The Woobie/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions

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* Belldandy from ''[[Ah My Goddess (Manga)|Ah! My Goddess]]'', perfectly fits this trope when she starts crying, usually because she sees Keiichi being in any way physical with another girl...

* Misuzu from ''[[AIR (Visual Novel)|AIR]]'' obtains a certain level of woobie-ness in the last few episodes of the series, when she finally {{spoiler|gets overcome by her curse and, after a lot of pain, [[Go Out Withwith a Smile|dies beautifully]] in the arms of her adoptive mother}}.

* Tetsuo from ''[[Akira (Manga)|Akira]]'' is considered one. He largely wants revenge on the city after years of being subjected to [[Parental Abandonment]] and [[Kids Are Cruel]], and looked down upon by everyone else in his gang including his best friend. The scenes from his backstory really make you feel for the guy, in part because he made a ''very cute'' kid.

* ''[[Angel Beats (Anime)|Angel Beats!]]'' has Angel. [http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2111/angelbulliesepisodeguid.png She is nothing short of tortured by the protagonists for upholding the rules.] As an anonymous forum poster said:

{{quote| I didn't think Angel Beats was supposed to be taken literally. }}

* Victorique from ''[[Gosick (Light Novel)|Gosick]]''. A tiny girl, frail, cute, looking like a doll and with a harsh past. See her cry and feel the impulse to take her in your arms while saying "there, there, everything'll be all right". And enjoy the cathartic effect when it happens in-anime !

** Kyouko has some of this as well, since she [[Hopeless Suitor|just can't give up on Yasuko]], who keeps giving her the cold shoulder.

* ''[[Astro Boy (Animeanime)|Astro Boy]]'' from ''Astro Boy/Tetsuwan(Mighty) Atom'' may be "The Woobie" perfection. Not only is he incredibly cute, but his origin is that he only exists to replace a scientist's dead son, when he is unable to fill this void, the scientist (Dr. Tenma) simply discards him, selling him to a circus but rescued by the head of the ministry of science (Dr. Elefun) but even after that, Astro Boy goes through his entire series dealing with [[Fantastic Racism|intense robot racism]]. The Woobie element is only increased in the original Manga when {{spoiler|the Manga reveals Dr. Tenma was once married. When their son dies and Tenma replaces him with Astro, the wife is reluctant but as she begins to grow attached to him and even loving him like her own son, Tenma starts to hate Astro for not being like his dead son. Tenma starts drinking a lot and in a drunk rage selling Astro to the circus with his wife divorcing him shortly afterward. After that, the only time she gets to see him is far in the back of the circus audience until she becomes terminally ill with her last request to be seeing Astro one last time. The Ring Master not only refuses, but does not tell Astro she is dying so he won't leave so she dies alone without Astro ever knowing.}} Many more cruel acts follow at the circus including Astro {{spoiler|being forced to kill other robots, and being tortured if he doesn't}}

* Almost every single nation-tan in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' has more than one woobie moment

** Toris (aka Lithuania) takes the absolute cake because of all the [[Yank the DogsDog's Chain]] moments he has to go through.

** Also, Canada. The unappreciated country never noticed, or when actually noticed, being mistaken (i.e. beaten up by Cuba) for America. His own brother can't even remember his name. But he at least gets his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when he gives America an epic [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]].

** [[Tsundere]] [[The Mean Brit|Mean Brit]] England also has a number of Woobie moments. [[Bonnie Scotland|His]] [[Wales|older]] [[Useful Notes/Ireland|brothers]] have hated him ever since he was small and he's never had any friends in Europe (not that there are no reasons for all that), and apparently he feels genuinely sad about this, not to mention lonely. Finally he found America, someone who cared for him and whom England loved very much, until America eventually [[The American Revolution|declared independence]] and broke his heart. And if this wasn't enough, all his attempts at getting closer to a now grown-up America end with [[Master of the Mixed Message|America gleefully shooting him down]] - even when England is on his [[Like You Would Really Do It|death bed]]. ''Twice.''

* ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'':

** Osaka was tricked into eating extremely spicy food by Yomi (in a moment of uncharacteristic [[Jerkass|jerkasseryjerkass]]ery) after saying she couldn't handle anything spicy. Additionally if you translate Osaka's first image song into English, her woobie levels go ''waayyy'' up, since she's basically singing about how she realizes she's a [[Cloudcuckoolander]], but is unable to do anything to fix it.

* Czeslaw Meyer from ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano!]]''. He is {{spoiler|tortured to death several times throughout his life, including by his trusted guardian, and Vino}}. He seems to suffer the most out of any character in the series, {{spoiler|without much of a happy ending}}.

* The ''[[Berserk]]'' universe is rough on pretty much everyone.

** Guts and Casca, the [[Star -Crossed Lovers]] of the series have it especially bad. While Guts has shades of [[Jerkass Woobie]], his lover is more of a [[The Woobie|a complete woobie.]] Casca was sold by her parents to a noble who wanted a new serving girl, only for her to learn that he wanted her for sex, not cooking and cleaning. She was saved from being raped only by the arrival of Griffith. The two had it relatively easy during their time with the Band of the Hawk and things take a rare, optimistic turn for them when they admit their love for each other...[[It Got Worse|until the Eclipse went down, and it all went to hell.]] {{spoiler|Griffith sacrificed the Hawks, leaving them to get slaughtered by countless monsters. Casca lost everyone under her command, and was ultimately raped when Griffith, who had become the fifth member of the Godhand, Femto, [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|got his hands on her]]. Guts took down a multitude of demons and even chiseled off his own left arm in a furious bid to save her, but in the end, [[Senseless Sacrifice|it was all for nothing]]}}. And things only got worse for them after the Eclipse, with Casca {{spoiler|miscarrying and giving birth to a corrupted child as a result of Femto's rape tainting the child that she and Guts conceived}} and her [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|traumatized post-Eclipse state in general]] being a source of [[Heartbroken Badass|serious heartbreak]] for Guts, to the point where at times one doesn't know which of the two to feel worse for. And that's not even mentioning the [[Super -Powered Evil Side]] that Guts has which is now working against him and which wants Guts to kill Casca so that he can get back to his vendetta against Griffith. All in all, the Berserk universe has made it its mission to ensure that these two ''never'' find happiness.

* ''[[Black Butler (Manga)|Black Butler]]'':

** Alois's maid Hannah from the second season. She has an eye gouged out by Alois...and later that night, she's right back to her maid duties, a large bandage covering half of her face. Even the "mysterious stranger" who is actually Sebastian takes what could be interpreted as pity on her. And then Alois walks in, hearing what the "mysterious stranger" said. Alois then smacks the tray out of her hands, gives her a hard slap across the face, and calls her a whore, mocking the pity given to her by the "mysterious stranger". He later chucks a costume crown at her face, causing her to bleed, and forces her to strip in front of him, Claude, and anyone who might be walking by just so he can use her dress to disguise himself. She doesn't really show any reaction to it, but she's probably used to that treatment by now.

** Snake also counts, after his character got explored a bit. Poor guy is painfully shy because most people shun him for his appearance. He is also adorable, and has tea parties with his snakes.

* ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'':

** Nemu Kurotsuchi, the [[Mad ScientistsScientist's Beautiful Daughter|daughter/creation]] of ruthless and sadistic [[Mad Scientist]] Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who regularly abuses and humiliates her for little to no reason. To make matters worse, {{spoiler|look what the Syazel Aporro Granz does to her...}}

** [[The Medic|Orihime]] has lived alone since her brother died, had to suffer bullying throughout her school years and suffers from major self-esteem issues. Not to mention the whole reason she lived with her brother in the first place was because her parents were such abusive assholes that an eighteen-year-old boy took off with his three-year-old sister to raise her by himself. Her problems are only magnified after she not only has problems with the [[Barrier Warrior]] powers she was bestowed and ''specially'' with her [[Heroic Self -Deprecation]], is forced into a [[Sadistic Choice]] by an [[Omnicidal Maniac]]'s servant and taken into a [[Crapsack World]]. [[It Got Worse|Things only got worse from there]], and it took her quite a bit to get better.

** Ichigo tries to play the [[Stoic Woobie]], but [[Epic Fail|epically fails.]] For the longest time, he blamed himself for his mother's death, and became a [[Determinator]] who wouldn't let anything hurt his family or friends. Oh, and he [[Used to Be Aa Sweet Kid]]. {{spoiler|He reached the point of a woobie. Just look at what Tsukishima's done to him! And Ginjou's revelations to Ichigo only made things much worse. It took a '''massive''' intervention to get him back to a funcional state.}}

** Momo Hinamori, the sweet and gentle lieutenant whose obsession over her captain ({{spoiler|Aizen}}) not only {{spoiler|was groomed carefully by him}}, and eventually led to her near-death and coma. Her lack of briefing on the matter led her to believe that the one responsible ({{spoiler|Aizen again}}) was thoroughly innocent for a long while, and right [[Hope Spot|as she had managed]] to start getting over with it [[He's Back|and return to the battlefield]], {{spoiler|Aizen tricks others into ''stabbing her''.}} This is subjective, however; where some fans see a victim of circumstance {{spoiler|and mass hypnosis}}, others see a gullible [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]].

* [[Blood Plus+|Blood+]] is full of these. It seems that just about everyone, even the villians, have been hurt by someone stronger, lost loved ones, or generally suffered endlessly. {{spoiler|Except maybe Amshel.}}

* Sabato-chan from ''[[Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan (Light Novel)Dokuro-chan|Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan]]'' is a parody of [[The Woobie]] in that every scene involving her usually ends with her being ridiculously destitute and suffering enormous injury (though, this is NOTHING compared to what the main character/[[Butt Monkey]]/[[Chew Toy]] Sakura has to go through on a regular basis).

* Chrono in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' goes through hardship after hardship, both emotional and physical, including {{spoiler|the death of one love interest}} and the impending death of his partner--thankspartner—thanks to a debilitating injury which leads him to have to [[Deal Withwith the Devil|drain away her soul]] [[Deadly Upgrade|to use his powers]]. Azmaria and/or Joshua may count as well, depending on who you ask.

* Several ''[[CLAMP (Creator)|CLAMP]]'' characters have risen to Woobie status within their own series, most notably Subaru Sumeragi of ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]'' and later ''[[X 1999]]'', and more recently Fay from ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'', who shares [[The Multiverse]] with just about every other Woobie CLAMP has created.

** Kohane of ''[[Xxx Holic (Manga)|Xxx Holic×××HOLiC]]'' in the style of [[Love Martyr]] for her mother. Her parents split up, possibly because of her. Her mother hasn't used her name since then. Her mother won't touch her, let others touch her, cook her food ''or'' let her eat anything she thinks is 'unclean' since it might take her power away. Then she has to go on TV, exorcise spirits and because she happens to be better at it than other mediums, she's called a fake and gets some [[Serious Business|rather nasty abuse]] including being pushed down stairs, possibly losing an eye and having her house covered with graffiti sporting charming slogans such as EVIL, LIAR and DIE. See also: Watanuki, although quite a lot of it is his own fault or is genuinely good for him.

** Even the extremely up-beat and idealistic ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' has its Woobies. Most prominent is Yukito/Yue, the former due to the lead-up and [[Tomato in Thethe Mirror]] reveal of the latter's existence as a [[Split Personality]], and the latter because of how broken up he was when Clow died.

* [[Clannad (Visualvisual Novelnovel)|Clannad]], ''[[Clannad (Visualvisual Novelnovel)|Clannad]]'', '''[[Clannad (Visualvisual Novelnovel)|Clannad]]'''. If you appear in Clannad and have so much as a ''name'', you qualify for this trope. Everybody either has a tragically lost relative(s)/loved ones, health problems, social problems, broken dreams or any combination of them.

** Her brother Lelouch, the show's protagonist, could also qualify, seeing as the universe (or at least the writers) seem to love kicking him when he's down. Or up. Or anywhere in the middle.

** [[Naive Everygirl|Shirley Fenette]]. After she finally works up the courage to ask her classmate and crush Lelouch on a date, later that day she learns her dad was an innocent civilian killed by collateral damage from the [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] Zero's guerrilla war. Later, she finds out her beloved "Lulu" is none other than Zero himself. Before she confronts him about it, she gets [[Mind Rape|mind-raped]] by [[Evil Eye|Geass]]-user Mao into almost killing Lelouch, and to undo the psychological trauma she's suffered, her crush [[Laser -Guided Amnesia|erases all of her memories about him]], hoping to [[ItsIt's Not You, ItsIt's My Enemies|protect her from]] [[ItsIt's Not You, ItsIt's Me|himself]]. {{spoiler|She gradually falls in love with him again over the next year, and just when they officially become [[Relationship Upgrade|more than friends]], someone from Zero's past shows up and restores all of her lost memories. She spends the next episode struggling to [[Gambit Pileup|figure out what's really going on]], eventually comes to terms with her feelings, realizes how lonely Lelouch is under his mask, decides she wants to be with him no matter what sins he's committed... and is promptly [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|murdered by someone]] loyal to Lelouch.}}

** Euphemia is one of the kindest characters in the series, having good intentions and good means to achieve them, but due to {{spoiler|[[Diabolus Ex Machina]], she ends up causing a massacre and Lelouch [[Mercy Kill|is forced to kill her.]] After that, she is remembered as "Massacre Princess".}}

* ''[[D .Gray Man-man]]'':

** [[Action Girl|Lenalee's]] [[The Pollyanna|sunny disposition]] and the [[Training Fromfrom Hell|horrible]] [[Break the Cutie|psycho-conditioning]] they made her endure to get her into a properly Exorcist frame of mind make her another woobie.

** Also Krory ([[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Or however you spell his frakking name]]). Spent years shunned by the local villagers, felt his only purpose in life was to protect his grandfathers posessions, had his teeth suddenly fall out and teeth made of Innocence instantly grow in, killed the woman he loved, found out that his loved one was an Akuma, and genuinely belived that he was a monster, but really didn't want to be. Seriously, how 'bout we label the entire Black Order as a [[Dysfunction Junction]]?

** Miranda grew up [[All of the Other Reindeer|relentlessly mocked by everyone she knew]], got fired from 100 jobs even though she kept trying her best, developed a severe inferiority complex, wanted nothing more than to be helpful to others but didn't think she could, got stuck in a [[Groundhog Day Loop]] after [[Be Careful What You Wish For|wishing "tomorrow would never come" in the presence of an Innocence]]... and even after becoming an exorcist, she's no less of a woobie. Her Innocence lets her heal any recently-inflicted wounds and repair broken objects, but as soon as she deactivates it, the damage returns... not to mention using it puts a massive strain on her. She constantly pushes herself to her limit, cries whenever she has to return somebody's injuries, and blames herself for everything that goes wrong. As if that wasn't bad enough, when she's too tired to use her full recovery power, she can ''feel when her comrades die''.

* Aoi Hidaka from ''[[Dancougar Nova]]'' is quite a Woobie under her [[Badass Driver]] [[Fiery Redhead]] exterior. Heavily implied to be {{spoiler|a test tube baby with no parents}}, she has believed herself to be alone and unwanted for all of her life. Her fellow Dancougar pilots (Johnny, Sakuya and Kurara) were the first true friends she ever had, after getting past their differences. {{spoiler|And just when she has finally found a place where she can feel accepted, the evil alien computer Moon Will totals the Dragon's Hive, apparently killing everyone. Luckily, it later turns out to be a [[Disney Death]], and she gets an happy ending after literally [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|punching out Cthulhu]]...}}

* ''[[Darker Than Black (Anime)|Darker Thanthan Black]]'' earns the special distinction of having probably the only woobie character in all of fiction who [[Eats Babies]]. Yes, you read that right. Havok was a [[Complete Monster]] who probably had [[Person of Mass Destruction|the single highest body count of any Contractor]], and her remuneration for using her incredibly violent powers was to ''drink children's blood''. But when we meet her, she's been [[De -Power|depowered]], and whatever caused it also restored her feelings to normal instead of Contractor-ish [[Lack of Empathy]]. She's [[Villainous BSOD|broken]], despairing, hates herself for what she's done, and mostly just wants to be left alone to live in peace and [[The Atoner|help people in what few ways she can]]. But she willingly puts herself at a huge risk in order to help Hei and [[Iron Woobie|asks him to kill her if she goes back to what she was]]. {{spoiler|And then November 11 kills her, just when it looked like she was going to make it out okay.}}

* Although ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' edges toward the cynical end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], it does contain a few genuine woobies:

** The entire Yagami family of suffers from Light's actions. Ryuk even ''says'' at one point that they are the unluckiest family in the world - and yet their whole purpose was to add a little innocence into what is otherwise a dark, mayhem-and-murder-filled series. In the [[Live Action Adaptation]], Soichiro is made the Woobie even more in it simply by ''[[Spared Byby the Adaptation|surviving]]''.

* ''[[Detective Conan (Manga)|Detective Conan]]'':

* The ''[[Digimon (Franchise)|Digimon]]'' franchise has at least one in every adaptation:

** Another character that fits this trope perfectly is Ken from ''[[Digimon Adventure 02 (Anime)|Digimon Adventure 02]]''. His eventual rise and redemption are all the better for the hell that the second half of the series puts him through.

** ''[[Digimon Tamers (Anime)|Digimon Tamers]]'': 10 year-old Jeri Katou, originally the [[Plucky Comic Relief]]''/''[[Love Interests|Love Interest]], is one of the only humans to have her Digimon ''permanently destroyed'', by watching him be ''impaled and eaten'' by Beelzemon. Whom she still spares from death because she doesn't want more people to die in front of her AND for Takato/Giulmon/Gallantmon to go off the deep end. She is then kidnapped by a modern day [[Eldritch Abomination]], and [[Mind Rape|psychically tortured]] for several weeks so her angst and unhappiness fuels up said monstrocity. YEOWCH.

** Ruki Makino/Rika Nonaka, also from ''[[Digimon Tamers (Anime)|Digimon Tamers]]'', is a lesser one once you explore her character. Abandonment issues from her Father walking out on her mother, her Mom's a good person but is more interested in her career and oblivious to her needs in the beginning, thus leading her to pushing people away until it's almost too late.

** Kouichi Kimura from ''[[Digimon Frontier (Anime)|Digimon Frontier]]'' is as good an example as every other [[Sixth Ranger]] in the series. The last thing his dying grandmother tells him is that he has a twin brother, [[Separated Atat Birth|whom he's never met]]. He goes looking for said brother and can't get to courage to go talk to him. When he finally ''does'' work up the courage, he misses the elevator and falls down the stairs, {{spoiler|ending up either unconscious or dead (it's never really explained) Either way, his soul is separated from his body and}} he winds up in the Digital World, where he is [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashed]] into the [[Evil Twin]] (or maybe [[More Than Mind Control|not]]) and made to fight his brother and his brother's new-found friends until he's brought to his senses by [[The Power of Friendship]].

** Ikuto, from ''[[Digimon Savers (Anime)|Digimon Savers]]'', also is given some of the woobie treatment. First, his foster mother is killed right in front of him. Then his friend, Gotsumon, deems him a traitor (because he's human) and tries to kill him. Next, he meets his real father, who ''wants no part of him at first'' as he might bring back some serious emotional issues his mother suffered from. Once he does meet his mother, she's arrested. Then an entire fleet of digimon, headed by Gotsumon, declares war on Earth unless he's turned over to be executed. After that, his foster father is killed right in front of him, and suffers quite a bit while it happens. Hell, that's not even taking in his whole identity complex either.

** There's also Touma from ''[[Digimon Savers (Anime)|Savers]]''. First, his mom was hit by a truck and died on their way to a festival, so he was sent to live with his rich Austrian father. Touma's dad is a good guy, but spineless, so he did nothing when Touma's grandmother basically refused to acknowledge him either for being half-Japanese or [[Heroic Bastard|illegitimate]]. ''Then'', we find out he has a younger sister who's very ill, and that the reason he's been working himself so hard that he's a licensed doctor at age 14 is to cure her. And that's not to mention the {{spoiler|[[Fake Defector]] bit he pulled, which involved him nearly killing Ikuto and Yatagaramon, and indirectly killing Agumon.}}

* Touma Kamijo from ''[[ToA AruCertain Majutsu noMagical Index]]''. The entire reason Touma {{spoiler|ever came to Academy City in the firs place}} makes him a woobie. His right hand giving him bad luck is the entire premise for the show, but some {{spoiler|people came to believe that being around him was enough to get affected. When he was a kid, a man blamed Touma and his right arm for his business failing and tried to stab the poor kid.}} To top it all off, a {{spoiler|TV agency}} caught wind of this and decided to {{spoiler|run a special program on little Touma and his arm.}} Adding insult to injury, {{spoiler|they released photos of Touma without his parents' permision.}} And if THAT wasn't enough, you also find out that the head of Academy City {{spoiler|'''orchestrated all of that to ensure that he would end up in Academy City in the first place!'''}} Talk about a [[Gambit Roulette]].

* Some fans of ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' feel this way towards Satoshi, and the series does seem to set him up this way sometimes -- particularlysometimes—particularly his assertion that he can't let anyone close to him for fear that his [[Super -Powered Evil Side]] will harm them.

* Future Trunks from ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'', what with being the only hope left in an apocalyptic hellhole of a [[Bad Future]] where the villains could kill him at most any time and just leave him alive to toy with him for roughly twenty years {{spoiler|until he finally turns the tables and it was awesome}}.

* The Diclonii from ''[[Elfen Lied (Manga)|Elfen Lied]]'' all fall under [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]], but Nana, with her conviction to never kill anyone, even in self-defense, ''despite'' the horrible experiments she had to live through, is a definite woobie.

* ''[[Excel Saga (Animeanime)|Excel Saga]]'':

* Unsui from ''[[Eyeshield 21 (Manga)|Eyeshield 21]]'' was a pretty big woobie. From the day he was born he was constantly compared to his naturally talented younger twin brother, Agon, who is a [[Jerkass]] to say the least. No matter how hard he works (and boy does he work), he's only a good player while his brother is considered a once-in-a-century prodigy without even trying. Just when he thinks his efforts are finally acknowledged, it turns out people just mistake him for his younger brother. Ouch. And even after his [[Heroic BSOD]], he still continues to work his ass off, only now it's to selflessly help his brother reach his full potential, despite the fact that Unsui has every reason to resent him. What does his younger brother do? He looks down on him, regularly insults him, and is a general ass to him.

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'':

** [[Gentle Giant|Alphonse Elric]] from lost his mother at a young age. His attempt to bring her back resulted in him losing his body and his soul was trapped in a suit of armour. And that was just the beginning.

** The anime version of Wrath. Having died at birth and then offered to the Gate after his mother (Izumi Curtis) failed to revive him, he is a tortured soul filled with denial and a longing for maternal love. His naivety and innocence before he is awakened as a homunculus makes him even more pitiable.

* Despite the general tone, ''[[Gantz (Manga)|Gantz]]'' actually has quite a few woobies in it.

** Kei Kishimoto and Reika both suffer a severe case of unrequited love- Kishimoto {{spoiler|died to protect Katou}} and Reika {{spoiler|gave up her chance to be free of the Gantz game in order to allow Kurono to go free}}.

* Mamoru from ''[[Gao Gai GarGaoGaiGar]]''. In the TV series he's a first grader that not only has a stange and unexplained power to fly as well as purify Zonder cores and turn them back into Humans, he's made a member of a secret UN orginization and is given the responsibity of helping to deal with these machine monsters, if that wasn't enough, yet more powerful Zonders come, known as Primevals, which he can't detect, but his Red Planet counterpart, Kaidou, can. After feeling useless in not being able to help against the primevals, he goes to Galeon, the robot lion that took him to earth as a baby. when he touches the G-Crystal "black box" he finds out that...he's an alien, created to balance out the universe by destroying the Zonders. This goes into a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] with his human parents, and him finally being able to help 3G again.

* The unfortunate Joe Asakura in ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Anime)|Gatchaman]]'' is a tough, jaded and heavily scarred version of this. Though to be fair, everyone on the team has their moments of being this, especially Ken and Jinpei. Even Katse could be seen as one given hir unfortunate fate.

* Batou from the ''[[Ghost in Thethe Shell]]'' franchise fits this trope beautifully, especially in [[Ghost in Thethe Shell: Stand Alone Complex|the TV series]]. If there's an episode featuring him as the central character, you can bet that by the end, some aspect of his humanity will have been stomped thoroughly into the ground and you will want to give him an enormous hug. Even when he's not being actively emotionally tortured, there's still the matter of [[All Love Is Unrequited|the girl he likes]]...

* ''[[Grave of the Fireflies]]'' begins with the two main characters losing their mother in [[World War II]] and moving to their aunt's house. [[It Got Worse|It only gets worse from there.]] Their struggles to survive during the time of war are one woobie-ish moment after the other, to the very end.

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Anime)|Gundam 00]]'':

* In terms of actual suffering, the pilots from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]'' are pretty hard to rank, but they all go through some tough stuff:

** Duo Maxwell has it easiest during the actual series run, but his backstory makes him a woobie as well. He lived on the street from a very young age, but the gang he ran with died due to a plague, including his idol Solo. After he gets taken in by the Maxwell church, the church gets occupied by terrorists who demand a mobile suit or they'll kill everybody in the church, so Duo goes and steals a suit, only to find that the church was razed to the ground while he was gone. He took his nickname, "Shinigami" because everybody who got close to him died, and he gave himself his name from Solo and Father Maxwell from the Maxwell church, so he could never forget that he failed to save them.

** Also from TTGL, you have [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Princesses|Princess]] [[Moe Moe|Nia]] [[Kawaisa|Teppelin]]. Abandoned by her father and left to die for asking a goddamn question, she ends up finding the love of her life and has to fight her own father. Then, seven years later, before she and Simon can get married, she's torn away by the {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Anti-Spiral]]}} and [[Brainwashed and Crazy|forced]] [[More Than Mind Control|to]] [[Mind Rape|be]] [[Super -Powered Evil Side|his]] [[Apocalypse Maiden|messenger]]. Then, right when she snaps out of it, he decides to {{spoiler|[[Mind Rape]]/[[Moral Event Horizon|actually rape]] her}}. Then, after the battle is over, she gets to wed Simon... But {{spoiler|dies at the altar, fading away into nothing, because she was created as an Anti-Spiral.}}

* Oh, Hayate from ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]''. [[Abusive Parents|Poor]], [[Cosmic Plaything|poor]] [[Moe Moe|Hayate]]... Okay, so we're usually [[The Chew Toy|laughing at his pain]], but sometimes it's just impossible to get through the episode without developing the overwhelming urge to hug him and coo that it'll all be okay. Episode 14, for example...

* ''[[Hellsing]]'s'' Seras Victoria, at least up through the seventh volume of the manga, just goes through one bad day after another. You know a girl's going to have it rough when she ''dies'' before the first chapter is even finished. By the end of the seventh volume, she's been repeatedly berated by Alucard for her weaknesses, repeatedly impaled with holy bayonets, {{spoiler|been dismembered and blinded, was [[Mind Rape|mindraped]] (in which she relived the murder of her parents and getting shot by the killers) ''and'' was forced to drink the blood of one of the only decent people she knew.}} Fortunately, that last bit had some... [[Took a Level Inin Badass|side effects.]]

* Marie Moriya, the main character of ''[[Higanbana no Saku Yoru Ni (Manga)|Higanbana no Saku Yoru Nini]]'', who is bullied by her classmates and her homeroom teacher.

* Anyone who is even remotely sympathetic in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]''. Special mentions go to:

** Satoko Houjou slides between a [[Bratty Half -Pint]] and a Woobie who is [[Abusive Parents|horribly abused]] by her uncle.

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'' has several as well:

** Battler, what with that whole "[[Fate Worse Than Death]]" issue, has a very sucky lot even compared to the characters who die all the time.

** [[The Scrappy|Assuming you aren't annoyed by her]], Maria; with [[Abusive Parents|a household like that]], is it any wonder she's [[Creepy Child|disturbingly obsessed with magic and witches]]? {{spoiler|Of course, Maria loses a lot of Woobie-credit in [[Self -Made Orphan|the fourth arc...]] and it's regained in one line: But Sakutaro won't be fixed, right? Because Mama, who created Sakutaro, won't accept him. Mama also created me and won't recognise me. [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)ni/Tear Jerker|So the broken Maria won't be fixed either.]]".}}

** And, of course, Ange. She had her entire family killed, was physically and verbally abused by her aunt, and was bullied to the point of absolute misery by girls at her school, and then {{spoiler|got turned into hamburger, AKA being torn apart by red hot pliers. And then, in the human world, probably was shot by her bodyguard, the person she currently trusts most. And then Bernkastel brings her back only to reveal that the "truth" that Ange's parents were the culprits, and her mom hated her, and it was Eva who really loved her. And then she gets turned into hamburger. ''Again.''}}

* Kotoko from ''[[Itazura Nana Kiss]]'', especially whenever she cries during the first season.

{{quote| "I'll teach you a spell I used myself, when I was with the Himemiya and was hated by my good friend! [[Survival Mantra|'I am alone anyway. I was born alone and will die alone. So I'm not lonely. Not lonely at all.']] Let's do it, Teika-kun. Say it with me, and you'll simply feel better!"}}

* ''[[Lucky Star (Anime)|Lucky Star]]'':

** And the [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikersStrikerS|third season]] give to us little [[Fiery Redhead]] Agito. A sentinent [[Fun Size|Unison Device]] whose rude behavior is more or less the result of her {{spoiler|having lost her original master(her kind feel despair without a master), being used as a guinea pig by scientist FOR YEARS without any kind of consideration for her, found some little happiness by finding a new master but living worried for him cause he was working for a [[Mad Scientist]] of dubious relliance, got the knowledge that her beloved master was actually a clone dying of genetic degeneration, saw him die IN FRONT OF HER EYES but the killer is an honorable [[Lady of War]] that did it in fair combat and took Agito under her wing, giving her a warm place to belong and a new purpouse in life}}. After that Agito seems to be recovered and even her rude attitude becomes more playful and happier ...and then comes the [[Nanoha Force|fourth season]] where {{spoiler|she saw her current master, whom she has developed really strong and heartwarming bonds whith during the [[Time Skip]], being near killed right in front of her AGAIN, suffered seeing her in recovering and is now constantly worried since her master isn't fully recovered yet and the enemy who near killed them is still free and wreacking havoc}}. This trope wanted to give this poor little creature a big hug several times.

* Minawa from ''[[Mahoromatic]]'' is a clear Woobie with her perpetual failures for which she always feels sorry -- thesorry—the trademark "Gomenasai" -- even—even though the failures {{spoiler|were designed into her by Professor Kane}}. She actually goes as close as possible to the brink of [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] in a sense when {{spoiler|she tries at the same time to kill and not kill Mahoro and Suguru}}. She eventually {{spoiler|recovers from being the Woobie by gaining confidence in that she indeed has a heart.}}

* There are a few characters in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' who fall into this:

* ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' has Akito Tenkawa, ship's cook. Orphaned? Check. [[Doomed Hometown]] razed right in front of him as he was trying to rescue a little girl? Check. Press-ganged into military service and later almost-assuredly lethal test piloting? Check. BFF with [[The Obi -Wan]]? Check. On the plus side, his sheer Woobieness apparently makes him [[Chick Magnet|irresistible to women]].

* ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'': This series had plenty of Woobies:

** Shiro Kabuto, [[The Hero]]'s little brother. His parents died when he was barely a toddler. His grandfather Juuzo took them in, but he hired a maid to raise them because he was barely in home. Several years later, in one single day, Rumi - the maid; he treated her like a a kind of older sister - was murdered, his grandfather was murdered (and Juuzo died right in front of his grandsons), and his older brother Kouji nearly stomps him under the foot of an [[Humongous Mecha]]. We see during the series he is sad because he don't have parents to hang with, and Koji, Boss, and Sayaka are most likely busy fighting a [[Robeast|Mechanical Beast]]. He had a crush on a cute kid called Lorelei, but she {{spoiler|died}}. And in one of the last episodes, {{spoiler|Dr. Hell created a robot looked right like Kouji and Shiro's mother. She managed to convince him she was his real mother and tried to manipulate him to blow up the Jet Scrander. Later he had to shoot her, in spite of he was not sure of she was not his real mother.}} Have I mentioned he was only ten-years-old when the series began? Later, in ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]'' Kouji and Sayaka travel to America and he stays in Japan. Several times he complains he finds himself alone, his older brother does not write letters, and he even wishes upon a star Kouji returns soon. Jun tried to act like his [[Cool Big Sis]] because she was real sorry for him. And later in the series, he found out {{spoiler|his father was not dead. And he had let his sons believed during years he was dead.}} And then, shortly after {{spoiler|Shiro forgave him and they made up, his father Kenzo died. [[Killed Off for Real|For real, this time]].}} Also, in ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer (Anime)|UFO Robo Grendizer]]'' Kouji Kabuto shows up, but Shiro does not, so it is fair wondering who was taking care of him. I guess the most obvious answer is Tetsuya and Jun {{spoiler|-since they were his adoptive siblings and they were not underage-}} or Prof. Yumi -since he had been a [[Parental Substitute]] for Kouji and Shiro in the original series. It definitely suckes to be him. Although, on the other hand, [[Iron Woobie|he does not constantly whine about it]].

** Yuri, Sayaka's cousin, was an annnoying, cranky, demanding [[Bratty Half -Pint]]. She acted like that because her parents were too [[Married to Thethe Job]] to take care properly of her and they never were in home. Also, she is a disabled [[Ill Girl]] needs to use a wheelchair, and she refuses to undergo therapy to walk again because she is afraid of everyone will leave her alone again.

* Yukki from ''[[Mirai Nikki (Manga)|Mirai Nikki]]'' could be considered this. At the start he is a shy and introverted young boy, and then he gets shoved into a [[There Can Be Only One|duel to the death]] with a bunch of psychopaths. His only consistant ally is the craziest of them all, the ''biggest'' [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] [[Yandere]] ''ever'', who, at one point, {{spoiler|chians him up and imprisons him, so that no one would get in the way of their love}}. Poor guy.

* While the protagonists of the ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' franchise seldom get off easy, usually as an illustration why it's a ''bad idea'' to put a teenager in the middle of a war zone, ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (Anime)|Victory Gundam]]'' stands out by going out of its way to make the lead character Uso's life a living hell. Forced to pilot the eponymous Gundam against his will by leaders who honestly only value him for his skill, Uso and the Gundam develop a repuation by the enemy as an unholy terror that needs to be destroyed as quickly as possible. Uso does not take it well. "Stay away! You won't be killed if you stay away!" quickly becomes his... er... battle cry".

* ''[[Monster (Mangamanga)|Monster]]'' has a few:

* Akira Sakura from ''[[Naru TaruNarutaru]]''. Extremely shy and depressed as a result of being sexually abused by her father, she has nightmares while wide awake, gets bullied at school, witnesses gruesome deaths, is kidnapped and held hostage by a dangerous highschooler, gets her head messed with by creepy sociopaths... and the list goes on and on.

* ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'':

** It can be argued that the title character of is subject to a form of Woobiefication, mostly for the hard life he was able to overcome at the start of the series.

** Rock Lee, who is unable to perform anything other than martial abilities, has been training night and day since a young age and continues doing so rigorously even when {{spoiler|his arm and leg are crushed by Gaara}}. Because of how powerful he's become due to that training, he is one of the characters who suffer from the [[Worf Effect]] the most in this series.

** Hinata Hyuuga inspires two kinds of reactions from people: those who are frustrated with her repeatedly fainting, her ({{spoiler|up until very recently}}) inability to even remotely articulate her feelings to Naruto, and... oh heck, just look up [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant_personality_disorder:Avoidant personality disorder|Avoidant Personality Disorder]], you'll practically find Hinata's picture there. The ''other'' kind of reaction is from people who can empathize with how crippling shyness is a curse, and to them, she's totally a Woobie.

* Ian from ''[[Not Simple (Manga)|Not Simple]]''. He's separated from his beloved older sister at a very young age when she is sent to jail for armed robbery, leaving him alone with his distant and verbally abusive father, and his alcoholic mother. When his parents divorce, his mother takes him to far away England where she takes up beating him and forcing him to do odd jobs to pay for her booze habit. When that doesn't prove to be enough money, she even {{spoiler|pimps him out}} for it. When his sister is finally released from prison, they get separated ''again'', after which he vows to [[Walk the Earth]] to find her. During this journey he discovers that his sister {{spoiler|is his REAL mother}}, and all of his horrible abuse was out of the other woman's desire for revenge. To top things off {{spoiler|he never finds his mother/sister, who dies from aids after contracting it from the guy Ian was pimped out to as a child... meaning that Ian has the disease as well. Then he commits suicide when he finds out that the woman he was in love with, whom he left behind to search for his sister, has died in the interim.}}

* Mesousa from [[Pani Poni Dash!]] [[The Chew Toy|only exists so that bad things can happen to him.]] It's usually played for comedy, but sometimes you just can't help but feel sorry for him.

* [http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6761/grhdn.jpg Gretel] of ''[[Otogi Juushi Akazukin]]'' spends much of the series trying to earn the respect of her [[Onee -Sama|"Onii-sama"]], hoping to regain some small shred of the loving big brother he used to be, before they were taken in by the [[Big Bad]]. This coldness reaches it's peak when Hansel {{spoiler|is ordered to[[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|kill her]]. She flees during a momentary resistance to the big bad's mind control.}} This troper found the scene where she finally breaks down crying in male lead Souta's arms heart-wrenching despite the resulting squabbling of the two [[Clingy Jealous Girl|clingy jealous girls]] standing nearby. To drive the point home, her [[A Day in Thethe Limelight|day in the limelight episode]] is appropriately titled [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|"Lonely Gretel."]]

* ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' anime:

** Larvitar, from near the end of the Johto saga. [[Wham! Episode|"Address Unown"]] reveals the full story {{spoiler|of how, as an egg, he was stolen by greedy Pokemon poacher (using, from his perspective, a ''terrifying'' machine to take his egg), and he could only watch as his mother was injured trying to save him. Expounded by all this being shown in his mind to Ash and Co., complete with sounding like a terrified little boy. When he hatches, he's so terrified of humans it takes a courageous deed to get Ash to trust him, and a heartwrenching [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]] to trust other humans, including Misty and Brock.}} Thank goodness he gets to [[Earn Your Happy Ending|earn his happy ending]].

{{quote| '''Larvitar''' : "Scared... so scared... [[Tear Jerker|Mommy... mommy... MOMMY!]]}}

** Sasami even more in ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''. Imagine going 700+ years thinking that {{spoiler|you're not the real thing, that the real Sasami died when she was four and that all you are now is just a vessel for a powerful goddess and, if the others found out about it, they might turn against you and shun you.}} It's no wonder she was such a [[Stepford Smiler]] there.

* The main cast of ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' has elements of this. Fakir might be the most tragic example, considering he's fated to die unable to protect Mytho, not to mention the fact that {{spoiler|his powers lead to the accidental death of his parents, and the girl he loves is really a duck--and unable to return to her girl form at the end of the series}}. Rue has a dark, sad backstory as well but she's often not as popular with fans--sometimesfans—sometimes because they thing she needs to get over it, and sometimes because {{spoiler|[[Die for Our Ship|she got Mytho instead of Ahiru]].}}

* ''[[Rah XephonRahXephon]]'' has a few, but the one that stands out most is Hiroko Asahina. The episode that focuses on her is some kind of deluxe [[Tear Jerker]] supreme, with a side order of [[Dramatic Irony]].

* Depending on both versions and your own opinions, any of the main teen characters from [[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2½]] fit this trope. The anime versions of the majority of the cast tend to be more sympathetic- Mousse is the only one who looks better in the manga, and whether manga-Ryoga or anime-Ryoga is more sympathetic is a matter of personal opinion. For some setting-neutral examples of reasons for Woobiedom...

** Ranma: [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|a deep psychological trauma that makes him afraid of a common pet]], [[Abusive Parents|abusive parental figures]] (not only his mother and father, but both potential fathers-in-law, the grandmaster of his style, and his potential great-grandmother-in-law), a [[Unwanted Harem|quartet]] of [[Clingy Jealous Girl|Clingy Jealous Girls]]s who are perfectly fine with manipulating, deceiving and pounding him despite their proclaimed intent to marry him, a [[Gender Bender|curse]] that earns the lecherous intentions of anyone who isn't aware of his true nature (and one opponent who knows and can't care less), and absolutely no friends whatsoever beyond his rivals and his fiancees.

** Akane: she's engaged against her will to a [[No Social Skills|socially-unskilled jock]] who threatens her feminity both with [[Compassionate Critic|derogatory comments]] and a curse that lets him [[Gender Bender|change genders]], [[Overshadowed Byby Awesome|she's gone from the most powerful and respected martial artist in her hometown]] [[Can't Catch Up|to a second-string joke]], her mother is dead, her father is a wimp, she's a total disaster at acting feminine, her fiancee has a trio of other girls after him who are all "sexier" and better at being "womanly" than she is, and she has no proof whether or not the fiancee she has come to be attracted to returns her feelings in any way.

** Mousse: the girl he loves and has loved since childhood has never once shown even the slightest sympathy towards his efforts at wooing her, no matter what [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|extent]] he goes to.

*** In the manga she did give him a pity date, but he ruined it by [[What an Idiot!|bringing her to a gore filled horror flick on a date]].

*** All of these characters may actually be more accurately described as [[Jerkass Woobie|Jerkass Woobies]]s, given that they are, at the same time, both pitable and [[Comedic Sociopathy|deranged]] in a way that could make them all [[Unsympathetic Comedic Protagonist|monsters in the real world]].

* [[An Ice Person|Mizore Shirayuki]] of ''[[Rosario to+ Vampire]]'' gets forced into an [[Arranged Marriage]], is the victim of [[Attempted Rape]] ''twice'', had her first (human) love reject her out of fear that she'd ''eat him'' when he found out she was a [[Cute Monster Girl|snow girl]], and is hopelessly in love with Tsukune with pretty much no chance of it being requited. Oh yeah, she's got plenty of this.

* Oscar, Andre and Rosalie in ''[[Rose of Versailles (Manga)|Rose of Versailles]]'', though several others in the main cast and a few secondaries/bit characters fit this as well.

** And even Kirakishou hits this in the manga, of a far a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|far more lethal variety]]. The main reason she is considered evil is because she has been left alone inside the N-field since her creation, and by that has spend hundreds of years alone in isolation, making it hard not to feel sad for her when you consider that she has had nobody to love and in turn love back. This is part of her motivation for attacking the other sisters, out of a deranged view of wanting to be together with them, and with her dying words are "hold me more" while crying, it really casts some doubt on whether or not she truly is evil, but just very, very insane.

* Just about all of the main and supporting cast of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' make you want to alternately hug them or [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|hit them until they get over themselves]]. Young Kenshin, [[Stepford Smiler|Soujirou]], and Enishi (once he stops bordering on [[Complete Monster]]) elicit the biggest Woobie reactions.

** Usagi applies at several times - she's been to Hell and back since becoming a sailor soldier (literally, she's died several times).

** Makoto lost her parents in a plane crash, no one wants to approach her because she has a manly physique. Her preclusion to beat up people causes others to be afraid of her, and she apparently has had her heart broken once (twice in the anime). Plus, as Sailor Jupiter, despite being the physically strongest scout, she is often the first to be knocked out.

** Hotaru completely blows the rest of them out of the water though. Lost her mother when she was young, was mortally injured by her father's mad science, became the host of the third season's [[Big Bad]], was ostracized by her peers for her healing powers and because the [[Big Bad]] occasionally made her hurt her friends against her will, became an [[Ill Girl]] because of the [[Big Bad]]'s corruption of her body, was marked for death by [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Uranus and Neptune]], was forced to ''eat her best friend's soul'' by her [[Super -Powered Evil Side]], nearly destroyed the world, then died to save it and only gets brought back as an infant. And this is only in the third season. Subsequent seasons are much better about Hotaru's treatment, but only because [[Put Onon a Bus|she hardly ever shows up at all.]] When she does come back, she gets about two scenes in StarS before getting stabbed in the back ''[[What the Hell, Hero?|by her own adoptive parents]]'' as part of a poorly thought-out [[Batman Gambit]] that failed anyway. And the kid still wants nothing but friendship...

* Maria in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]'', quite deliberately. Played for laughs because she has a distinct mischievous side that only comes out when nobody is paying attention, for example pressing her foot on another girls weight scale to increase her apparent weight.

* Kotonoha Katsura is more-or-less deemed as the only ''[[School Days (Visual Novel)|School Days]]'' character that actually deserves a bit of pity, despite the [[Idiot Plot]] and all. {{spoiler|She was cheated on by her "boyfriend" and their "Cyrano", bullied by a semi-Libby and her [[Girl Posse]], raped by a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]], coldly dumped by the "boyfriend" the day after that... [[Beware the Nice Ones|and that causes her to go on a killing spree]]. What else do you want?}}

** She qualifies for [[Woobie|Woobiedom]]dom primarily when she starts to have to confront different aspects of her fracturing identity. And then when {{spoiler|she has to admit to herself that [[A God Am I|she is in fact a Goddess/Avatar]], she is [[Lonely Atat the Top|so alone in a world that no longer even knows she exists]].}}

** Zelgadiss. Apart from his curse angst, social troubles, self confidence seesaw etc., he also suffers from the Worf effect -- ifeffect—if Zelgadiss starts BLEEDING you know you're in deep trouble.

* Tails gets a few of these moments during ''[[Sonic X]]'', not least when he spends roughly [[Ten -Minute Retirement|twenty minutes or so]] angsting about letting Sonic and Knuckles get hurt during a pretty awful attack.

* Crona from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' is practically the living definition of this trope. Has a horrific backstory (it starts with having [[Ambiguous Gender|his/her]] [[Jerkass]] [[Equippable Ally]] implanted in his/her body and [[Training Fromfrom Hell|goes on]] [[Maximum Fun Chamber|from there]]) and is a painfully shy, perpetually bewildered bundle of nerves. The entire fandom seems to be united in the desire to give him/her a hug and/or beat the tar out of [[Abusive Parents|Medusa]]. Not to mention half way through the anime series (and early in the manga) when s/he had {{spoiler|befriended the main cast, Medusa re-appeared and brought back all the abuse with the added "bonus" of making hir betray hir new friends}}. Poor Chrona. It now looks as though Medusa is planning to {{spoiler|send Crona against Shibusen ''again'' (she still wants Maka dead, likely amongst other things) and if Ragnarok's appearance is anything to go by, they're back taking human souls.}}

* Holo from ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'' is this, to such a degree that it very much defines the plot. In public, she acts either calm and composed or [[Moe|cutely innocent]], depending on the situation, but because she's [[Really 700 Years Old]], she has a fair amount of angst and loneliness, and she was heartbroken when the village she had been caring for no longer needed or desired her. She's become very attached to Lawrence, who they both know [[Mayfly -December Romance|she will outlive by far]]. Then she finds out that {{spoiler|her homeland might not exist anymore}}, completing her woobie transformation.

* Mikuru Asahina in ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]''. Think about it: She gets uprooted from her friends, family and timeline, is thrown into a culture alien to her without any of the technology she's used to in the future, where she is constantly manipulated, kept out of the loop and emotionally abused by none other than {{spoiler|her future self.}} Add to this the fact that before being sent back in time, she underwent mental conditioning preventing her from ever revealing anything details of her old life to any of her new friends, no matter how much she might want to. And all of this abuse came from the people she's supposed to be saving.

* Jonah Matsuka in ''[[Toward the Terra]]'' ''never'' catches a break. You know it's bad when the only truly happy moment the poor guy has in the entire series is when he's {{spoiler|half-dismembered and dying}} because at least now he knows that [[Anti -Villain|Keith]] feels sorry for him.

* Zero Kiryu from ''[[Vampire Knight]]'' gets the razor sharp end of a burning stick so many times that the author must seriously get huge amounts of glee from torturing him. He's one of those rare characters that has justified angst. Nearly his whole family was brutally murdered before his eyes, creating a deep resentment towards vampires within him. Then that attacker ''bit'' him, [[A Fate Worse Than Death|dooming him to eventually become that which he hated most]]. He then spends the next years of his life slowly warming up to Yuki, the female protagonist, who he has an [[All Love Is Unrequited|unrequited love]] for. Of course, that's not bad enough, so there'll naturally be [[The Reveal]] where his {{spoiler|twin brother}} survived that attack, but then willingly ''joined'' the murderer of their family out of jealousy of {{spoiler|his brother}}. Oh, and Zero's also descending into madness because of his bite, so in spite of his wishes, he {{spoiler|has to drink the blood of his murderer and Kaname, whom he also hates, to save himself}}. He then finds out Kaname is planning to manipulate him to free himself, and is only keeping him alive because of this and his friendship towards Yuki, basically [[Kick Them While They Are Down|making the guy feel even more crappy about himself]]. He's then imprisoned by the hunter organization for simply being a vampire, despite his service to them. His aforementioned {{spoiler|brother}} then goes to him and essentially ''kills himself'' in front of him (that's ''all'' his family dying in front of him now), and ''shoots him'' so that Zero will have to ''eat his flesh''. Then he finds out the only person he's ever come to care for is a {{spoiler|vampire}} too.

* ''[[Voices of a Distant Star]]'': Mikako in spades - she's a 15 year old girl drafted into a war against a mysterious alien invader. Her only contact with her boyfriend Noboru is via text message on a cell phone. As she gets further away from Earth, the messages take longer to reach him. The crowning [[Tear Jerker]] moment comes on Agartha when, lonely and heartbroken, she falls apart sobbing, eight whole light years away from home.

* Shuuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki are the male and female protagonists of ''[[Wandering Son]]'' who [[TranssexualTranssexualism|wish they were the female and male protagonists]] of ''[[Wandering Son]]''. Shuuichi moreso because, while both are sympathetic, Shuu is frequently hit harder by the [[Double Standard]] of a [[Wholesome Crossdresser|wholesome crossdressing]] boy being a deviant versus a [[Wholesome Crossdresser|wholesome crossdressing]] girl being a [[Tomboy]].

* Toboe in ''[[Wolfs Rain|Wolf's Rain]]'' gets bullied a lot by the other wolves, particularly Tsume. This is partly because [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|Tsume's just that way]], but also because as the smallest and youngest Toboe is the pack omega (which means he also acts realistically as peacemaker between Tsume and Kiba). Before joining Kiba's pack he befriended a young human but accidentally killed her pet bird, then dropped his human disguise, causing her to regard him as an evil monster. It is later revealed that before ''that'' he was owned by an old woman, until {{spoiler|he accidentally killed her}}. In spite of all this Toboe never becomes bitter or cynical, and has his own [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] {{spoiler|when he manages to fight and kill a huge walrus that had defeated the other wolves}} (or three crowning moments, if you also count both of his attempts to save the life of Quent, the ''wolf hunter'', {{spoiler|the second of which failed and cost both of them their lives}}).

* Sho Marufuji of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''; being nearly ''killed'' by your [[Aloof Big Brother]] after challenging him for a chance to redeem him and magically forced to hate your [[Big Brother Mentor]] will do that to a guy.

*** Never mind that. I can't have been the only one who got huge [[Woobie]] vibes from [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|Bakura Ryou.]] [[Bishonen|A sweet-tempered, kind, pacifistic, brave teenager]] who's been 'enslaved by an evil spirit' since he was eight years old? [[Estrogen Brigade|No wonder he has such a huge following!]]

*** Though he's a self centered asshole with [[Misaimed Fandom]], it's hard not to feel for Kaiba with his backstory (which explains a lot about why he is the way he is, though it doesn't excuse it) and his devotion to his little brother. He did get put through a lot of abuse and he forced himself through it mostly for his brother--notbrother—not to mention the many, many times Mokuba is kidnapped he gets all super desperate and self-sacrificing (not desperate enough to accept any help ever, but that's Kaiba for you). Plus, he opened a park that lets underprivelaged kids in free. Awww.

*** Both Shizuka Kawai/Serenity Wheeler and Katsuya Jonouchi/Joey Wheeler. Separated from a young age by their parents' divorce. Shizuka/Serenity, as of the beginning of the Duel Monsters storyline starts to go blind, and is the focal point of her big brother's struggle as a novice in the game in the Duelist Kingdom tournament who hopes to win the cash prize in order to pay for the operation to treat her condition. Jou/Joey, since his estrangement from his sister, has been living alone with his drunken gambler of a father whose debts he has to pay off with multiple after-school jobs (he is a noted exception to his school's rule against this) and appearances on game shows, not to mention his aforementioned predicament during the early part of the Duel Monsters franchise. While he improves and makes some impressive feats in the game, he nonetheless ends up as Kaiba's personal [[Chew Toy]] and suffers a few near-fatal losses, most notably when he tries to save Mai. And let's not even get into the KaibaCorp Grand Prix arc, where he becomes the butt of a joke based upon a card in Yugi's deck (Which even ''his friends'' laugh about). [[Butt Monkey|Poor guy]] [[Overshadowed Byby Awesome|can't catch a break]] [[Hard Work Hardly Works|for trying]].

*** Mai Kujaku/Valentine is one as well, from her [[Broken Bird|lonely childhood]], to the [[Mind Rape|penalty game Yami Malik inflicts on her]], which in the anime is followed by [[Heroic BSOD|post-traumatic stress in the form of nightmares of still being under Yami Malik's clutches]], and leads to [[More Than Mind Control|Dartz goading her into]] [[Deal Withwith the Devil|joining]] [[Cult|Doma]] to conquer her fear of dying by loss of a duel, but instead [[Heel Face Mind Screw|ends up pushing her to the dark side]], and [[Irony|is in danger of what she feared the most, and must be saved again, this time from herself]]. [[Trauma Conga Line|Eep]].

*** Seriously, no mention of Ryou Bakura? He has a [[Dead Little Sister]] (and it's presumed that his mother is dead too), his father's either always away at work (anime) or just not living with him (manga), and he has one of the worst psychopaths ever to grace the series as his alter ego. He's constanty posessed and forced to do some pretty squicky stuff, all of which he can't remember doing, but damn he know's it's bad...and since the focus is on his evil alter ego and his villainous deeds, he's always put on the bus when he "isn't needed". His mates are perfectly fine hanging out with him, and they genuinely like him, but the rest of the time (in the anime, anyway), it's like he doesn't exist. If you think of this in terms of plot, then his friends pretty much abandon him in favour of saving the world, leaving him to deal with the [[Super -Powered Evil Side]] on his own. No wonder it's such a popular fanfiction plot [[Break the Cutie|for him to finally snap and need professional help...]]

*** In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Ds5D's]]'', Aki's backstory makes her this.

***** Let's face it, a good 80% of the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' cast qualifies for Woobie status at some point or another.

* Mitarai Kiyoshi/Seaman from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho (Manga)|Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' was bullied to the point of physical and mental torture by his classmates, {{spoiler|watched the infamous Chapter Black tape (featuring the most horrendous acts performed by humans) thanks a guy who said he was the Messiah, and then was given special powers that involved cutting himself and using his own blood to create monsters...}} Holy shit.

** We can't forget to mention Kolulu, she was given a [[Jekyll and Hyde]] personality so that she would fight in the Mamodo war, fearing her [[Super -Powered Evil Side]] she had Zatch burn her book even though it meant she'd be separated from her human partner Shiori/Lori and the two considered themselves sisters. And if that isn't Woobie enough for ya this is how she first appeared on the show: standing in the streets in the rain all alone crying her eyes out and no one was doing anything about until Lori found her. The ending of her episode was a big [[Tear Jerker]] for everyone.

{{quote| Kiyo:(With tear running down his face) Ah man, now she's got me doing it.}}

* [[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|The Nothing Card]]. ''Good freaking God, the Nothing Card.'' The second movie's [[Anti -Villain]], the Nothing Card was the one card that possessed "megative" power, to serve as a balance between all the positive power of the other cards. She considered all the other cards to be her friends, and they were happy. Then Sakura unleashed the cards, and she ended up buried under a house for ''years'' without anyone knowing she was there. Then she had to sit there and realize that all of her friends were being reunited and she still wasn't there. She finally got free, and began "vanishing" landmarks and people, stealing all of the Sakura Cards over the course of the movie. Anytime someone tries to stop her, or threatens to seal her away/take her friends back, she flips out. And the climax...well.

{{quote| '''Sakura:''' I will seal you away again.<br />

*all the cards move away from Nothing, circling her*<br />

* Poor Kirika from ''[[Noir (Animeanime)|Noir]]'': "I can kill people so easily. Why then don't I feel sad?" Awwww.

** Natsume. Her painful [[Unrequited Love]]-turned-[[Tsundere]] attitude makes the word "woobie" consistently [[Pothole|potholedpothole]]d to "poor girl" and applied to her before the YMMV rules.

* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime)|Puella Magi Madoka Magica]].'' Whilst we could just go blanket and say "[[World of Woobie|everyone]]," special mention goes to {{spoiler|Sayaka}}. Starts off with the best intentions, apparently succeeds... falls ''hard''. With {{spoiler|Kyouko}}, this has already happened, though she recovered. {{spoiler|Sayaka? '''[[Despair Event Horizon|Not]] [[And Then John Was a Zombie|so]] [[Mercy Kill|much]].'''}} Other examples:

** And finally... Madoka. Is watching all the above take place to everyone else, trying to keep everyone together and sane, but about the only option she has to ''really'' save everyone {{spoiler|involves selling her soul.}} And it's strongly implied by {{spoiler|Homura}} that this will ''actually make things worse'', since {{spoiler|all magical girls eventually turn into witches, and Madoka turning into a witch will ''end the world''}}. She does eventually find a way to end this cycle of misery, by {{spoiler|using her wish to rewrite reality so that no magical girl, in this or any other time or world, will become a witch}}, though this doesn't come without a cost: {{spoiler|becoming a goddess and [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|ascending into a higher plane of existence]]}}.

* How about Good / Mr. Boo in the [[DragonballDragon Ball|DBZ]] anime? He just can't win against another form of himself. First, Evil Boo quickly beats him into submission, not even really toying with him. Then Mr. Boo defends Mr. Satan and helps buy time in facing the final [[Big Bad]], Kid Boo. This version is in all likelihood vastly stronger than the lean, grey earlier version, but takes his sweet time mercilessly slaughtering Mr. Boo and eventually causing the latter to depleting his ki reserves. It takes a freakin' lot to ellicit that feeling between two amorphous blobs which usually take shape, when it probably doesn't make sense how the match is even possible. (It doesn't affect him on a deeper level, but when you have *fanfare* "The Woooorld Champiooon" on your side, what will?) But he's far from the first in the series.

* Meet Rin Okumura, the main character of [[Blue Exorcist (Manga)|Blue Exorcist]]. He was constantly [[All of the Other Reindeer|harassed by]] [[Bullying a Dragon|other children]] when he was young, called a [[Berserk Button|demon]] because of his temper and [[Super Strength]]. When he's fifteen, his father reveals to him that - surprise! - Rin is ''actually'' a demon (the [[Half -Human Hybrid|son of Satan and a human woman]], to be specific). His powers have been mostly suppressed by being sealed in a sword called Koumaken. If he unsheathes Koumaken, Rin will lose his humanity forever. Rin flips out at his father when he finds out, which catches his dad off guard. Satan takes this opportunity to possess Rin's adoptive father and meet his son. Rin's father's body can't take the strain, and he dies. Of course, Rin has to draw Koumaken and loses his humanity shortly after. Then, at his father's funeral, a "family friend" who he was told to rely on gives him three options: Die the easy way, die the hard way, or kill the people trying to kill you. Rin [[Take a Third Option|takes a fourth option]] and chooses to become an exorcist. He goes to exorcist school, where he finds out that his younger twin brother Yukio has known about Rin's powers before Rin did and is a teacher at the school (he had been training to be an exorcist since he was seven). Said brother tells him that he should either turn himself over to headquarters "or just die, please". Even though they reconcile, it still had to hurt. As Rin slowly makes friends with exorcist classmates, he finally has something to be happy about. {{spoiler|Then his half-brother shows up and starts [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb-stomping his friends]], forcing Rin to expose his true nature to them.}} Things get... awkward, to say the least.

* Alice from ''[[King of Thorn (Manga)|King of Thorn]]''. As a child she was abused by her family, developed dissociative identity disorder as a result and then had her entire family killed by Medusa, the experience causing her to ''literally give birth'' to her imaginary friend Laloo via her back. Frightened by this, she then burnt down the house killing Laloo in the process, and afterwards was taken away and used as a guinea pig in Medusa-related experiments in constructing images from a dream-world. When the experiments failed, her body was ruined in the process until only her head and a small part of her torso remained. Oh, and she's ''never aged'' during all of this, remaining a little girl, with her only companion being a large, automated white rabbit. And after all this, even surviving an army attack and [[Catfolk|Zeus' race]], she doesn't get happy ending, as [[Heroic Sacrifice|she burns up her life in order to help Marco survive]] after he [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|comes back to life]].

** Hisoka Kurosaki- Locked away by his parents for his telepathic powers {{spoiler|and partially to make sure he won't be prey of a demon tormenting them}}; at 13 witnessed a murder, and the murderer decided to get him to keep quiet by raping him and cursing him to die a horrible death; said curse manifested itself as an incurable (and probably very painful) illness for the next three years, died and came back as a shinigami, got kidnapped by aformentioned murderer/rapist/sorcerer to use as blackmail, fell in love with a girl and had to shoot her, and had to stop his [[Heterosexual Life Partner]] from commiting suicide a few times. All whilst having a massive inferiority complex and being (at most) 16 years old.

** Princess Tsubaki- Was a [[Lonely Rich Kid]] with a [[Ill Girl|heart problem]], which was bad enough. She made friends with an [[Innocent Flower Girl]] called Eileen, who disapeared under mysterious circumstances, and fell in love with her doctor. She then finds out that said doctor murdered Eileen and transplanted her heart into Tsubaki, and starts to hallucinate that Eileen's ghost is possessing her, which her doctor is subtly [[Mind Rape|mind-raping her into believing.]] And she still loves him, while being aware of how horrible he is. It's almost a relief when she pulls an [[I Cannot Self -Terminate]] and gets Hisoka to kill her.

** Even compared to those two, Tsuzuki takes the cake. Ostracized from everyone as a child because of his [[Purple Eyes]] (believed to be a sign of the devil), he lived practically comatose in a hospital for 6 years before finally killing himself... only to get resurrected and gain a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] who constantly tries to kill/rape him. He also keeps accidentally killing people, and feels [[My God, What Have I Done?|absolutley awful]] about it, the guilt leading him to try commiting suicide again, only to fail repeatedly as he is now effecivley immortal. It doesn't help that he's this cute, hyperactive, slightly tragic, adorkable little thing that needs cuddles.

* Both Serge and Gilbert are these in ''[[Kaze to Ki no Uta (Manga)|Kaze to Ki no Uta]]''. Mostly Gilbert, though, because his life has seriously ''sucked''.

* Aoshika Akiko from [[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]. DEAR. LORD. [[Cooldown Hug|This woman needs a hug]]. BADLY. From her preteen years, her life sucked, having been the victim of sexual assault [[So Beautiful ItsIt's a Curse|because of her body.]] She married early because she was convinced that [[Defiled Forever|no other man would want her,]] but the marriage broke apart. She's now an under-appreciated middle school teacher, but she still cares about her students, especially Inugami. However, since Inugami is a [[Doom Magnet]], things do not get any better for Aoshika. What do we mean by that? Well, {{spoiler|Inugami has a attracted the attention of [[Foe Yay|class sociopath Haguro,]] who [[Attention Whore|tries to get Inugami's attention]] to no end and gets [[Yandere|insanely jealous whenever he doesn't.]] After doing some truly horrific things to his right hand man for ''just chatting with Inugami,'' Haguro plans his final [[Disproportionate Retribution|revenge]] against Inugami by having Aoshika kidnapped, molested, and then rapes her and makes Inugami watch the video of it. BUT IT DOESN'T STOP THERE because after raping Aoshika himself, he gets his Yakuza goons to '''''gang rape her for several, several, hours.''''' '''BUT IT STILL DOESN'T STOP THERE''' because he while they're raping her, Haguro injects Aoshika with a drug that made her loopy to the point where it made her enjoy being ganged raped in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. AND he video taped it. AND he made Inugami watch the act happen live. AND he released the video on the internet to insure that Aoshika's life was over.}} We told you that she needs a serious hugging marathon.

* Sawako from ''[[Kimi Nini Todoke]]''. It's practically the central premise of the series.

* Barnaby from ''[[Tiger and Bunny]].'' At first he comes across as a [[Stoic Woobie|cold,]] [[Jerkass Woobie|selfish and arrogant young man]], but we later learn about the [[Dark and Troubled Past]] which he has spent ''twenty years'' trying to deal with. By episode 13 things are starting to look up for him and he becomes genuinely happy and contented...but then [[It Got Worse|everything falls apart again]].

* ''[[Pretty Cure]]'' characters have plenty of woobie characters - the [[Defrosting Ice Queen]] Karen from ''[[Yes! PrecurePretty Cure 5]]'', the [[Heel Face Turn]] Cures Setsuna of ''[[Fresh Pretty Cure]]'' and Ellen of ''[[Suite Pretty Cure]]'', and [[Innocent Flower Girl]] Tsubomi and [[Broken Bird]] Yuri of ''[[Heartcatch Precure]]''.

* ''[[Oniisama Ee...]]'' has a lot of them, specially Nanako, Rei and Mariko. Several characters (such as Kaoru and [[Rich Bitch|Aya]]) and minor characters like Junko has their woobie moments.

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:The Woobie]], The}}