History BrokenAce / FanWorks

** In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'' Asuka was her team's best pilot and fighter. At the same time, she was deeply traumatized. She blames her traumas, PTDS and sour behavior on piloting.

** ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'':

[[folder: Crossovers]]

[[folder: The World Ends with You]]
* Eri in ''Fanfic/ErisGame'' is a good fashion designer but after Shiki's death, she started to give that up. Then she started [[TookALevelInBadass to become an activist]] who could [[GirlsWithGuns hold a gun]] [[OneManArmy to take an army out by herself]]. However, this is only because [[DeathSeeker she wanted to die]].

[[folder: The Simpsons]]
* ''FanFic/BartSimpsonAttorneyAtLaw'': Yes, ''that'' Bart Simpson has become a highly successful attorney at the age of 27, and the story begins with him as TheAce. However, as a teenager, Bart developed a relationship with Gina that grew so toxic, he was driven to alcoholism and near-suicide. When Gina and [[ManipulativeBitch Jessica Lovejoy]] start coming back into his life, he again goes back to the bottle. Thankfully, [[TrueCompanions Milhouse]] and [[SecondLove Alex]] are able to make an intervention.

[[folder: Kill la Kill]]
* ''Fanfic/TheCrimsonGarment'': Satsuki's DarkAndTroubledPast gets AdaptationExpansion, explaining where she got her SocialDarwinist mentality from. Ragyo's tyrannical upbringing and sexual abuse made her feel that she must be "perfect in every way" in order to please her. Her status as a WellDoneDaughterGirl, risking her life to activate her internal life fibers and working from a young age to become "perfect" in the hopes that Ragyo will stop abusing her if she succeeds, is [[TearJerker even more tragic.]]
* ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection'': Pretty much the entire Kiryuin family. They've got everything, yet are utter shit on the inside in one way or another.
** Ryuko Kiryuin. From the outset, it looks like she's got it all. She's the perfect hybrid of Life Fiber and human, the only one capable of wielding a Kamui, beautiful, immensely powerful, and a member of the strongest family in the world. Beneath it all is a psychological mess of a woman who's wrathful, violent, sadistic, abused by her mother, perpetually lonely, and incapable of understanding normal human interaction.
--->''"Never before in [Mako's] life had she seen someone so powerful and amazing look so sad."''
** Satsuki Kiryuin is another example. She's a near superhuman fighter in her own right (even without Life Fiber enhancements or a Kamui), a dominating force of will, sharp as a tack, just as beautiful as her sister and can generally meet any goal she puts her mind to. And none of that means a jot to her, weighed down as she is by her past of familial abuses, the guilt of abandoning her sisters in order to save the world, and the crippling knowledge that she left them in Ragyo's clutches for nothing, as she is no closer to stopping the Life Fibers as when she started.
** [[spoiler:Soichiro Kiryuin/Isshin Matoi]] is the leader and founder of Nudist Beach, the most powerful and successful resistance movement against REVOCS there is, and he's personally developed all sorts of ways to kill Life Fibers for good as well as created Kamuis like Junketsu [[spoiler:and Senketsu]]. Not that any of this particularly matters to him, as he's been forced to abandon his children just to ensure his organization's survival and is utterly ''plagued'' by feelings of self-loathing over it and what it led to his daughters becoming.
** Then there's Nui Harime. She's the Grand Couturier of REVOCS, one of the deadliest people on the planet, and is so efficient at her job that she can easily amplify Goku Uniform production in ways that not even Satsuki, Ryuko, or those that work for them can. Unfortunately, she's also a psychotic mass murderer conditioned to see humanity as beneath her and is also heavily motivated by [[WellDoneSonGuy maintaining her mother's "love" for her]], to the point where she desperately forces herself [[spoiler:not to undo Ragyo's Mind Rape of Ryuko after it happens]].

[[folder: Glee]]

[[folder: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]
* ''FanFic/TheImmortalGame'': Twilight Sparkle is an example of an Ace who ''gets'' broken over the course of the story. In the beginning, it's established that in addition to being Celestia's prized student, she's also officially the most powerful Unicorn alive. However, this just makes her a target for the villains, who infected her with an ArtifactOfDoom [[spoiler:(by pushing it through her ''[[EyeScream eye]]'')]], which [[DemonicPossession takes control]] of her body and [[AndIMustScream forces her to watch]] as it tries to kill her friends. She's eventually freed, but soon after finds herself forced into the role of RebelLeader, the stress of which--combined with the psychological trauma from the possession--drives her to the brink of insanity. [[spoiler:On top of that is the reveal that Celestia was subtly manipulating and training her for this role all along, which shatters Twilight's image of her beloved mentor and leads to her hating her]]. Even after her mind recovers, she's left a lot more cynical and bitter.

[[folder: Harry Potter]]

[[folder: Sword Art Online]]
* ''FanFic/TheKiritaChronicles'' has at least two examples:
** Kirigaya Kazuta (Kirita/Kirito), Kirito's genderbent counterpart, does well in school, strong enough to beat up people in the real world, and she is good looking. However, her actions and decisions have led her to be isolated, and she has admitted to making numerous mistakes in the past that she has or would come to regret.
** Kudo Tomomi (Delano) he was once known as 'The Ace' in school because of his intelligence and athletic abilities, but he lost his athletic abilities in a car crash caused by his mother. As a result, he became a bitter person who embraces virtual reality, so he can 'walk' again.
* Kirito in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' is the single best player in the titular game, [[SmugSuper knows it, and loves to remind other people of the fact.]] He's also aware that it's ''all'' he has going for him, and that getting trapped in the game is probably the best thing that's happened to him. As much as he looks down on and mocks the other players, deep down he just wants someone to like him, but he has no idea how to behave now that his gaming skills have put him at the top of the social order, so he acts like an ass and drives everyone away. And this is all ''before'' he goes through the [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade trauma]] of finally opening up to someone only to [[ILetGwenStacyDie watch them die,]] which convinces him to [[SafetyInIndifference go "cold turkey" on emotions.]]

[[folder: Naruto]]
* In ''Fanfic/KitsuneNoKenFistOfTheFox'', Naruto himself is this. He isn't as BookDumb as his canon-series counterpart, and he's a terrifyingly skilled fighter capable of taking down gangs all by himself. At the same time, he's got some serious loathing for his time as a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kyuushingai]] in the back-story, and the trauma of having to partake of city-wide massacres day after day for a whole year has taken a toll on him by the time the story's main plot has begun.

[[folder: Neon Genesis Evangelion]]
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a few examples...
** ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Asuka -who was the best pilot in the team as well as a certified genius and a gorgeous, hot-blooded, brave girl- was already pretty broken before the beginning of the history, and she was heading towards a full breaking. Part of the premise of this story is altering the event where her downward spiral began (her and Shinji's ruined FirstKiss) and seeing if she can avoid becoming a fully broken ace. So far her self-esteem has suffered a few severe blows but she has managed to hold herself together.
** ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Asuka is a brilliant girl and an excellent mecha pilot, but she's also an orphan with self-worth, self-confidence and trust issues. And then she got pregnant at the age of fourteen. And then she found out that his Commander used her like a doll.
** ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': Asuka is the best fighter and mecha pilot in her squad, a college graduate, and she is bolder and more cheerful than her canon self. However she keeps hiding deep childhood trauma and abandonment issues, and fighting ancient cosmic horrors got her even more broken during the War.
** ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': The three pilots -Shinji, Asuka and Rei- count like this (specially Asuka who is the best and most rigorously trained pilot and was out of college when she was thirteen), since each one of them is a one-person army with ample experience piloting giant robots and killing giant space monsters... and all are hugely traumatized. Getting orphaned when they were barely four, getting abandoned and/or abused by their fathers and ''dying'' during the end of the world are only ''some'' of their traumatic experiences.
** ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Asuka is beautiful, brave, a great fighter, an excellent pilot, a certified genius... and is inwardly broken due to deep childhood trauma, becoming a child soldier, getting beaten, mind-raped, abandoned and defiled before the Apocalypse, getting turned into a pawn in someone else's wars and a plaything ''after'' the Apocalypse...
** In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'' Asuka was her team's best pilot and fighter. At the same time, she was deeply traumatized. She blames her traumas, PTDS and sour behavior on piloting.
** ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Asuka was the best HumongousMecha pilot in the cast… and then she got repeatedly humiliated before being hit with a MindRape. After fighting the MP-Evas she lost one eye, one arm and her body got scarred permanently. She almost died and lost her mother again, so she became unstable, bitter and angrier.
** ''Fanfic/HigherLearning'': Asuka was her team's ace pilot and was also more heavily traumatized than her teammates due to being an orphan with abandonment and self-esteem issues. Kaoru tried to encourage her to reach out to others, and his adviced helped her for a while, but the final battles broke her very badly.
** ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': When Shinji met Asuka he shortly realized that gorgeous, intelligent girl and AcePilot was very hurt and was way more fragile and more vulnerable than she looked.
** ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'' sees Asuka awaking from the coma she was placed in and trying to recover after all the terrible things the series proper put her through, but she is still quite marked by the experiences, which -- during the course of the story -- gets compounded by the fact that [[spoiler:she is subjected to another mental attack, albeit a slow-working one]].
** ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'':
*** Shinji comes across as TheAce and a Robeast-killing machine to the rest of the characters, but deep down he's fighting hard to keep himself from falling into old habits; add to that the massive amount of guilt and self-loathing he feels towards his actions in the original timeline.
*** Asuka seems brave, strong-willed and self-assured on top of being an excellent pilot, but she is barely holding herself together. Shinji is aware of this and is determined to prevent her from falling apart.
** ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': Shinji thinks that Asuka is better than him at everything: she is beautiful, smarter, more sociable, braver, more strong-willed and a better pilot and fighter. Then she gradually reveals she is utterly broken inwardly and she sees herself as a worthless failure.
** In ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'', Asuka was a certified genius, an excellent pilot and a formidable warrior. However, she'd been abused by her parents when she was a child, developed a personality that simultaneously sought attention and drove people away, and was hurt, mind-raped and killed during the war. After surviving the end of the world she managed to get better, but [[spoiler:but losing her daughter when she was sent back in time]] nearly broke her down again.
** ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka comes across how as beautiful genius and mecha pilot. However, she is deeply traumatized due to her mother's madness and suicide, her father leaving her and all adults regarding her as a cog to make a weapon working. Similarly, when she is acting as Supergirl, people automatically think she is a formidable super-heroine and a perfect paragon of morality and nobility, not knowing inwardly she is a broken ball of neuroses and pain.
** In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'', Asuka was the best pilot and physical fighter. She was also heavily traumatized due to childhood trauma. Shinji helped her with her mental issues, but after [[spoiler:his disappearance,]] she fell apart completely.

[[folder: Nasuverse]]
* Vy in ''Fanfic/PassingDays'' is Chaldea's last Master who has saved the world from the Incineration and the Sub-Singularities by the time Part 2 starts, successfully working with more than 100 Servants. But because of losing her family more than once from the whims of the antagonists, witnessing firsthand the deaths of Dr. Roman and Mash, and the emotional pain that comes with ending the worlds of the Lostbelts, many of the Servants worry about Vy falling beyond their reach due to her {{Workaholic}} status and there being no one else to take on her position.
* ''Fanfic/FateMagnusBellum'': Arthur may be one of the greatest warriors in history and myth, as well as one of the most powerful Servants in the Holy Grail War, but he is plagued with self-esteem issues thanks to his past failures, among the most prominent being the fall of Camelot. This is even more apparent in his interactions with Mordred and Guinevere, where it turns out he rejected Mordred when he was in the midst of a HeroicBSOD from his son, Lucius, apparently dying from sickness.

[[folder: Fire Emblem]]
* In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' fanfic ''FanFic/{{Pretender}}'', Robin is a genius tactician gifted with both tomes and swords, lead his army to many countless victories without the loss of a single life. On the other hand, he is filled with great guilt over Emmeryn's death and his jealousy of Sumia for having Chrom's love and has poor self-esteem for having no identity outside of being a tactician and no past to speak of.

[[folder: Katawa Shoujo]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Reconciliation}}'', Hanako is a best-selling author, but has no real friends, apart from her publicist Sho; as a result of her Bad Ending, she cut ties with Hisao and Lilly because she was too ashamed and afraid to face them. [[spoiler:By the end of the fic, the "broken" part seems to have faded; while Hisao is dead, Hanako is once again friends with Lilly and is in a relationship with Sho]].

[[folder: D. Gray-Man]]
* Allen in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5368354/1/Requiem-of-Time Requiem of Time]]'' has become a [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Marshal]], evolved his [[CursedWithAwesome Cursed Eye]] beyond canon level, has a degree of control over [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Fourteenth Noah]], and is the leader of the [[TakeAThirdOption secret third side of the war]]. He's also slowly going crazy from a combination of the Fourteenth Noah and his Cursed Eye becoming uncontrollable.

%%[[folder: RWBY]]
%%* Pyrrha, in ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'', makes her canon counterpart look fine by comparison. %% Please explain how.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder: Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra]]
* ''Fanfic/TheSagaOfAvatarKorra'': Korra is even [[AdaptationalBadass stronger]] than she is in canon. However, being kidnapped by the Red Lotus and put through a TrainingFromHell regiment for fourteen years has affected her psyche, and she has very little clue about things outside training.

[[folder: The Hunger Games]]
* [[PrivilegedRival Obsidian]] [[{{Deuteragonist}} Citrine]] of fanfic ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', who comes across as extremely confident, talented in combat, good-looking, and charismatic...yet has some serious issues, especially by the end of the story.

[[folder: Bleach]]
* In ''FanFic/SwingingPendulum'' while Ichigo is adored for his fighting skill and ties to nobility, he comes across as very cold, arrogant and indifferent to those that either don't know him or adore him. He is also a ShellShockedVeteran, struggling with despair after losing everyone he held precious.

[[folder: Death Note]]
* Kali of ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644493/1/Zenith-Darkness-Reverie Zenith, Darkness, Reverie]]''. The tale commences with a brilliant (but exceptionally [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness verbose]]) freshman accepted into one of the best high schools in the country. It's mentioned rather nonchalantly that she's a competent violist, boulders competitively, writes novels (possibly), and possesses an extensive knowledge base about string theory. By the eleventh chapter or so, she spends several paragraphs [[spoiler:begging the voices in her head to "shut up". [[FridgeHorror And this is Kali, who peruses the dictionary when bored]]]]. [[spoiler:[[SplitPersonality Kira]]]] is purportedly the manifestation of this "Broken Ace" state. [[spoiler:[[OhCrap Kira's not particularly broken]]]].
* Light from ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife'' is stoic, calm and collected but underneath he's a mess of mental issues and what passes for his sanity is hanging together by a thread. Ultimately he decides to leave it all behind for Ryuk because for the first time in his life he feels genuinely happy.

[[folder: Marvel Cinematic Universe]]
* ''FanFic/ABridgeOnceBroken'' gives Loki a DracoInLeatherPants treatment (like a pro!) by using large amounts of this trope. Turns out, his time with Thanos was [[spoiler: deliberately orchestrated by Odin]]. He's also NeverAcceptedInHisHometown in a pretty cruel way.
* In ''Fanfic/TurningTables'', Peter had to go through the harrowing trek back to Earth Tony had to make in the DownerBeginning of ''Endgame''. Top that with the knowledge that he failed to stop Thanos, his mentor/father-figure turning to dust in his arms and his last remaining blood-relative going out the same way, it takes Peter nearly a year before he could even consider going back to patrolling as Spider-Man.
* Valkyrie in ''Fanfic/IfICouldStartAgain'' is this. She was the youngest commander in the Valkyrior's history and proved herself in countless battles that would inspire songs for centuries to come, even being instrumental in the war with the Jotun on Midgard over a thousand years prior. The slaughter of her fellow Valkyries at Hela's hands, [[SoleSurvivor with her barely surviving]], would lead to her winding up on Sakaar and wallowing away in alcoholism and self-pity.

[[folder: Barbie]]
* Creator/SamAndMickey's Franchise/{{Barbie}} videos have her try to act like a perfect woman, with a perfect life, despite her alcoholism, unsatisfied lust, and dysfunctional family.

[[folder: DC Comics]]
* In the ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] is brave, selfless, intelligent, compassionate and one of the greatest and most-beloved heroes in the world. But she lost her parents and her entire civilization when she was fifteen, and then she spent the next fourteen years fighting criminals, super-villains and eldritch monsters. As a result, she is a perpetual fish out of water who has no real friends, is unable to have long-lasting relationships, is sick of endless battles and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]
* [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 Hamato Yoshi]] in ''Fanfic/SameDifference'' is regarded as the greatest ninja master of the century, but his life has been plagued with tragedy due to the Shredder hunting down and slaughtering his clan. The near-death incident his wife suffered left him with a perpetual fear of his greatest foe taking all he has left from him.
[[/folde]]

[[folder: OMORI]]
* ''Fanfic/TimeToDisinfect'': From the outside, Mari has everything going for her: she's a charming CoolBigSis, a budding musical prodigy, a straight-A student, and so on. Below the surface however is a troubled and neurotic autistic girl gradually cracking under an immense amount of pressure -- both self-inflicted and heaped on her by her parents.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Backyard Sports]]
* Jorge Garcia in ''Fanfic/TheSecretLifeOfTheBackyardKids.'' The story introduces him as a handsome, intelligent, popular, rich, charismatic young man. However, he's a CuteAndPsycho BrokenBird StepfordSmiler who's abused by his dad to be perfect [[spoiler:and he transforms into a black leopard and destroys his bank in rage]].
[[/folder]]

!! Crossovers

!! ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''

!! ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

!! ''Anime/KillLaKill''

!! ''Series/{{Glee}}''

!! ''Series/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

!! ''Literature/HarryPotter''

!! ''Literature/SwordArtOnline''

!! ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''

!! ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}''

!! ''Franchise/FireEmblem''

!! ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''

!! ''Manga/DGrayMan''

!! ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''
* Pyrrha, in ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'', makes her canon counterpart look fine by comparison.

!! ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' / ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''

!! ''Literature/TheHungerGames''

!! ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''

!! ''Manga/DeathNote''
* Kali of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644493/1/Zenith-Darkness-Reverie Zenith, Darkness, Reverie]]''. The tale commences with a brilliant (but exceptionally [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness verbose]]) freshman accepted into one of the best high schools in the country. It's mentioned rather nonchalantly that she's a competent violist, boulders competitively, writes novels (possibly), and possesses an extensive knowledge base about string theory. By the eleventh chapter or so, she spends several paragraphs [[spoiler:begging the voices in her head to "shut up". [[FridgeHorror And this is Kali, who peruses the dictionary when bored]]]]. [[spoiler:[[SplitPersonality Kira]]]] is purportedly the manifestation of this "Broken Ace" state. [[spoiler:[[OhCrap Kira's not particularly broken]]]].

!! ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''

!! ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}''

!! ''Franchise/DCComics''
* In the ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] is brave, selfless, intelligent, compassionate and one of the greatest and most-beloved heroes in the world. But she lost her parents and her entire civilization when she was fifteen, and then she spent the next fourteen years fighting criminals, super-villains and eldritch monsters. As a result of it, she is a perpetual fish out of water who has no real friends, is unable to have long-lasting relationships, is sick of endless battles and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

!! ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''

!! ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}''

!! Other

* Eri in ''FanFic/ErisGame'' is a good fashion designer but after Shiki's death, she started to give that up. Then she started [[TookALevelInBadass to become an activist]] who could [[GirlsWithGuns hold a gun]] [[OneManArmy to take an army out by herself]]. However, this is only because [[DeathSeeker she wanted to die]].
* ''FanFic/BartSimpsonAttorneyAtLaw'': Yes, ''that'' Bart Simpson has become a highly successful attorney at the age of 27, and the story begins with him as TheAce. However, as a teenager, Bart developed a relationship with Gina that grew so toxic, he was driven to alcoholism and near-suicide. When Gina and [[ManipulativeBitch Jessica Lovejoy]] start coming back into his life, he again goes back to the bottle. Thankfully, [[TrueCompanions Milhouse]] and [[SecondLove Alex]] are able to make an intervention.

* ''Fanfic/TheCrimsonGarment,'' Satsuki's DarkAndTroubledPast gets AdaptationExpansion, explaining where she got her SocialDarwinist mentality from. Ragyo's tyrannical upbringing and sexual abuse made her feel that she must be "perfect in every way" in order to please her. Her status as a WellDoneDaughterGirl, risking her life to activate her internal life fibers and working from a young age to become "perfect" in the hopes that Ragyo will stop abusing her if she succeeds, is [[TearJerker even more tragic.]]

* Blaine is {{Cerebus Retcon}}ned into this over the course of ''FanFic/HuntingTheUnicorn''. In an interesting variant, he's literally [[BreakTheCutie an ace who got broken:]] He's a very nice young man and is genuinely as chivalrous and kind as his canon portrayal--but it's because [[LonelyRichKid he's lonely,]] [[WideEyedIdealist naive,]] and [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest still hurting over his disastrous first relationship.]] Plus, he's aware of his canonical SelectiveObliviousness and [[HeroicSelfDeprecation has very low self-esteem.]]
* ''FanFic/TheImmortalGame'': Twilight Sparkle is an example of an Ace who ''gets'' broken over the course of the story. In the beginning, it's established that in addition to being Celestia's prized student, she's also officially the most powerful Unicorn alive. However, this just makes her a target for the villains, who infected her with an ArtifactOfDoom [[spoiler:(by pushing it through her ''[[EyeScream eye]]'')]], which [[DemonicPossession takes control]] of her body and [[AndIMustScream forces her to watch]] as it tries to kill her friends. She's eventually freed, but soon after finds herself forced into the role of RebelLeader, the stress of which--combined with the psychological trauma from the possession--drives her to the brink of insanity. [[spoiler:On top of that is the reveal that Celestia was subtly manipulating and training her for this role all along, which shatters Twilight's image of her beloved mentor and leads to her hating her]]. Even after her mind recovers, she's left a lot more cynical and bitter.
* Tristan Winter ([[ThatManIsDead formerly Harry Potter]]) in ''FanFic/TheJadedEyesSeries'' is a prime example. He'd be a straight out MartyStu if he wasn't so completely and utterly ''insane''.
* ''FanFic/TheKiritaChronicles'': There are a least two examples.
** Kirigaya Kazuta (Kirita/Kirito), Kirito's genderbent counterpart, does well in school, strong enough to beat up people in the real world, and she is good looking. However, her actions and decisions have led her to be isolated, and she has admitted to making numerous mistakes in the past that she has or would come to regret.
** Kudo Tomomi (Delano) he was once known as 'The Ace' in school because of his intelligence and athletic abilities, but he lost his athletic abilities in a car crash caused by his mother. As a result, he became a bitter person who embraces virtual reality, so he can 'walk' again.
* In ''Fanfic/KitsuneNoKenFistOfTheFox'', Naruto himself is this. He isn't as BookDumb as his canon-series counterpart, and he's a terrifyingly skilled fighter capable of taking down gangs all by himself. At the same time, he's got some serious loathing for his time as a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kyuushingai]] in the back-story, and the trauma of having to partake of city-wide massacres day after day for a whole year has taken a toll on him by the time the story's main plot has begun.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a few examples...
** ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Asuka -who was the best pilot in the team as well as a certified genius and a gorgeous, hot-blooded, brave girl- was already pretty broken before the beginning of the history, and she was heading towards a full breaking. Part of the premise of this story is altering the event where her downward spiral began (her and Shinji's ruined FirstKiss) and seeing if she can avoid becoming a fully broken ace. So far her self-esteem has suffered a few severe blows but she has managed to hold herself together.
** ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Asuka is a brilliant girl and an excellent mecha pilot, but she's also an orphan with self-worth, self-confidence and trust issues. And then she got pregnant at the age of fourteen. And then she found out that his Commander used her like a doll.
** ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': Asuka is the best fighter and mecha pilot in her squad, a college graduate, and she is bolder and more cheerful than her canon self. However she keeps hiding deep childhood trauma and abandonment issues, and fighting ancient cosmic horrors got her even more broken during the War.
** ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': The three pilots -Shinji, Asuka and Rei- count like this (specially Asuka who is the best and most rigorously trained pilot and was out of college when she was thirteen), since each one of them is a one-person army with ample experience piloting giant robots and killing giant space monsters... and all are hugely traumatized. Getting orphaned when they were barely four, getting abandoned and/or abused by their fathers and ''dying'' during the end of the world are only ''some'' of their traumatic experiences.
** ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Asuka is beautiful, brave, a great fighter, an excellent pilot, a certified genius... and is inwardly broken due to deep childhood trauma, becoming a child soldier, getting beaten, mind-raped, abandoned and defiled before the Apocalypse, getting turned into a pawn in someone else's wars and a plaything ''after'' the Apocalypse...
** In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'' Asuka was her team's best pilot and fighter. At the same time, she was deeply traumatized. She blames her traumas, PTDS and sour behavior on piloting.
** ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Asuka was the best HumongousMecha pilot in the cast… and then she got repeatedly humiliated before being hit with a MindRape. After fighting the MP-Evas she lost one eye, one arm and her body got scarred permanently. She almost died and lost her mother again, so she became unstable, bitter and angrier.
** ''Fanfic/HigherLearning'': Asuka was her team's ace pilot and was also more heavily traumatized than her teammates due to being an orphan with abandonment and self-esteem issues. Kaoru tried to encourage her to reach out to others, and his adviced helped her for a while, but the final battles broke her very badly.
** ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': When Shinji met Asuka he shortly realized that gorgeous, intelligent girl and AcePilot was very hurt and was way more fragile and more vulnerable than she looked.
** ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'' sees Asuka awaking from the coma she was placed in and trying to recover after all the terrible things the series proper put her through, but she is still quite marked by the experiences, which -- during the course of the story -- gets compounded by the fact that [[spoiler:she is subjected to another mental attack, albeit a slow-working one]].
** ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'':
*** Shinji comes across as TheAce and a Robeast-killing machine to the rest of the characters, but deep down he's fighting hard to keep himself from falling into old habits; add to that the massive amount of guilt and self-loathing he feels towards his actions in the original timeline.
*** Asuka seems brave, strong-willed and self-assured on top of being an excellent pilot, but she is barely holding herself together. Shinji is aware of this and is determined to prevent her from falling apart.
** ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': Shinji thinks that Asuka is better than him at everything: she is beautiful, smarter, more sociable, braver, more strong-willed and a better pilot and fighter. Then she gradually reveals she is utterly broken inwardly and she sees herself as a worthless failure.
** In ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'', Asuka was a certified genius, an excellent pilot and a formidable warrior. However, she'd been abused by her parents when she was a child, developed a personality that simultaneously sought attention and drove people away, and was hurt, mind-raped and killed during the war. After surviving the end of the world she managed to get better, but [[spoiler:but losing her daughter when she was sent back in time]] nearly broke her down again.
** ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka comes across how as beautiful genius and mecha pilot. However, she is deeply traumatized due to her mother's madness and suicide, her father leaving her and all adults regarding her as a cog to make a weapon working. Similarly, when she is acting as Supergirl, people automatically think she is a formidable super-heroine and a perfect paragon of morality and nobility, not knowing inwardly she is a broken ball of neuroses and pain.
** In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'', Asuka was the best pilot and physical fighter. She was also heavily traumatized due to childhood trauma. Shinji helped her with her mental issues, but after [[spoiler:his disappearance,]] she fell apart completely.
* Vy in ''Fanfic/PassingDays'' is Chaldea's last Master who has saved the world from the Incineration and the Sub-Singularities by the time Part 2 starts, successfully working with more than 100 Servants. But because of losing her family more than once from the whims of the antagonists, witnessing firsthand the deaths of Dr. Roman and Mash, and the emotional pain that comes with ending the worlds of the Lostbelts, many of the Servants worry about Vy falling beyond their reach due to her {{Workaholic}} status and there being no one else to take on her position.
* Robin in ''FanFic/{{Pretender}}'' is this. Robin is a genius tactician gifted with both tomes and swords, lead his army to many countless victories without the loss of a single life. On the other hand, he is filled with great guilt over Emmeryn's death and his jealousy of Sumia for having Chrom's love and has poor self-esteem for having no identity outside of being a tactician and no past to speak of.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Reconciliation}}'', [[VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo Hanako]] is a best-selling author, but has no real friends, apart from her publicist Sho; as a result of her Bad Ending, she cut ties with Hisao and Lilly because she was too ashamed and afraid to face them. [[spoiler:By the end of the fic, the "broken" part seems to have faded; while Hisao is dead, Hanako is once again friends with Lilly and is in a relationship with Sho]].
* Allen in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5368354/1/Requiem-of-Time Requiem of Time]]'' has become a [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Marshal]], evolved his [[CursedWithAwesome Cursed Eye]] beyond canon level, has a degree of control over [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Fourteenth Noah]], and is the leader of the [[TakeAThirdOption secret third side of the war]]. He's also slowly going crazy from a combination of the Fourteenth Noah and his Cursed Eye becoming uncontrollable.
* Pyrrha, in ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'', makes her canon counterpart look fine by comparison.
* Jorge Garcia in ''Fanfic/TheSecretLifeOfTheBackyardKids.'' The story introduces him as a handsome, intelligent, popular, rich, charismatic young man. However, he's a CuteAndPsycho BrokenBird StepfordSmiler who's abused by his dad to be perfect [[spoiler:and he transforms into a black leopard and destroys his bank in rage]].
* ''Fanfic/TheSagaOfAvatarKorra'': Korra is even [[AdaptationalBadass stronger]] than she is in canon. However, being kidnapped by the Red Lotus and put through a TrainingFromHell regiment for fourteen years has affected her psyche, and she has very little clue about things outside training.
* [[PrivilegedRival Obsidian]] [[{{Deuteragonist}} Citrine]] of fanfic ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', who comes across as extremely confident, talented in combat, good-looking, and charismatic...yet has some serious issues, especially by the end of the story.
* In ''FanFic/SwingingPendulum'' while Ichigo is adored for his fighting skill and ties to nobility, he comes across as very cold, arrogant and indifferent to those that either don't know him or adore him. He is also a ShellShockedVeteran, struggling with despair after losing everyone he held precious.
* Kirito in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' is the single best player in the titular game, [[SmugSuper knows it, and loves to remind other people of the fact.]] He's also aware that it's ''all'' he has going for him, and that getting trapped in the game is probably the best thing that's happened to him. As much as he looks down on and mocks the other players, deep down he just wants someone to like him, but he has no idea how to behave now that his gaming skills have put him at the top of the social order, so he acts like an ass and drives everyone away. And this is all ''before'' he goes through the [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade trauma]] of finally opening up to someone only to [[ILetGwenStacyDie watch them die,]] which convinces him to [[SafetyInIndifference go "cold turkey" on emotions.]]
* Kali of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644493/1/Zenith-Darkness-Reverie Zenith, Darkness, Reverie]]''. The tale commences with a brilliant (but exceptionally [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness verbose]]) freshman accepted into one of the best high schools in the country. It's mentioned rather nonchalantly that she's a competent violist, boulders competitively, writes novels (possibly), and possesses an extensive knowledge base about string theory. By the eleventh chapter or so, she spends several paragraphs [[spoiler:begging the voices in her head to "shut up". [[FridgeHorror And this is Kali, who peruses the dictionary when bored]]]]. [[spoiler:[[SplitPersonality Kira]]]] is purportedly the manifestation of this "Broken Ace" state. [[spoiler:[[OhCrap Kira's not particularly broken]]]].
* ''FanFic/ABridgeOnceBroken'' gives Loki a DracoInLeatherPants treatment (like a pro!) by using large amounts of this trope. Turns out, his time with Thanos was [[spoiler: deliberately orchestrated by Odin]]. He's also NeverAcceptedInHisHometown in a pretty cruel way.
* Creator/SamAndMickey's Franchise/{{Barbie}} videos have her try to act like a perfect woman, with a perfect life, despite her alcoholism, unsatisfied lust, and dysfunctional family.

* Light from ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife'' is stoic, calm and collected but underneath he's a mess of mental issues and what passes for his sanity is hanging together by a thread. Ultimately he decides to leave it all behind for Ryuk because for the first time in his life he feels genuinely happy.
* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] is brave, selfless, intelligent, compassionate and one of the greatest and most-beloved heroes in the world. But she lost her parents and her entire civilization when she was fifteen, and then she spent the next fourteen years fighting criminals, super-villains and eldritch monsters. As a result of it, she is a perpetual fish out of water who has no real friends, is unable to have long-lasting relationships, is sick of endless battles and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
* ''Fanfic/FateMagnusBellum'': Arthur may be one of the greatest warriors in history and myth, as well as one of the most powerful Servants in the Holy Grail War, but he is plagued with self-esteem issues thanks to his past failures, among the most prominent being the fall of Camelot. This is even more apparent in his interactions with Mordred and Guinevere, where it turns out he rejected Mordred when he was in the midst of a HeroicBSOD from his son, Lucius, apparently dying from sickness.
* ''Roleplay/{{Communication}}'': The Hosts of Consensus in their respective Quests. Each go on an journey to become the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest Woman]] of their respective universes and each [[TraumaCongaLine has gone through hell]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast before the stories starts]], resulting in issues that need to be worked out before reaching their full potential.
* In ''Fanfic/TurningTables'', Peter had to go through the harrowing trek back to Earth Tony had to make in the DownerBeginning of ''Endgame''. Top that with the knowledge that he failed to stop Thanos, his mentor/father-figure turning to dust in his arms and his last remaining blood-relative going out the same way, it takes Peter nearly a year before he could even consider going back to patrolling as Spider-Man.

* Valkyrie in ''Fanfic/IfICouldStartAgain'' is this. She was the youngest commander in the Valkyrior's history and proved herself in countless battles that would inspire songs for centuries to come, even being instrumental in the war with the Jotun on Midgard over a thousand years prior. The slaughter of her fellow Valkyries at Hela's hands, [[SoleSurvivor with her barely surviving]], would lead to her winding up on Sakaar and wallowing away in alcoholism and self-pity.

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroSchoolAdventureIsAllWrongAsExpected'', a ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' and ''LightNovel/MyYouthRomanticComedyIsWrongAsIExpected'' crossover, gives us Hikigaya Hachiman. The first thing the rest of his class learns about him is that Hachiman jumped in front of a vehicle to save a dog, broke his leg, and then proceeded to pass the ''hardest hero test in the country'' despite that. He's incredibly well built, intelligent, charismatic, has an amazingly versatile Quirk, and is the de facto leader of his entire class. He's also been bullied throughout middle school due to his [[WeakButSkilled weak Quirk]] and asocial nature, his OnlyFriend, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, [[spoiler: was kidnapped and potentially killed by the League of Villains without him noticing until far too late]], and he has to spend almost triple the amount of time training as the rest of his classmates just to not be left behind. This has left Hachiman with an inability to perceive the affection and goodwill others feel towards him, an astonishing amount of self-loathing, and a deep-seated inferiority complex that he just can't seem to shake.

* [[PrivilegedRival Obsidian]] [[{{Deuteragonist}} Citrine]] of the ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Hunger Games]]'' fanfic ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', who comes across as extremely confident, talented in combat, good-looking, and charismatic...yet has some serious issues, especially by the end of the story.

* Allen in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5368354/1/Requiem-of-Time Requiem of Time]]'' has become a [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Marshal]], evolved his [[CursedWithAwesome Cursed Eye]] beyond canon level, has a degree of control over [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Fourteenth Noah]], and is the leader of the [[TakeAThirdOption secret third side of the war]]. He's also slowly going crazy from a combination of the Fourteenth Noah and his Cursed Eye becoming uncontrollable.

* ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection'':

** Then there's Nui Harime. She's the Grand Couturier of REVOCS, one of the deadliest people on the planet, and is so efficient at her job that she can easily amplify Goku Uniform production in ways that not even Satsuki, Ryuko, or those that work for them can. Unfortunately, she's also a psychotic mass murderer conditioned to see humanity as beneath her and is also heavily motivated by [[WellDoneSonGuy maintaining her mother's "love" for her]], to the point where she desperately forces herself [[spolier:not to undo Ragyo's Mind Rape of Ryuko after it happens]].

** Doctor Strange a.k.a. [[spoiler: Taliesin]]. Off-the-charts brilliant, the most skilled sorcerer in the known history of the universe (having [[spoiler: 500,000 years]] of practice will do that), and a time-travelling {{seer}} with an unrivalled mastery of manipulation, he is repeatedly and independently considered to be more dangerous than ''Death herself.'' All indications are that this is by no means an exaggeration. He's also possibly the greatest doctor ever to have lived (that being his true passion), and one of the greatest musicians in history as a mere hobby. But beneath the dashing, confident, and witty façade is an utterly broken man who has slowly been driven insane by the burdens of the task that [[spoiler: the Time Stone]] put upon him, having spent his entirely stupidly extended life acting as history's wetworks man, seeing good people die when they're beyond even his power to save, and forced to spend his entire existence manipulating everything and everyone solely to defeat Thanos, something that totally isolates him. The result is an incredibly tired, lonely, and bitter old man. And that's not even getting into his original DarkAndTroubledPast - it's notable that when he relates the truth about himself in the sequel, even those who can barely stand him are moved to tears.

** Harry - initially, he's a sweet and unconsciously charming child with a gift for flying and more magical talent than most realise and a knack for [[IndyPloy quick thinking]] and [[ActionSurvivor surviving the impossible]]. Later, he's TallDarkAndHandsome, extraordinarily magically and psychically powerful, an accomplished MagicKnight who's stronger and faster than a SuperSoldier, with espionage training, a deceptively sharp deductive intellect, and fluency in multiple languages. He's a clever GuileHero and a [[BatmanGambit talented]] [[ManipulativeBastard]], being both charming and charismatic when he puts his mind to it. And then there's [[spoiler: the fragment of the Phoenix, which makes him effectively immortal]]. Unfortunately, he's also got deeply embedded issues from his [[DarkAndTroubledPast abusive childhood]], he's seen at least one friend killed in front of him, he's been killed himself, and went through such a staggeringly brutal TraumaCongaLine at the start of the second book that the entire rest of the story is to one extent or another about his MentalHealthRecoveryArc. Also the fact that [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] makes him potentially a ticking time-bomb. More generally, he's a hotbed of self-loathing, insecurity, and neuroses, who's a bit too prone to manipulating people and a bit too bad at opening up for his own good - there is a ''reason'' he spends the entire sequel in therapy.

* Ryuko Kiryuin in the ''Anime/KillLaKill'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection''. From the outset, it looks like she's got it all. She's the perfect hybrid of Life Fiber and human, the only one capable of wielding a Kamui, beautiful, immensely powerful, and a member of the strongest family in the world. Beneath it all is a psychological mess of a woman who's wrathful, violent, sadistic, abused by her mother, perpetually lonely, and incapable of understanding normal human interaction.
-->''"Never before in [Mako's] life had she seen someone so powerful and amazing look so sad."''

* Valkyrie in ''Fanfic/IfICouldStartAgain'' is this. She was the youngest commander in the Valkyrior's history and proved herself in countless battles that would inspire songs for centuries to come, even being instrumental in the war with the Jotun on Midgard over a thousand years prior. The slaughter of her fellow Valkyries at Hela's hands, with her barely surviving, would lead to her winding up on Sakaar and wallowing away in alcoholism and self-pity.

** The Doom Slayer is without question the greatest Night Sentinel to ever live. He's the bane of Hell who slaughtered countless demons, creating fear and strife in a race of dimensional conquerors. He's also accumulated so many tragedies ranging from the loss of loved ones, racial subjugation due to his Terran heritage, and enduring eons of physical and mental torment both from constantly waging a one-man-war against Hell as well as being imprisoned and subjected to horrid visions wrought by the demons, that it's nothing short of a miracle that he's still got some level of his humanity left.

** The Doom Slayer is without question the greatest Night Sentinel to ever live. He's the bane of Hell who slaughtered countless demons, creating fear and strife in a race of dimensional conquerors. He's also accumulated so many tragedies ranging from the loss of loved ones, racial subjugation due to his terran heritage, and enduring eons of physical and mental torment, that it's nothing short of a miracle that he's still got some level of his humanity left.

* ''Fanfic/FateMagnusBellum'': Arthur is plagued with self-esteem issues thanks to his past. This is even more apparent in his interactions with Mordred and Guinevere, where it turns out he rejected Mordred when he was in the midst of a HeroicBSOD from his son, Lucius, apparently dying from sickness.

* Pyrrha, in ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'', makes her canon countpart look fine by comparison.

* Keeping true to her characterization in the ''Franchise/Nasuverse'', where her inhuman perfection was a major factor in leading to the downfall of Camelot, [[HeroProtagonist Arturia Pendragon]] in ''Fanfic/AKnightsTaleAsInquisitor'' is presented as [[BeautyEqualsGoodness beautiful]], [[TheChessmaster intelligent]], [[ThePhilosopherKing wise]], [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold kind]], [[HeroicSelfDeprecation insecure]], [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regretful]], [[BrokenHero sorrowful]], and [[DarkAndTroubledPast angstful]] in [[ByronicHero equal measure]].