Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Difference between revisions

[[File:woobie 7232.jpg|frame|Never [[Break the Cutie|break this cutie]] as he may break you back.]]

 

 

This is a character who wants to destroy everything and everyone in the story, and is suddenly in a position to do so (on a small or large scale); but in contrast to the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Omnicidal Maniac]], he/she has some plausible, outright tragic reason to do so, so much so that, in some cases, the characters outright sympathize with him/her (whether or not the audience does too is out of the equation here), all the while accepting that he/she must be stopped. Sometimes, the character is even portrayed as ''likeable'', just...not with the right mindset.

** Also, at the end of ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion|Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0]]'', {{spoiler|Shinji [[Berserk Button|completely snaps]] after Zeruel eats Rei and decides that he's had enough with the world toying with him. This leads to a literal [[Save the Girl Screw The World]] moment, and only Kaworu's [[Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work|timely arrival]] stopped the Third Impact and a [[Apocalypse How|Class-5 apocalypse]].}}

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' either subverts or zigzags this, depending on how one views it, at the end. {{spoiler|Lelouch, [[Despair Event Horizon|having lost everything, including Nunnally (apparently) and the trust of the Black Knights]], abandons all reason [[The Last Dance|and decides that he'll go down finishing his quest to recreate the world]]. He acted like an even worse Emperor than his father, from [[Faceless Goons|Geassing his soldiers into complete obedience]] [[We Have Reserves|and using them as cannon fodder]], to ordering assassinations, not to mention blowing up Mt. Fuji, depleting most of Japan's sakuradite supply, and [[No Endor Holocaust|quite possibly causing an even greater state of decay over Japan]], in order to [[Genghis Gambit|center the world's hatred around him]] and [[Xanatos Gambit|die a villain's death at the hands of Suzaku, disguised as Zero]]. It's been noted that Lelouch knew that there were alternatives to Schneidel's scheme, which makes it sound like a destructive and self-serving excuse to die, which would make it a zigzagged trope.}}

** {{spoiler|The Book of Darkness}} is another example. Her life cycle has three phases: charging up in dormancy, gaining full awareness and control for a few minutes, and then dishing out an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]], which returns her to stage one. Prior to her current appearance, she has been forced to serve a cruel master who abused her children. Bonus points for the fact that there is literally nothing that can be done to stop the cycle.

* ''[[Trigun]]'' features Legato Bluesummers, [[The Dragon]] to [[Big Bad|Millions Knives]]. He's got a sympathetic backstory as a nameless sex slave and, like Knives, has let his own pain [[Boomerang Bigot|drive him into]] becoming an [[Omnicidal Maniac]]. Problem is, he's an utter, sadistic psycho with a murder habit, who likes to torture the lead, reducing any sympathy factor for him both in-universe and out.

* Hao/Zeke Asakura in the ''[[Shaman King]]'' manga. {{spoiler|Not so much in the anime, since he turns his [[Ax Crazy]] factor [[Up to Eleven]] during the finale, which, sadly, is a [[Gecko Ending]].}}

* Hiroko "Hiro-chan" Kaizuka from ''[[Narutaru]]'' is an intelligent, modest young girl who is [[Break the Cutie|broken]] by abuse from both [[Kids Are Cruel|unbelievably sadistic bullies]] ''and'' overly demanding, repressive parents. Eventually, she, along with her [[Mon|Shadow Dragon]], Oni, attempts to make everything she doesn't like disappear...by way of going on a horrific, murderous rampage.

** And an example from [[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny|its sequel]] is {{spoiler|Stella}}—she stomps through city and wilderness alike in a giant robot, slaughtering innocent bystanders by the thousands {{spoiler|because she's driven by a childlike, irrational terror of death, and has been told that if she doesn't fight, scary things will kill her and everyone she cares about}}. The fact that she's just being used by [[Manipulative Bastard|Neo]] and [[Evil Genius|Djibril]], who are deliberately playing on her fear and pain, makes this all the sadder.

* At the end of ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', Tamahome unintentionally has a [[Psychic Link]] to Nakago's mind revealing his past {{spoiler|when he was a young boy, his entire tribe was wiped out, he witnessed his mother being gang-raped, and accidentally killed both his mother and her rapists with his awakened power, only to be sent to the Emperor of Kutou, who raped him repeatedly. As a result, he wants revenge on ''existence itself'' for giving him such a horrible life}}.

** Though he looks a little crazier than he actually is in that image. It applies to him much better when he's a child.

* Yuca from ''[[Immortal Rain]]'' doesn't know how old he is. All he knows is that, whenever he dies, he's reborn long after everyone he knew before died, while still retaining the memories of each of his previous lives. Over and over again, throughout what seems to be the course of human history. By the point we meet him, he wants to wipe out all humanity just so he can finally die and be able to stay dead.

* Shinobu Sensui of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' began as a heroic spirit detective, but had a mental breakdown after {{spoiler|discovering humans torturing demons, throwing his life's work of protecting humans into question -- one that isn't helped by his subscription to [[Black and White Morality]]}}. His mind, now fractured into seven [[Split Personality|split personalities]], embarked on a plan to destroy humanity as a way of ending the confusion and guilt, along with a {{spoiler|[[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]] over his terminal illness.}}

* {{spoiler|Mario}} in ''[[Universal War One]]''.

* Joey Finklebarr, in ''Freak Force'', is a boy who wakes up with super-strength and invulnerability. Once picked upon, {{spoiler|he proceeds to murder his schoolmates and his abusive father.}} He is all but unstoppable, {{spoiler|but gets talked down by Savage Dragon on the brink of total nihilism}}.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Ineluki the Storm King, the [[Big Bad]] of [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]''. It is said that he was the brightest light the [[The Fair Folk|Sithi]] had ever known and, had things been different, he might have led them out of their exile and into a new golden age. Instead, he went [[These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|down dark paths]], sacrificing [[Self-Made Orphan|his family]], [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|his soul]], and ultimately, [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|his life]] to defend his people against the depredations of [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|humanity]]. Even after death, his hatred sustained him, turning him into a [[The Undead|dark spirit]] that seeks now to return ''everything'' to Unbeing in revenge for his suffering. In the end, this turns out to be the key to his defeat.

* [[Frankenstein's Monster]] (in [[Frankenstein (novel)|the original novel]], that is). All of his rage against man, and against Victor Frankenstein in particular, would be gone if just ''one'' person bothered to look past his macabre appearance and associate with him. But [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]], [[Downer Ending|so]]... [[Mary Shelley's Frankenstein|The 1994 movie]] based on the novel ''did'' manage to get that part right, with the motivations of the monster laid bare.

{{quote|'''Frodo:''' But do you remember Gandalf's words: "Even Gollum may have something yet to do?" But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. ''So let us forgive him!'' For the Quest is achieved and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.}}

** Much less so in [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|the films]], [[Alternative Character Interpretation|which rearrange Gollum's character arc]] significantly, making him more of a [[Jerkass Woobie]]. They made him much more of a [[Woobie]] in the second film and much less in the third, in order to "provide an antagonist for Frodo and Sam". This caused confusion for some viewers, wondering why anyone [[Lost Aesop|"feels sorry for"]] Gollum... [[Word of God|According to Tolkien]], had Gollum remained loyal to Frodo in the book, he would have taken the Ring and thrown ''himself'' in the fire.

* In ''[[Fringe]]'', {{spoiler|Walternate. His son was kidnapped. His world is in the process of tearing itself to pieces, and millions of his fellow human beings have been killed. He's also waging a shadow war on our universe, since he thinks that it's the only way his can survive.}}

** Interestingly, in the alternate reality where Peter died as a boy ({{spoiler|an Observer did not save him}}), Walternate is better than Peter initially assumes him to be.

* Holtz in ''[[Angel]]''. He was a vampire hunter whose family was brutally murdered by Angelus and Darla to torture him. Except for his daughter, whom they turned into a vampire so Holtz would have to kill her himself. His guilt and rage caused him to [[Revenge Before Reason|abandon reason for vengeance]] and pursue Angel to the twenty-first century and manipulate people for his own ends.

 

== Music ==

* Upon discovering that {{spoiler|his sister has died before he could find her again}}, ''[[Sound Horizon|Moira]]'''s Elefseus finally snaps from a lifetime of trauma and goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against everything that ever played a part in his suffering, up to and including [[Rage Against the Heavens|fate itself]].

* The female protagonist of [[Carrie Underwood]] 's "Blown Away". She apparently has supernatural powers and uses them to create a destructive tornado to kill her father in his sleep who was described as a "mean old mister" that apparently killed her mother.

 

== Mythology ==

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

* [[Edge]], after he was placed in a Hell in a Cell Match with [[Undertaker]] in which he believed he would surely die. Resigned to the fact that he was going to Hell, he decided to make a living Hell for those who had double-crossed him or wouldn't help him before he went.

* After [[Kane]] found Undertaker in a coma in the spring of 2010, he embarked on a months-long rampage directed at every person who could possibly be a suspect in incapacitating his half-brother. It was actually a subversion, though, as Kane himself had been the one who'd attacked Undertaker, and he was accusing everyone else in order to deflect suspicion away from himself.

*** Cecelyne's grandeur is [[Inferiority Superiority Complex|driven by her inadequacy]]. To fulfill that barren emptiness, she puts on an air of [[A God Am I|cosmic pomp and importance]] and cares for her subjects [[Social Darwinist|mercilessly and ruthlessly]]. Her overcompensation (a common pattern seen in those with pathologically Narcissistic Personality) ultimately makes her an empty shell—an infinitely hollow desert, who feels that her value only comes from dominating and being wanted by others. Her powers center around fulfilling others' desires and demanding obedience, but they cannot actually help their user.

*** She Who Lives In Her Name is an Obsessive-Compulsive [[Knight Templar|control freak]], and she may seem like the least sympathetic...until you understand that she's also Autistic and literally [[Absent-Minded Professor|''can't'' understand that what she is doing is wrong]].

*** The Shadow of All Things may have been a [[Jerkass]], but he was a sort of Devil's Advocate—he gave meaning to the world by being its enemy. Now his "virtue" is hollow and the Ebon Dragon displays an extreme form of Antisocial Personality; the only thing he can care about anymore is [[For the Evulz|the suffering he inflicts on others]]. In the setting of Exalted, Ebon Dragon is one of the extreme few who should be considered a [[Complete Monster]], utterly undeserving of sympathy...but, still, the fact that he can't even recognize that he has fallen this low is something to pity.

*** Other Yozis are pathetic beings in the sense that their current condition inspires sympathy. Kimbery, who once [[Love Martyr|gave herself as life-water and life-blood]] for Creation, is so terrified of rejection that she destroys whoever approaches her—Borderline Personality. Oramus, the First Primordial, bravely began to fight Pure Chaos and now he, through no fault of his own, is stuck inside his own wings, utterly unable to comprehend the world outside—Schizophrenia. Isidoros, the strongest thing ''in the universe and all time'', lost faith in his own power and withers in perfect, [[Bomb Throwing Anarchist|destructive]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe|nihilism]]—Paranoid Personality. Sacheverell was once a visionary who foresaw the ideal future for Creation; now he does nothing but sleep, refusing to feel anything—Dissociative Disorder. The ''[[Only Sane Man|most comprehensible]]'' Yozi, Szoreny, has lost control of his ability to mold his personality based on who's talking to him into the ideal [[Foil]], leading to his inability to think straight beyond the short term—Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. The fact that ''every'' Yozi was struck with a diagnosable mental disorder, turned up to [[Turned Up to Eleven|a divine degree]], sort of justifies their desire to make everything literal Hell.

** Then...we have the [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum|Neverborn]]. [[And I Must Scream|Hoo boy]]. Though not much is known about the Neverborn individually, one can gander at the origin of their morbid hatred—as authors of reality, the Primordials never bothered to put together a scenario where they might die. Without reality being designed to handle their death, the Neverborn could not truly die... but they were still killed and murdered, stuck in a limbo between life and death. The pain of dying has lingered with them for ''five thousand years''. What brought this miserable fate? They were pursing their own happiness in Creation, like every other living thing, before the Primordial War. Even with the most saintly soul, this is more than enough justification for their destructive cause.

** Lorgar genuinely, deeply loved the Emperor, and wanted to have him venerated throughout the galaxy. The Emperor brought the banhammer down on that as soon as he knew about it, as despite basically being a [[Physical God]] he wanted a society of [[Flat Earth Atheist]]s (due to Chaos being fed by worship). Distraught and suddenly having nowhere to direct his devotion, Lorgar eventually discovered the [[Eldritch Abomination|Chaos gods]], who had no problem whatsoever with worship and obeisance. Cue [[Religion of Evil]].

** Magnus the Red actually tried to warn the Emperor about the rebellion, yet not only was he [[Cassandra Truth|not believed]], but because he used sorcery to learn and transmit the information he was declared a criminal. The [[Horny Vikings|Space Wolves]] were sent to apprehend him, resulting in the destruction of his homeworld and forcing him to side with Horus, and after the rebellion's defeat other events ensued which turned most of his legion into mindless automata.

* Zephiel from [[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem 6 and 7]] {{spoiler|was a talented youth who did his best to win approval from his father, the king of Bern. But the harder he strove, the more distant his talentless father grew, and the fact that he was born from [[Arranged Marriage|a loveless marriage]] didn't help either. The final straw came when the king poisoned his heir's drink, several years after a first assassination attempt failed. Zephiel's closest retainer, [[Worthy Opponent|Murdoch]], came up with the idea of faking his death to get him the heck out of there. However, the king opened the casket, causing Zephiel to finally snap and stab him. According to his half-sister, Guinevere, Zephiel never smiled again. Years later, he (now king of Bern) was stirring up quite a bit of trouble in neighbouring countries, trying to offer the land back to its rightful owners because [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]]. Needless to say, he had to be killed...with [[The Woobie|his crestfallen sister's]] help, no less}}.

* ''[[Crimsoness]]'' casts one of these as the [[Player Character]].

** Let's be fair to the bastard. He brought the Pfhor as a distraction so he could get loose. Once that was done, he started working on stopping them, freeing their slaves (admittedly, to work for him), and helping the Security Officer do that which he does so well. The extermination of those on Tau Ceti IV was not intentional.

* The King of Planet FM from ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]''. {{spoiler|Everybody, including his family, wanted to kill him to overtake his throne. As a result, he stopped trusting people. He destroyed Planet AM and almost Earth, because he thought that the people there would want to kill him as well.}}

* Nessiah of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' {{spoiler|has spent the past thousand-odd years living in misery, unable to age or die, as a punishment for being a pacifist in Asgard's time of war. He has spent his life since then [[Rage Against the Heavens|trying to get revenge]] or just free himself, and makes a nice mess of the mortal world he lives in, in doing so}}.

* {{spoiler|King Valentine}} in ''[[Odin Sphere]]'' throws a [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]] in the final book by {{spoiler|using the Cauldron to turn Leventhan into a really pissed-off Sheng Long, which ends up destroying him along with pretty much the rest of existence}}. Granted, he got broken pretty hard before and during the story, beginning with {{spoiler|being forced to kill his own daughter because she had an affair with the king of an enemy country}}, then dying horribly, along with most of his kingdom, after being betrayed {{spoiler|by his own son}}, enduring endless torture in the netherworld, and escaping it only to be spitefully denied the complete destruction he was so desperately seeking, {{spoiler|by the dude who started the whole thing by shagging his daughter, no less}}.

* {{spoiler|Xion}} in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days|Kingdom Hearts 358 Days Over 2]]'', since her whole existence is pretty much a [[Trauma Conga Line]].

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', we don't know for sure how many times {{spoiler|Fei and Elly reincarnated Themselves}}, but for 10,000 years, the scenario has been mostly the same: {{spoiler|they find each other, fall in love, and when they seem to be about to have a little [[Happily Married|marital bliss]], they die a horrible and painful death}}. If you had the painful experiment he was subject to in his childhood, {{spoiler|Fei end up with a multiple personality disorder, with TWO of his personalities wanting to destroy the world: one is able to exist independently and jump from body to body, and the other one is a [[Person of Mass Destruction]]}}. And that's not all: {{spoiler|Krelian, a friend of Fei in a previous life, is another woobie ready to destroy the world if it allows him to be "reunited with God"}}. With that many [[Physical God]]s and [[Magnificent Bastard]]s on the same planet, you can guess that the ''Xenogears'' world is not [[World Half Empty|the most pleasant place to be]].

* Elpizo from the ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' series exhibits traits of this trope, being sentenced to death for discovering records about a past [[Mass Hypnosis|catastrophe]] in the ruined library ''he was ordered to examine''. He escapes this fate, only to get lots of people killed while leading a failed assault on his former rulers; this drives him to obsession and megalomania, and he decides that he wants to [[Kill All Humans|re-enact the aforementioned catastrophe]].

** Ironically, the one who made her that way also qualifies. The Overmind was forcibly enslaved by [[Complete Monster|the Dark Voice]] into trying to commit genocide against the protoss with the full knowledge that he and his zerg would be wiped out once they did their job. Kerrigan was meant to be the one hope they had of breaking the Dark Voice's hold.

* The only reason ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'''s Emerl doesn't end up as one of these is because {{spoiler|Sonic [[Shoot the Dog|shoots]] [[Player Punch|the]] [[Tear Jerker|dog]] before it can happen.}}

** Chaos Zero in ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'' and Shadow in ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' also count.

** Alister Azimuth fits this even better, being effectively an older, more cynical, and more ruthless Ratchet. {{spoiler|To the point that he very nearly [[Time Crash|destroys time itself]] in a misguided attempt to correct his own mistakes.}}

* {{spoiler|Ballos}} from ''[[Cave Story]]'', who {{spoiler|destroyed the very kingdom whose people he loved and helped out after being subjected to [[Cold-Blooded Torture]] by the king (and if the Wii version of his speech is of any indication, he may have brought the torture upon himself by recklessly allowing his power to grow), forcing Jenka to seal him within the floating island. In fact, when you reach him at the end of the [[Bonus Level of Hell]], [[Death Seeker|he begs you to kill him]]...or [[I'll Kill You!|he shall kill YOU!]]}}

** Jin's desire to kill Ragna (and thus the cutting off of his arm) is due to being the World's Antibody and part of his function as the Power of Order. He is meant to be the opposite to Ragna, who is the Destroyer of the World (by being the Black Beast). However, Ragna could instead become the Protector of the Azure.

** {{spoiler|Noel Vermillion}} eventually becomes one. {{spoiler|She}} was {{spoiler|nothing more than a clone of Ragna and Jin's dead/missing little sister, Saya. Since she looks like Saya, whom Jin despises, he's cruel to her. Noel understandably doesn't know why. She's ridiculously sensitive about her small breasts, and gets upset whenever anyone mistakes her as a boy (which is stupid in and of itself, since she's still visibly got breasts, hooray sexism). Making matters worse is that her best friend, Tsubaki, has been ordered to kill her as of the end of Calamity Trigger. Oh, and then Terumi gets ahold of her, mind-rapes her, and turns her into an unholy implement of destruction. All the hate and rage she kept pent up has now been amplified and directed towards the world itself. Yaaaay.}}

* [[Creepy Child|Flandre]] [[Person of Mass Destruction|Scarlet]] of ''[[Touhou]]''. She may be [[Cute and Psycho|completely bonkers]] with the power to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|blow up the world,]] but she is still a [[Badass Adorable|cute little girl]] who has [[Madwoman in the Attic|never seen the light of the sun]] and [[Our Vampires Are Different|probably never will]]. Many fans [[Cuteness Proximity|want to hug her]], even though they know it will inevitably end in a [[Ludicrous Gibs|shower of blood and gore]].

* {{spoiler|Aribeth}} from ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]''. {{spoiler|She starts as a heroic paladin and your main ally, beloved by all and considered a national hero. Then the people of the city you and her worked your asses off to save force the government to execute her innocent lover for being an ''unwilling'' pawn in [[The Mole|Desther's]] plans. And the government had no say in it, ''the townspeople literally formed a mob and forced Fenthick's execution.'' In the next chapter, Aribeth is so filled with despair that the [[Big Bad]] is able to manipulate it into hatred and rage, turning her against the titular city (and the player). Aribeth is especially pitiful when you face her in the finale, as, with her lover dead and feeling of betrayed by Neverwinter, you can tell that she feels she has nothing left to lose.}}

** Also in this category? The King of Shadows himself, the [[Big Bad]] of the Original Campaign. {{spoiler|He started out as the greatest hero of the ancient realm of Illefarn. Then he volunteered for a horrifically painful ritual that turned him into a construct of pure magic, the Guardian, to make an effective deterrent to [[The Empire|Netheril]]. Then the Netherese wizard Karsus tried to usurp Mystryl's place as god of magic and all hell broke loose. The Weave was interrupted and the Guardian faced destruction. He chose to continue his vigil over Illefarn by drawing power from the [[Black Magic|Shadow Weave]]. That's when he became the King of Shadows. Illefarn tried to destroy him and only succeeded in binding him outside the Material Plane.}}

* Morinth of ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' claims to be this, stating that she never wished to be born an Ardat-Yakshi (the Asari equivalent of being a Sex Demon). Subverted in that it was ultimately her choice to succumb to her addiction to murder and her actions show that, in the end, she's a straight-up [[Complete Monster]] who wants to screw and kill the galaxy, in that order.

* {{spoiler|Kohaku}} of ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has become so emotionally broken that she thinks of herself as a doll and has no idea how she really feels about anything. Oh, and she's plotting the deaths of {{spoiler|Akiha and SHIKI, is implied or perhaps stated to be involved in Makihasa's death, and may view Shiki as a target as well, though she doesn't succeed there in any path. It's okay if everyone dies except Hisui, pretty much}}. Oh, and she's indirectly behind all the [[Serial Killer|serial killing]] going on in the Far Side routes.

* {{spoiler|Sakura}} in ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' eventually decides ({{spoiler|with the help of the devil that is possessing her}}) that since her life sucks so much, she's just going to kill everyone she doesn't like, and then {{spoiler|give birth to the devil}}. Well, the last part probably wasn't too high on the agenda but she didn't really care if it happened or not.

** Rider; in her backstory, she is {{spoiler|[[Greek Mythology|Medusa]].}}

 

== Webcomics ==

* Before she [[Power of Love|mellowed out a bit,]] Galatea fit this trope in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].'' She explains her position [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080722.html thusly.]

* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' seems to be casting Jengo Fett in this role.

* Yonatan from ''[[Fake News Rumble]]''. The only reason he's helping [[Big Bad|the Dark One]] with the destruction of worlds is because of his [[Childhood Friend Romance|unrequited crush on his childhood friend]], who sought power.

** And as icing on the cake, consider that the only reason said wizard even knew about her in the first place is because ''she contacted '''him''' to ask for help''.

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'''s Oasis. All she wants is for her one true love to return her love, and until he does, she'll slaughter everything in her path. She ''knows'' that she was essentially brainwashed by Steve Hereti into loving Torg, but can't help it anyway. This, coupled with her not knowing exactly what the hell she is, is slowly driving her insane(er).

* Trace Legacy from ''[[Twokinds]]''. A few weeks after he settles down with his new wife, a Keidran thief shoots her with a poison arrow. In his grief, he throws himself into [[Black Magic]] research to try and resurrect her. The spell backfires, nearly killing him and destroying his sanity. He then sacks a Keidran village and takes over the Order, [[Baleful Polymorph|polymorphing]] his old boss into a Keidran so he can kill her without a fuss. The Goddess of Neutrality has to wipe his brain to keep him from committing genocide.

* Tavor from ''[[Looking for Group]]''. After losing his family and kingdom to invaders, he decides to take his pain out on the rest of the world by trying to erase the city representing its last hope from existence.

** The Handmaid, a servant of Lord English, who is, with the help of Doc Scratch, responsible for {{spoiler|turning Alternia into a [[Crapsack World]] and the creation of their [[Fantastic Caste System]].}} She's also a slave in all but name, has been [[Abusive Parents|abused since birth]], wants desperately to die but can't [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|due to being cursed with immortality]], and the [[Hope Spot|one time she succeeded in escaping her fate]] ended with her running right into the time-traveling, universe-destroying demon himself.

* The golem girls in ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' played this role once. They were tortured until their wills were completely broken, then they were turned into a weapon. They ended up rampaging and destroying most of the world. Since then, civilizations have been rebuilt, and they have had their free will returned.

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Ilivais X]]'''s protagonist, Iriana Estchell, is this all the way. Her life essentially boiled down to being converted into a [[Wetware CPU]] by an abusive instructor who loved taking advantage of how pleasure is felt as pain for her, interspersed with more flat-out rape which was meant to promote her love-based Drive Core to consume her. She finally escapes {{spoiler|with Seyne's help}} and has in her possession an advanced [[Super Prototype]] [[Humongous Mecha]] powered by a [[Perpetual Motion Machine]]. "Destroy absolutely everything in the Aztec Empire" is now #1 on her list of priorities. There's only the slight problem of how she's not really THAT good at it, and said Aztec Empire isn't inherently evil at all.

** Also from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged]]'', Marik, driven to "evil" because his own father tortured and neglected him. Even his [[Super-Powered Evil Side|evil alter ego]] [[Complete Monster|Melvin]] was originally created to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CatVJI_sD0 "give him all the hugs he ever needed"]

* Voldemort in ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]'' is only the way he is because no one ever loved him...and maybe with Quirrel, things would be okay?

* How can anyone not want to give [[The Spoony Experiment|Dr Insano]] a hug after his plans go wrong?

* [[Godzilla|Monster X]] in ''[[Toho Kingdom Toons]]''. Sure, he's well-aware that the fangirls call him a "[[Woobie]]", but he also says that he's not giving up without a "fighty-wighty".

 

== Western Animation ==

* The Ice King of ''[[Adventure Time]]'' is a Sociopath, but mostly, he's just lonely. Just try not to feel bad for him when NEPTR chooses Finn over him.

** The 2011 Christmas Episode of Adventure Time discusses his origin, further proving his status. {{spoiler|"I want people to know...if I do things, if I do things that hurt anyone...please, please forgive me. Just watch over me until I can find my way out of this labyrinth in my brain and regain my sanity! And then maybe Betty, my princess...maybe you'll love me again."}}

* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' has Demona. To be fair, a lot of it is [[Hoist by His Own Petard|her own doing,]] but that poor girl has ''suffered.'' Losing almost her entire family, being abandoned by everyone she loved and trusted, and being hunted for a thousand years by a family who is extremely fond of [[Disproportionate Retribution]]? That'll mess anyone up. The episode [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9O88LSw-4&feature=related 'City of Stone'] (from 4:10 onward) gives us a very good example of how badly Demona is broken.

{{quote|'''The Sisters:''' You must give them the code.

'''Demona:''' Canmore destroyed the last of us...

'''The Sisters:''' Who betrayed [[Macbeth]] to Canmore.(Note: Demona di-- oh, you get the idea)

'''Demona:''' (''Tears forming while saying slowly'') The access code is...{{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Sadness|alone]].}} }}

* Ace in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'': very, very broken and very, very dangerous. If you are not [[Batman]], that is, the only person she apparently trusts.

** What's especially weird about Plankton is that he only became this in hindsight. The movie, the canon end of the series, is where Plankton really goes into high gear, and before the movie, he wasn't exactly sympathetic. After the movie is when he becomes the [[Designated Villain]], and gets more abuse than he deserves.

* The Toad from ''[[Flushed Away]]''. He was once Prince Charles' favorite pet. Then someone brought in a rat and flushed the Toad down the toilet so Charlie could focus all his attention on the replacement pet. This became his motivation for attempting to wipe out the Sewer-London. Seriously, we can't blame him for what he is now.

* {{spoiler|Doug}} from ''[[Ugly Americans]]''

* Michael 'Goob' Yagoobian in ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]''.

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]

[[Category:This Index Has Had a Hard Life]]

[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]