History BrokenBird / VisualNovels

* ''VisualNovel/PiofioreNoBansho'' Henri Lambert devoted his whole life after escaping from physical and sexual abuse to revenge. He murdered people to take on a new persona. While speaking to the mafia members he intends to kill as his Diretorre persona, he is very jovial, but when talking to the heroine as Henri he shows that he deeply suffers and he is no longer sure what is reality and what is part of a recurring nightmare he has about his sister and his past. Depending on the ending, he either regains his humanity or goes insane from the depth of his hatred towards the world.

* The heroine, Aida, from ''VisualNovel/{{Ascension}}'' is the StepfordSmiler version of this trope. She was born a HalfHumanHybrid, exiled from her home kingdom, isolated from people, and was being hunted down by the Silver Order. When found by the Silver Order, her grandmother was murdered in front of her, and Aida herself was maimed and left for dead.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'''s nickname when it first came out was [[FanNickname Sad Girls in Snow]]. WordOfGod has it that this was the {{Trope Namer|s}}'s favorite VisualNovel at the time.

** Mio, who uses her [[StealthInsult quietly]] [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], EmotionlessGirl facade to hide [[spoiler:the ''huge'' guilt complex she has about forgetting an old friend of hers, to the point where she doesn't feel any reason to stay in this world and is okay with swapping places with her permanently - at first, anyway.]]
** Kurugaya - CoolBigSis, ActionGirl, and all around [[TheAce Ace]] extraordinaire. [[spoiler:Except she's constantly bullied and treated as a freak and has no-one in the world she can truly rely on (at first, anyway) and created a whole other world just so she could finally feel something.]]

*** Rena - the series' own embodiment of adorkable cuteness - is heavily implied to have been one prior to the series, what with her [[ParentalAbandonment mommy issues]] and ''heavily'' implied RapeAsBackstory and BungledSuicide. [[spoiler:Her personal arc even has her cheery mask slip as she gives in more and more to despair since a swindler woman has recently arrived at her place and is trying to ruin her father's life. She manages to find true happiness thanks to her friends in Hinamizawa.]]

*** Shion. She is the second-born twin, and according to tradition shunned by her family (which itself is a step down from the normal tradition of ''drowning'' the second born - an uncomfortable fact she is well aware of) and eventually carted off to boarding school. When she returns, not only does she have to hide this fact from her family, but she has to hide her budding romance with Satoko's brother Satoshi, due to the stigma attached to their family. Eventually, she's found out, and [[{{Fingore}} is forced by her family to rip her own fingernails out as punishment.]] Then Satoshi disappears; she suspects the family, and it doesn't help that nearly everyone else in the village also thinks that Satoshi was demoned away by them as part of the local "curse" which only reinforces her belief. [[spoiler: In her arcs, these past traumas, set her on a murderous spree that ends with her own suicide (in the anime, it's an accident) [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone when she realises what she's done]]]]. Oh, and [[spoiler:''she's not even the actual second-born''. Her twin sister Mion (the real Shion) was mistaken for her on the day she received the Oni-tattoo, branding ''her'' as first-born]].

* Esperia in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia''. She has great difficult in treating Yuuto consistently because of this. She's always nice, but she can be oddly standoffish and distant.

* ''VisualNovel/TeachingFeeling'':
** Sylvie - Her being a broken bird is pretty much the whole point of this. She is a slave who was badly abused by her sadistic prior master.

*** Rena - the series' own embodiment of adorkable cuteness - is heavily implied to have been one prior to the series, what with her [[ParentalAbandonment mommy issues]] and ''heavily'' implied RapeAsBackstory and BungledSuicide. [[spoiler:Her personal arc even has her cheery mask slip as she gives in more and more to despair.]]

*** Shion. She is the second-born twin, and according to tradition shunned by her family (which itself is a step down from the normal tradition of ''drowning'' the second born - an uncomfortable fact she is well aware of) and eventually carted off to boarding school. When she returns, not only does she have to hide this fact from her family, but she has to hide her budding romance with Satoko's brother Satoshi, due to the stigma attached to their family. Eventually, she's found out, and [[{{Fingore}} the consequences are... nasty.]] Then Satoshi disappears; she suspects the family. [[spoiler: In her arcs, these past traumas, set her on a murderous spree that ends with her own suicide (in the anime, it's an accident) [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone when she realises what she's done]]]]. Oh, and [[spoiler:''she's not even the actual second-born''. Her twin sister Mion (the real Shion) was mistaken for her on the day she received the Oni-tattoo, branding ''her'' as first-born]].

** Caster [[spoiler:is Medea, who was cursed by Aphrodite to blindly love the hero Jason and betrayed her family to do so; eventually, she was rejected by Jason himself, and was forever branded a witch, a title that she sadly chose to embrace.]]

* Yuka Otowa from ''VisualNovel/CrescendoEienDatoOmotteItaAnoKoro'', since she was ''horribly'' broken in her DarkAndTroubledPast. [[spoiler: First, her parents were DrivenToSuicide after getting in debt with the {{yakuza}}. Second, she was taken in by her uncle and aunt but her cousin started to sexually abuse her, with drove her to try killing herself. Third, her uncle and aunt did ''not'' believe her when she told them about the sexual abuse that their son was subjecting her to. Fourth, she was forced to live in a foster home where the other kids were scared of her due to her suicidal tendences.]] As a result she's the local HookerWithAHeartOfGold, pretending to be a BlitheSpirit when she's not...

* ''VisualNovel/PiofioreNoBansho'' Henri Lambert devoted his whole life after escaping from physical and sexual abuse. He murdered people to take on a new persona. While speaking to the mafia members he intends to kill as his Diretore persona, he is very jovial, but when talking to the heroine as Henri he shows that he deeply suffers and he is no longer sure what is reality and what is a nightmare. Depending on the ending, he either regains his humanity or goes insane from the depth of his hatred towards the world.

* Mikan Tsumiki from ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' has suffered a cruel past of abuse, leaving her very aplogetic and low self esteem. To add salt to the wound,Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko are verbally and mentally abusive to her, treating her like she's a bitch or worse.

*** Rena - the series' own embodiment of {{Adorkable}} cuteness - is heavily implied to have been one prior to the series, what with her [[ParentalAbandonment mommy issues]] and ''heavily'' implied RapeAsBackstory and BungledSuicide. [[spoiler:Her personal arc even has her cheery mask slip as she gives in more and more to despair.]]

** Saber [[spoiler:aka Arthuria Pendragon, a sovereign who truly wanted to be a good ruler but isolated herself from her subjects in the process, which caused her death in the end.]]

* Silviana, an [[PettingZooPeople anthropomorphic dog]], from ''WankoToKurasou''. In this game, anthropomorphic dogs are regarded and treated as regular dogs, even if people ''do know'' that [[UnfortunateImplications they're much more intelligent and self-conscious]]. Her owner not only mistreated her and had her permanently locked up in a room, but also tried to play backyard breeder and make her breed before she even had her first heat. That resulted in her becoming an EmotionlessGirl until she was rescued by the main character. She got better, fortunately.

* Several girls in ''LightNovel/KatawaShoujo'':

* ''VisualNovel/{{Teaching Feeling}}'':

* ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'':
** There's a pair of twin sisters, one an obvious GenkiGirl, the other an apparent Broken Bird EmotionlessGirl. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope However]], it turns out that Kohaku's genkiness is a mask for a completely shattered, [[StepfordSmiler emotionless psyche]] due to years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of Shiki's stepfather/Akiha's father Makihisa Tohno, while the cold-looking Hisui is a ShrinkingViolet who hides her feelings to keep Kohaku stable and honor how Kohaku took the brunt of Makihisa's abuse to keep Hisui as safe as possible.]]
** Ciel was the previous incarnation of the vampire Roa, who has BornAgainImmortality. Once Roa manifested within her, she was forced to slaughter her town and commit unspeakable atrocities to the citizens. Although she was hunted down and killed by Arcueid (like all of Roa's other incarnations), Ciel survived due to her unnaturally high number of Magic Circuits. This piqued the Church's interest, so they took her and [[TheyWouldCutYouUp killed her repeatedly and in different gruesome ways to test the limits of her immortality]]. Eventually, once they found themselves unable to kill her, the Church decided to use her as an [[ChurchMilitant Executor]]. Ciel's entire motive for killing Roa for good is so that she can [[DeathSeeker die for good]].

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', [[spoiler: Saber's former master Kiritsugu Emiya]] is revealed to be an example. ''And'' we get to see ''exactly'' how poor Sakura got broken. Graphically so.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''

* Silviana, an [[PettingZooPeople anthropomorphic dog]], from ''WankoToKurasou''. In this game, anthropomorphic dogs are regarded and treated as regular dogs, even if people ''do know'' that [[UnfortunateImplications they're much more intelligent and self-conscious]]. Her owner not only mistreated her and had her permanently locked up in a room, but also tried to play backyard breeder and make her breed before she even had her first heat. That resulted in her becoming an EmotionlessGirl until she was rescued by the main character. She got better, fortunately.
* Lily in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' adopts a cold, tsundere attitude because she came from a world that was destroyed by Ruin. She's initially genuinely unhappy with Taiga because she thinks he's not taking his role seriously on top of his other personality flaws, but she warms up eventually. Or possibly heats up would be a better word considering she's still quite tsundere.

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'':
** Rena - the series' own embodiment of {{Adorkable}} cuteness - is heavily implied to have been one prior to the series, what with her [[ParentalAbandonment mommy issues]] and ''heavily'' implied RapeAsBackstory and BungledSuicide. [[spoiler:Her personal arc even has her cheery mask slip as she gives in more and more to despair.]]
** Satoko, the series' [[TheWoobie punching bag]] also shows shades of this when her lingering problems with the rest of Hinamizawa are brought into the limelight. Mostly it stems from being ostracized by the rest of the village. [[spoiler:Killing her own parents]] and having her brother disappear on her didn't help either.
** Rika. [[spoiler:Being Really700YearsOld and being murdered every few weeks]] doesn't exactly make for a healthy mindset. It's very well hidden at first, but towards the end of the question arcs, she shows glimpses of this behavior. When she finally gets an arc centered around her, it becomes apparent that she's been broken every which way, and is frankly just waiting for it to happen all over again.
** Shion. She is the second-born twin, and according to tradition shunned by her family (which itself is a step down from the normal tradition of ''drowning'' the second born - an uncomfortable fact she is well aware of) and eventually carted off to boarding school. When she returns, not only does she have to hide this fact from her family, but she has to hide her budding romance with Satoko's brother Satoshi, due to the stigma attached to their family. Eventually, she's found out, and [[{{Fingore}} the consequences are... nasty.]] Then Satoshi disappears; she suspects the family. [[spoiler: In her arcs, these past traumas, set her on a murderous spree that ends with her own suicide (in the anime, it's an accident) [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone when she realises what she's done]]]]. Oh, and [[spoiler:''she's not even the actual second-born''. Her twin sister Mion (the real Shion) was mistaken for her on the day she received the Oni-tattoo, branding ''her'' as first-born]].
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
** Ange Ushiromiya. Many years ago, she was a cheerful little girl, but losing her family at a young age and a miserable relationship with her aunt and caretaker Eva made a stoic and lonely DeadpanSnarker obsessed with the truth of the Rokkenjima incident.
** Bernkastel, known as "The Cruellest Witch" for good reason, then you find out that [[spoiler:she is actually a personification of all the "Rikas" who were brutally murdered repeatedly and gave up on fighting destiny in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'']]. She now wanders between the fragments doing whatever she can to ease the pain, revelling in the suffering of others.
** Finally, [[spoiler:Sayo "Yasu" Yasuda, the true identity of Beatrice, Shannon and Kanon]], who is possibly the most broken character in the series. [[spoiler:S/he is a ChildByRape, born as a result of Kinzo forcing himself on his own daughter Beatrice II; at just a few months old his/her mother dies by accident and his/her adoptive mother throws him/her off a cliff. Yasu survives the fall by a miracle (but with the implied mutilation of his/her sexual organs) and is passed off as an orphan at the Fukuin house so s/he can work for the Ushiromiya family as a servant. Suffering bullying from his/her fellow maids due to his/her clumsiness and young age, Yasu creates the Beatrice persona to cope with it and play pranks on them. S/he finds some happiness by falling in love with Battler, who makes a careless promise to "come to take Shannon away in a white horse", which Yasu takes way too seriously, becoming desperate when Battler leaves the family with little chance of returning due to some issues with his father's remarriage. S/he gives up on waiting for Battler after he forgets to send him/her a letter and creates the Kanon persona to keep "Shannon" company and cope with his/her body and gender issues. Then, Yasu decides to solve the epitaph and discovers the horrible truth of his/her origins and his/her broken body, making Yasu think of him/herself as a "furniture". For the following two years, this "furniture" complex and his/her conflicting feelings for George and Jessica make Yasu more and more unstable. The final nail in the coffin is when s/he hears Battler would return exactly the same year George was going to propose to Shannon. Yasu then decides to take everything down with him/her and plans the murders.]]
* Yuka Otowa from ''VisualNovel/{{Crescendo|EienDatoOmotteItaAnoKoro}}'', since she was ''horribly'' broken in her DarkAndTroubledPast. [[spoiler: First, her parents were DrivenToSuicide after getting in debt with the {{yakuza}}. Second, she was taken in by her uncle and aunt but her cousin started to sexually abuse her, with drove her to try killing herself. Third, her uncle and aunt did ''not'' believe her when she told them about the sexual abuse that their son was subjecting her to. Fourth, she was forced to live in a foster home where the other kids were scared of her due to her suicidal tendences.]] As a result she's the local HookerWithAHeartOfGold, pretending to be a BlitheSpirit when she's not...

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', [[spoiler: Saber's former master Kiritsugu Emiya]] is revealed to be a [[GenderInvertedTrope rare male example]]. ''And'' we get to see ''exactly'' how poor Sakura got broken. Graphically so.

** Finally, [[spoiler:Sayo "Yasu" Yasuda, the true identity of Beatrice, Shannon and Kanon]], who is possibly the most broken character in the series. [[spoiler:S/he is a ChildByRape, born as a result of Kinzo forcing himself on his own daughter Beatrice II, being just a few months old his/her mother dies by accident and his/her adoptive mother throws him/her off a cliff. Yasu survived the fall by a miracle (but with the implied mutilation of his/her sexual organs) and was made pass off as an orphan at the Fukuin house so s/he could work for the Ushiromiya family as a servant. Suffering bullying from his/her fellow maids due to his/her clumsiness and young age, Yasu creates the Beatrice persona to cope with it and play pranks on them. S/he finds some happiness by falling in love with Battler, who makes a careless promise to "come to take Shannon away in a white horse", which Yasu takes way too seriously and becomes desperate when Battler leaves the family with little chance of returning due to some issues with his father's remarriage. S/he gives up on keep waiting for Battler after he forgets to send him/her a letter and creates the Kanon persona to make "Shannon" company and cope with his/her body and gender issues. Then, Yasu decides to solve the epitaph and discovers the horrible truth of his/her origins and his/her broken body, making Yasu think of him/herself as a "furniture". For the following two years, this "furniture" complex and his/her conflicting feelings for George and Jessica make Yasu more and more unstable. The final nail in the coffin is when s/he hears Battler would return exactly the same year George was going to propose to Shannon. Yasu then decides to take everything down with him/her and plans the murders.]]