners of an [[Artifact of Doom]] for centuries, and seemed to take it harder than the other Wolkenritter. While doing so, she was also quite abrasive to her allies, especially Reinforce, pushing them away when they tried to get close to her, and showed cruelty to her enemies beyond what was necessary to collect their Linker Cores. She becomes a nicer person after meeting Hayate, but still is not above [[Gag Boobs|barbs about the size of Signum's breasts]] and the lethality of [[Lethal Chef|Shamal's cooking]].
** The Huckebeins from ''Force''. They're afflicted with a deadly virus that will kill them unless they kill other people, and have resolved to do what they have to to stay alive. Okay, fine, villainous but understandable...what isn't is [[Smug Snake|the degree]] [[Kick the Dog|of dickishness]] with which they go about it. The fact that they've been immune to karma so far doesn't help matters.
** Precia in the first movie. She's just as cruel to Fate as in canon, but it's revealed that not only was she a loving mother who wanted to spend more time with her daughter, but {{spoiler|she [[Unfinished Untested Used Anyway|tried to prevent the premature launch of the reactor]] that caused the meltdown that killed Alicia}}, and the companion manga shows just how painful it was for her, especially with {{spoiler|her [[Tear Jerker|cradling Alicia's lifeless body in her arms]] as tears are streaming down her face}}. In her final moments, as she's falling to her apparent death, she appears to finally understand {{spoiler|Alicia's desire for a little sister}} and regret her actions.
* ''[[Pokémon (
** Mewtwo. He goes on a rampage against all living things to prove [[The Social Darwinist|clone superiority]], but after [[Cloning Blues|what happened to him]], [[Beta Test Baddie|can you blame]] him?
** Also from the anime, Meowth. He's technically a mafia goon and kind of a jerk...but that's because he grew up an alley cat on the streets and worked his tail off learning to speak human to impress a girl-cat, only to be rejected and ostracized as a "freak". He ended up as a goon in a criminal syndicate because it was the only place he could find that would have him.
* Kyouko Sakura from ''[[
** Homura, too. She first appears in the act of severely injuring the series's lovable mascot (in fact, {{spoiler|she had already killed him, but he revived himself, so she was trying to kill him ''again''}}). Later, she gives vague, threat-like warnings to Madoka, and generally acts creepy and ominous. She doesn't seem truly evil, since she shows up to help the "good guys" a few times, but she's extremely detached and uncaring, especially when {{spoiler|Sayaka dies}} and Kyouko (the ''other'' [[Jerkass Woobie]]) blows up at her for seeming so heartless. Of course, there's a (spoileriffic) reason for all this: {{spoiler|Homura's a time traveller, and has watched all the other girls die extremely tragic deaths in numerous previous timelines. She keeps going back in an attempt to fix things, but always ends up making everything ''even worse'' than the last time. At this point, she's given up on everything except trying to save Madoka, despite knowing that it's probably impossible; she's become so detached because, otherwise, she'd lose hope and turn into a witch herself.}}
* Fudou from ''[[
* ''[[Black Butler]]'':
** Alois Trancy. Alois is possibly the one of the [[Creepy Child|most disgusting children]] ever seen in anime, and, most of the time, you just want to punch him for being such an ass. But don't tell me you didn't cry like a baby, or at least sniffle, at his backstory and {{spoiler|untimely death.}}
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** And Angelina "Madame Red" Durless.
** At the end of season II, even {{spoiler|Sebastian}} can count as this. That look on his face when he realized that he'd have to serve Ciel for all eternity and will never be able to eat his soul was absolutely disheartening for some fans.
* Makoto Isshiki from ''[[
* Raul Creed of ''[[
* ''[[
** Rip Van Winkle. Sure, she's a psychopathic vampire, but her over-the-top death at the hands of Alucard and her complete breakdown once he arrives elicits much sympathy.
** How about Alucard for that matter? See volume 8 of the manga for more details.
* Jean Croce of ''[[
* Nao Yuuki of the ''[[
* Tsukasa from ''[[.hack
* ''[[Oniisama
** Mariko Shinobu. She's selfish, clingy, creepy, acts like she owns Nanako {{spoiler|and once tries to kill her}}, and often is a bitch to Nanako's friend Tomoko. She's also one of Nanako's few friends in Seiran, protects her from bullies like Aya Misaki, {{spoiler|and is very screwed up after her father first cheated on her mother, and later abandoned Mrs. Shinobu and young Mariko.}} Not to mention, she genuinely cares for Kaoru, and when Kaoru acknowledges it, [[Moe|Mariko becomes freaking adorable for a second.]]
** Also, to the shock of many, {{spoiler|''Aya Misaki herself''}} becomes one after [[Break the Haughty|she gets utterly broken]] by the last part of the TV series. To the point of {{spoiler|being this close to commit suicide.}}
* Sara of ''[[
* Anemone from ''[[
* Akira from ''[[Togainu no Chi]]''.
* Lots of these show up in ''[[
** [[Knight of Cerebus|Gerard]] [[Used to Be
** [[Magnificent Bitch|Urtear]] [[Time Master|Milkovich]], [[Big Bad]] Hades' right hand woman {{spoiler|and the person responsible for Gerard's [[Start of Darkness]], since it was her who spoke to Gerard's mind, pretending to be Zeref}}, was revealed to be one as well at the end of the Tenrou Island arc. Want the lowdown? {{spoiler|When she was just an infant, she was separated from her mother Ur by a bunch of heartless scientists who wanted to use her for her immense magical potential. (Ur had asked for their help for her ill child. Those monsters took away the little girl and told her mother that Urtear had died from her fever and that her body was too horribly mangled for a mother to see.) Raised as little more than a sentient lab rat, Urtear was told that her mom had abandoned her and grew to resent her...but, most of all, she desired to go back in time to the moment of her abandonment and prevent it from coming to pass. In order to do so, she grew up into a brilliant and Machiavellian [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] and [[Manipulative Bitch]] who would stop at nothing to awaken Zeref and uncover the World of Magic, confident that all her evil actions would be erased the moment she travelled back in time and averted the very event that sparked them.}} In the end, Urtear committed a lot of terrible things which were fueled by her desperate desire to {{spoiler|meet with her mother and achieve some happiness for herself. When her plan failed, she fell into such shame and depression over what she had become that she tried to commit suicide to atone...and, ironically enough, she was saved by her [[Morality Pet]], Meredy, a young girl Urtear had taken under her wing (after destroying her village...) and treated like a real daughter.}} Now, will someone please punch this woman in the face, and then give her a big hug?
* Suzu of ''[[
* Alviss of ''[[
* {{spoiler|Yuri Tokikago}} from [[
** And {{spoiler|Keiju Tabuki}} becomes one after episode 18.
** {{spoiler|Kanba}} ends up as this, after {{spoiler|his [[Face Heel Turn]] [[Love Makes You Evil|fueled by his deside to save Himari]]... followed by [[Death Equals Redemption]].}}
* Sakuya Ookochi from ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Murayama Musashi. While his whole ''world'' was destroyed, his rude quips to Yamato and tendency to rather recklessly do things himself places him in this territory.
* Reika of ''[[Goshuushou
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'': Tsubaki Kasugano, aka the 6th, and Yuno Gasai. And Yukiteru's always been [[The Woobie]] but he also becomes more unstable and more of a jerk as the story continues.
** Almost all of the diary holders are [[Jerkass Woobie|Jerkass Woobies,]] [[Rape
* Mio Hio and Satoshi Hiwatari of ''[[D.N.Angel]]''.
* [[Cute Bruiser|Taiga Aisaka]] of ''[[Toradora
* Michio Yuki of ''[[
* In [[Nausicaa of the Valley
* ''[[
* Rin from ''Kodomo No Jikan'', especially in the earlier volumes. Yes, she has had a rough childhood and clearly needs to be helped, but the way Rin behaves - ways that could get a basically innocent man sent to prison, or seriously hurt someone - is just nasty. And she knows it.
* Dr. Tenma from the [[Astro Boy (
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