Tragic Monster: Difference between revisions

 

If a loved one must kill the monster, see [[Staking the Loved One]].

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Cyborg 009]]'' has three of them: 0011 (a man who wanted to see his family), 0012 (a woman whose house and memories were manipulated by Black Ghost) and 0013 (who helps the innocent bystanders, punishes criminals, is a [[Worthy Opponent]] to Joe and {{spoiler|is [[Driven to Suicide]]}})'

* ''[[Witchblade (anime)|Witchblade]]'' has a very [[Tear Jerker]] version of this. Most of the show's monsters are Ex Cons, creatures made with [[Human Resources]]. It gets heartbreaking when you realize at least one of them not only retained its own mind, but actually is horrified at what it had become and begs [[The Hero]] to take them down before anyone else died.

* ''[[Baldr Force EXE]]'': {{spoiler|Ren, who happens to be the [[Dead Little Sister]] Tohru forgot he had. And while she's physically dead, her mind and spirit continue to exist, sans body, in the Wired, where her subconscious exhibits itself as a [[Planet Eater]]. This results in a major [[Tear Jerker]] of a finale...}}

* Priscilla in ''[[Claymore]]''. She is affected by [[Horror Hunger]], and remembers her parents getting eaten every time she eats someone. More recently, {{spoiler|Cassandra}}.

* Hans, the last of the Flamethrower Troopers from ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]''. He cannot remove his suit because it would kill him like it did his friends and he works for the Silver Wheel because he was promised a way to get it off. Being in that suit for so long, he has lost the ability to feel and has become a machine who only Oland could connect to.

** Sora Inoue, Orihime's older brother. Consumed by loneliness and regrets as years passed, he transformed into a Hollow that sought to destroy everything that caused those feelings of sorrow, namely Orihime and her friends. Even when he temporarily regained control and apologized, [[Staking the Loved One|he had to die]].

*** A definite [[Player Punch]] for Ichigo. He had never realized until that point that Hollows were once people, and when he finds out it's while trying to stop a spirit who died at his family's clinic.

* Similarly to Bleach, the human souls of Akuma in [[D.Gray-man]] are invisible to everyone but Allen, and they can't stop themselves from killing dozens of people unless someone destroys them. Level 2 demons are intelligent, and they all have a tragic backstory attached.

* In [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], {{spoiler|Sayaka Miki becomes a Witch}} in the main storyline, as does {{spoiler|Madoka Kaname herself during one of the alternate timelines}}. Given the nature of magic and magical girls in the Puella Magi universe, {{spoiler|every Witch counts as this}}.

 

* [[The Joker]] can qualify in some mediums, or at the very least an extremely dark [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]].

 

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'': When his best friend is turned into a zombie and can't be turned back, Shaun, instead of killing him, locks him up in the storage shed and plays [[PlayStation]] with him.

* The depiction of Two Face in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' is particularly heartbreaking.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* The novel for ''[[Coraline (novel)|Coraline]]'' has {{spoiler|The Other Father, who was created to love and care, and was mutated by the Other Mother to fight Coraline.}} This gets even worse in the movie, since it's implied that {{spoiler|all of the Other counterparts have been with the Other Mother since she started the eat-children's-souls thing, and have just been modified to fit their roles. They don't want to hurt anyone, just to fill their parts as people to care and love the children. Other Father gets mutated and forced to fight Coraline, Spink and Forcible are turned into taffy-like beasts, and it's implied that Other Old Man (Mr.Bobo/Bobinsky in the movie) was EATEN by his rats.}}

* ''Many'' in the ''[[Deltora Quest]]'' series, the most prominent of which was the fate given to Doran the Dragonlover. {{spoiler|He was forced to [[A Fate Worse Than Death|become the Guardian]] of a [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sister]] - the very thing he set out to destroy many, many years ago.}}

* Erik from ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' is this, even when he's not portrayed as [[Draco in Leather Pants]]

* Werewolf Remus Lupin in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', although he's only like this once a month. The rest of the time he's safe, good, and in his right mind.

** Even then, it's only if he doesn't have any Wolfsbane potion that the wolf takes over.

* Vrasta the "Wrong One" Fammin in [[Chronicles of the Emerged World]] has feelings, dreams and a conscience, but when his name is spelled he's compelled to obey orders and {{spoiler|eventually kills his new-found friend Laio}}.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' book {{spoiler|Changes, Harry Dresden must kill Susan, the mother of his child, when she starts turning into a red court vampire.}} A bit of a subversion, since {{spoiler|Martin intentionally enraged her to the point where she would turn, because it was their only way out. And to destroy every red court vampire in existence.}}

 

* Season 8 of ''[[Smallville]]'' introduces us to Davis Bloome a likeable paramedic, and possible [[Love Interest]] for Clark's best friend, Chloe Sullivan. Unfortunately, Davis has alien [[Serial Killer]] and [[Person of Mass Destruction]] Doomsday trapped inside of him. Davis shifts into Doomsday more and more frequently as the show progresses, all while trying to repress his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] while committing murders (of [[Pay Evil Unto Evil|criminals]]) in his human form. Ultimately, it destroys his sanity and he has to be put down for his own good and everyone else's; Davis is killed and Doomsday is separated from him and buried alive.

* Mitchell from [[Being Human (UK)]] {{spoiler|post season 2 after killing the Box Tunnel 20 and slowly spirals out of control till his suicide at the end of season 3.}}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* A main plot point of ''[[Castlevania]] [[Portrait of Ruin]]''. {{spoiler|If you cannot obtain the healing spell, you have to kill Stella and Loretta to end the game}}.

* ''[[Cave Story]]'': Toroko, an innocent villager, becomes a raving monster after being force-fed a nasty red flower by Balrog under the wicked Doctor's orders. Before bitching about Balrog, keep in mind who's the thrall and who's the [[Complete Monster]].

* {{spoiler|Rundas, Gandrayda and Ghor}} in ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption''. Also, if you're not careful, [[Nonstandard Game Over|Samus]]. To be more specific, in the beginning [[Evil Twin|Dark Samus]] infects all four bounty hunters with [[The Corruption|Phazon]].

** Then, on Elysia, you fight {{spoiler|Ghor}}. You return to your ship, only to find {{spoiler|Ghor}} trying to destroy it. {{spoiler|He}} spots you, and tells you you're just in time. {{spoiler|He}} throws the ship at you, and the boss battle begins soon after. {{spoiler|His battle suit explodes}}, and then Dark Samus absorbs him.

** Then, on the [[Space Pirate]] Homeworld, you fight {{spoiler|Gandrayda. She disguises herself as a federation trooper, then tries to shoot Samus [[In the Back]].}} After the boss battle, {{spoiler|she changes first into Rundas, then into Ghor, and finally into Samus.}} At this point, Samus can't bear to look as Dark Samus absorbs {{spoiler|Gandrayda}}.

{{quote|"Tommy? I can't feel my legs..."}}

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] IV: Shivering Isles'': Your old mentor, Sheogorath, turns out to have been an alter ego of {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Jyggalag all along and, due to a curse, he is forced to revert to Jyggalag at the end of every era and destroy his own world. In the final quest, you have to kill him before he carries out these plans, although as the guy on the [[Tear Jerker]] page commented, this means "you kill a ''god'', so it doubles as the player's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]"}}.

** Also, on the way to the Big Bad of the Mage's Guild quests, you are sent to rescue {{spoiler|an informant who is spying on the necromancers.}} You find him... a little too late, after he's been {{spoiler|turned into a zombie}}.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'', Edge's parents are transformed into monsters controlled by one of Rubicante's minions. They eventually recover their minds and commit suicide. Rubicante does express sorrow for this, and apologizes to Edge. The minion did this ''against'' the orders of [[Noble Demon|Rubicante's]], who implies he would have killed the minion for this were he still alive.

* Annette in ''[[Castlevania|Dracula X: Rondo of Blood]]'', if you fail to get her out of her cell beforehand.

** And again in the remake ''[[Castlevania]]: The Dracula X Chronicles'', although the mood is kind of sidetracked since, instead of being turned into a skull sorceress as in the original, Annette is instead transformed into a [[Stripperiffic]] succubus in cleavage-barring black lingerie, because [[Evil Is Sexy]].

* In ''[[Crisis Core]]: [[Final Fantasy VII]]'', {{spoiler|[[Staking the Loved One|Zack has to kill his mentor, Angeal,]] who actually makes himself monstrous to make it easier for Zack to kill him.}}

* In ''[[Alien Syndrome]]'' for the Wii, you have to fight {{spoiler|the terribly mutated form of the Aileen's husband.}}

** Another one of the bosses, "Nosferatu", is the product of a botched experiment with the Veronica-T virus on Alexander, Alfred's father.

*** William Birkin in ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'' is also kind of one of these. Mortally wounded by Umbrella's agents, he injected himself with [[The Virus]] out of desperation, turning him into his tragic [[One-Winged Angel]] form. Mitigated somewhat by how before this transformed, the human William Birkin was a downright evil man.

** Lisa Trevor from the remake of ''[[Resident Evil (video game)|Resident Evil]]''. She immediately puts all the above to shame as she was the helpless 14 year old daughter of the mansion's creator, and she and her mother were made into test subjects by Umbrella against their will. Her mother died from being infected with the T-Virus, but Lisa sadly survived and was then proceeded to be injected with the Nemesis virus (which was used to produce the walking nightmare in Resident Evil 3 of the same name) and upon its injection, it created the G-Virus in her body. Making matters worse, even with her mind completely deteriorated and now orphaned, she longed to find her mother in a mansion now completely ridden with monsters...alone....

*** All the zombies/Ganados/Majini from all the games are these. If the viruses and Las Plagas parasites hadn't broken out, they wouldn't have become these... things...

** This only happens if you use the Ascension mod, not in the bare game.

** It can seem like this is going to happen in the main ''[[Baldur's Gate]] II'' storyline, too: {{spoiler|if your character has a romantic interest, and you're far enough along the romance storyline, they will be kidnapped and vampirised by Bodhi. While you will have to kill them, there's a way to bring them back: take their corpse and Bodhi's heart to the ruined Temple of Amaunator, then stick them in a specific idol - instant cure. You don't find this out until after you've killed them, though}}.

* ''[[Doom]] 3'' tries to do this with [[Mission Control]] Sarge, who gets turned into a cybernetic tank demon about 3/4ths of the way through the game. It fails, since he was always a [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|hardass who constantly railed on your character]], and it's unclear as to whether or not most of your interactions with him were after he succumbed to [[The Virus]] anyway.

** It is heavily implied that the sarge nearly immediately succumbed to the virus, and was leading your character (and the rest of the military force) on the entire time. So this isn't really a case of that at all.

* Oh man, it's like the entire point of [[Mother 3]]. That cute little family of friendly dinosaur-dragons you play with in the prologue? {{spoiler|One of the parents is turned into an aggressive, fire-spewing cyborg who kills your own mother, only about half a day since you saw it last}}. How about your excitable, friendly twin brother? {{spoiler|Killed by aforementioned cyborg, is brought back to life as one himself with his emotions and memories wiped, and forced to fight against his own father and brother}}. Plenty of other animals get this chimerical treatment- look at some of the enemies' faces and tell me they're not screaming. The song's called Tragic Reconstruction for a reason, y'know.

* From [[Klonoa]] there's {{spoiler|Leorina, after she collects the four Elements, the power of sorrow engulfs her and mutates her into Cursed Leorina, a creature best described as a giant bird-like creature with small-fairy like wings and a and an extremely creepy roar. She turns normal after you defeat her, thought}}

* Definitely the entire point of [[.hack|.hack//G.U.]]. Let's start from the beginning: Haseo's best friend Shino is comatosed, his newly acquired allies start suffering left right and center. The protagonist also becomes entangled in a [[Batman Gambit]] (and is an [[Unwitting Pawn]] himself), and finally he gets a shot at killing the true culprit after chasing false ends. This is what the true culprit, {{spoiler|Ovan}} [[Anti-Villain|wanted from the beginning]], launching a convoluted plan to have Haseo kill him. Why? [[The Corruption]] has gotten to him and has resulted in a [[Dead Little Sister|comatose little sister]]. He has the required cure that will bring everyone back, but it requires a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], and he knows that [[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]. By the time Haseo (and by extension, you, the player) knows about this, you cannot help but feel sorry for the guy.

** Don't forget Keristrasza. She knows she's too far gone to be saved, and demands you kill her. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|"Finish it. FINISH IT! Or I swear by the Dragon Queen you'll never see daylight again!"]]

* ''[[Penumbra (video game series)|Penumbra]]'' features a certain character becoming infected with the virus, forcing you to kill them. {{spoiler|Subverted, as Clarence, your own lovely strain of virus, only makes Amabel LOOK like one of the monsters. Once you bash her head in with a steel brick, Clarence reveals your tragic mistake, and pushes himself from ''[[Magnificent Bastard]]'' to ''[[Complete Monster]]'' in [[Moral Event Horizon|record time.]] }}

* Brink from ''[[Torchlight]]''. An NPC who joins as an ally near the start of the game, the [[Big Bad]] turns him into the first boss via [[The Corruption]], and the player is forced to kill him. Partially subverted as the player character doesn't know Brink for very long at all. However, the NPC ally whom Brink was fighting alongside with at the very start of the game definitely seems distraught after his death.

* In [[BioShock (series)]] 2, in a rather [[Tear Jerker|heart-wrenching series of events]] towards the end, {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Sofia Lamb]] captures [[Mission Control|Augustus]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Sinclair]] and [[Moral Event Horizon|turns him into an]] [[Super Prototype|Alpha-Series Big Daddy]], except she leaves his mind intact and aware. A chunk of the last level involves [[The Hero|Subject Delta]] working his way through the multiple defenses that Sinclair's body has set up... while Sinclair's voice is talking to you over the radio, [[Apologetic Attacker|apologizing for everything]], telling you that [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|you have to kill him]], and saying he enjoyed the time spent helping you. When you finally gun him down, [[Dying as Yourself|he thanks you as he dies]].}}

* Appears in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' - the taint can ''really'' mess you up. {{spoiler|The Dalish Grey Warden's game starts with them exploring with childhood friend Tamlen. Said childhood friend gets a little too close to an [[Artifact of Doom]] and the Warden wakes up three days later apparently found alone and with the taint and a high fever and is taken off by Duncan to be put through the Joining, which will suppress it (for a few decades, anyhow) if they survive - Tamlen gets [[Never Found the Body|left for dead]] not only by Duncan but his and the Warden's whole tribe. [[Chekhov MIA|Guess who pays the Warden a surprise visit halfway through the game as a ghoul]] going insane from progressive taint and begging his old bestie for a [[Mercy Kill]].}} And don't get started on Broodmothers. Quite similar to the Dalish Elf's case is Danyla in the Brecilian Forest, a missing member the Dalish clan from the Nature Of The Beast quest whose husband asks the Warden to search for her as a side mission. She's succumbed to the werewolf curse and is still barely there when she's found, begging the Warden to put her out of her misery and take her scarf back to her husband before losing it and attacking.

** Arguably {{spoiler|the Archdemon}} himself. There are no reliable sources in the game describing what {{spoiler|the Tevintran Old Gods}} were really like (the Chantry is hardly unbiased on the subject), but to reiterate the point above: the taint ''really'' messes you up.

* In ''[[System Shock]] 2'' the Many has turned 98% of the Von Braun's crew into its mindless monstrocities. They weren't responsible for what happened, but you still had to kill them anyway.

** The same could be said for in the first game when you had to deal with SHODAN's minions, whom she infected with her mutant viruses. Edward Diego had you remove her ethical constraints, and how does SHODAN play him back? By making ''him'' one of her zombie slaves!

* One boss monster in [[Neverwinter Nights 2]] Mask of the Betrayer is one of your party member's long-lost mother. You don't find out until after defeating her, though. The bit while fighting her where she possesses one of your party members also qualifies.

* A few of the villains, (hell an entire race) qualify as this in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series. {{spoiler|Matriarch Benezia is under [[Eldritch Abomination|Reaper]] [[More Than Mind Control|indoctrination]], meaning her free will has basically been destroyed by the Reaper. And she joined Saren to try to persuade him from his dark path. If it hadn't been for Sovereign, it might have worked. The Collectors were once Protheans, the last race destroyed by the Reapers, who the Reapers corrupted and turned into bug-like monsters, forced to do their bidding.}}

* Dissidia hints that Sephiroth is one, as Cecil, in a pre-battle quote against Sephiroth, mentions that there's "sorrow in [Sephiroth's] wintery eyes."

* [[Physical God|Mithala]] in ''[[Aquaria (video game)|Aquaria]]'' was revered as the forefather of the Mithalan civilization. Then the local [[Path of Inspiration]] took over and the rites took a darker turn. {{spoiler|Instead of food, they brought [[Human Resources|worshippers]]. Eventually, he was driven insane by hunger and accepted the "offering". The cult fed him the ''entire'' civilization, turning him into a [[Womb Level]].}}

** {{spoiler|Several of the Shades fought as bosses}} also turn out to be a lot more sympathetic in [[New Game+]], when you can {{spoiler|understand what they're saying.}}

* ''Vindictus'': {{spoiler|Ingkells. When he and all the soldiers of Ortel Castle become so overcome with despair that they drink a potion laced with Bloody Shade, Ingkells turns into a furious monster.}} Learning of this act is one of the most poignant moments in Vindictus' story. {{spoiler|Ingkells, however, is unique in that he actually chose to become a monster. However, the fact that he felt enough despair and fury to be driven to such an action makes it all the more tragic.}}.

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'', the Ranger Amdir, who you spend the first parts of the game trying to help as a Hobbit or a Man after he is stabbed with a Nazgûl's morgul-blade during the introductory sequence, becomes one of the Cargûl, lesser wraiths in red who are slaves of the Nazgûl, after succumbing to the effects of the weapon. Book 1, Chapter 1, your very first quest in the Epic storyline after completing the Intro and the Prologue, consists of finding and killing Amdir, who is lost to Darkness at this point.

* In ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'', {{spoiler|the majority of the [[Superior Species|High Entia]] race ends up like this, being devolved into Telethia by the [[Big Bad]] and robbed of their sentience so he can use them to enact his plan to eradicate all life on the Bionis. Made more tragic if you had bothered to do quests for the victims beforehand, and still more tragic when their surviving friends and family ask you to give them a [[Mercy Kill]], often after describing an account of said victims having protected them even in their warped state.}}

* ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'': {{spoiler|Wrath Asura, the result of seeing a little girl that looked just like his daughter die after being slaughtered by Olga of the Seven Deities.}} Made much more obvious with his battle theme, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8At25Br8U Bonds].

 

* ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. Heaven Feel's {{spoiler|Saber Alter}}. Made much worse after [[Jeanne D'Archetype|knowing her past]] and having played the [[Multiple Endings|Fate route]], {{spoiler|in which she is the [[Love Interest]]}}.

** Also {{spoiler|Dark Sakura}} and her case is [[Rape as Backstory|much,]] [[Abusive Parents|much]] [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|worse]].

* ''[[Tsukihime]]'': {{spoiler|[[The Woobie|the real Tohno SHIKI.]]}} Go on, think about his past for a moment, then try telling me I'm wrong.

** {{spoiler|Satsuki}} definitely counts as a tragic monster after she's converted into a vampire by Roa/SHIKI.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** Dracula only has the ghost use the possession spell so that Gordito would have to die (DSP is possessed entirely by accident). There was no intent for the wizard to live through the encounter.

* Trace Legacy of ''[[Twokinds]]'' was a pretty nice guy with incredible power. And then he lost the wife he spent so long getting. [[Complete Monster|And then things got worse]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Boss Battle]]

[[Category:Face Monster Turn]]