History DysfunctionJunction / VideoGames

*** And the newest Thief in the re-release ''Royal'', Kasumi Yoshizawa, ends up being this. [[spoiler: Seemingly have a perfect life ahead of her as a student and as a gymnast, underneath them lies a mentally-unstable Sumire Yoshizawa, the twin sister of the ''real'' Kasumi Yoshizawa who died before the events of the game. Unable to face the fact that she can't measure up to her seemingly perfect twin sister and later living with the guilt of her sacrifice to save her from becoming a roadkill by taking her place, she impersonates her twin sister thanks to the newest AntiVillain BigBad. But no one is even fooled by her impersonation. While she thinks herself as Kasumi, everyone who sees her treats her like ''insane'' who doesn't deserve the scholarship she has in Shujin.]]

*** And the newest Thief in the re-release ''Royal'' Kasumi Yoshizawa ends up being this. [[spoiler: Seemingly have a perfect life ahead of her as a student and as a gymnast, underneath them lies a mentally-unstable Sumire Yoshizawa, the twin sister of the real Kasumi Yoshizawa who died before the events of the game. Unable to face the fact that she can't measure up to her seemingly perfect twin sister and later living with the guilt of her sacrifice to save her from becoming a roadkill by taking her place, she impersonates her twin sister thanks to the newest AntiVillain BigBad. But no one is even fooled by her impersonation, as everyone who sees her treats her like ''insane'' who doesn't deserve the scholarship she has in Shujin.]]

** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': All your party members have screwed up pasts and a strong mistrust towards society in general.

*** Goro [[spoiler:is a sociopathic KnightTemplar obsessed with his belief in "justice" above all else as a result of his abusive childhood.]]
*** Ren Amamiya (the protagonist) [[spoiler:suffers from a nasty case of ChronicHeroSyndrome which gets him falsely arrested and leaves him with the label of a criminal.]]

*** In the manga, the Protagonist's parents' line of work causes him to move constantly. As a result he is afraid to get close to others, lest he becomes too attached to them and is hurt when he has to leave. This causes him to be a secretly cynical StepfordSmiler. [[spoiler: From the final scenes of the game it can be deduced that he gets over it because all the people he formed social links with, while living with his uncle, were actually reaching out to him without either side realizing it (in contrast to P3's protagonist). He leaves Inaba with a smile and no regrets.

** And there is Joker, [[AcePilot brilliant pilot and navigator]] suffering from Vrolik syndrome that makes him unable to exert in any way. He constantly tries to conceal his angst with [[DeadpanSnarker jokes]] and cocky attitude.

* ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' is full of this, as befitting a franchise centered around Jungian psychology:

*** Hubert, while one of the least-angsty characters in the game, is a major JerkAss to anyone except Edelgard, Petra, or to a lesser extent Bernadetta. He also has the disturbingly casual habit of [[MurderIsTheBestSolution casually considering assassination]] if his classmates will be of no use to Edelgard's plans.

** Deacon is a ConsumateLiar. The one time he ''does'' tell the truth is when he [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness trusts the player enough to tell them about his life before the Railroad]]: [[spoiler:he was a member of a gang that harassed Synths. One day, after the gang murdered a Synth, he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reconsidered his affiliation]] and left, eventually settling down with the love of his life...who was later murdered by his old gang when they found out she was a Synth. He slaughtered the gang in retribution.]]

** Firstly, there's [[TheProtagonist Ragna]], who's got a DarkAndTroubledPast of the highest order and is all too willing to slaughter his way through soldiers just doing their job to get a chance at killing the guy who ruined his life. That's before getting into his RedRightHand, which used to be part of an EldritchAbomination that devoured a majority of mankind, that's slowly eating away at him.

*** Dimitri has a DarkAndTroubled past, leading to a number of mental issues, and suffers a FreakOut that he never fully recovers from, even on his own route.

*** Averted by Petra and Linhardt, as despite the former's difficulty with the local language and the latter being a LazyBum, they are ultimately well-adjusted

*** Hubert, while one of the least-angsty characters in the game, is a major JerkAss to anyone except Edelgard, Petra, or to a lesser extent Bernadetta. He also has the disturbingly casual habit of [[MurderIsTheBestSolution casualy considering assassination]] if his classmates will be of no use to Edelgard's plans.
*** Dorothea is a serial flirt, but has self-worth issues (to the point that "herself" is one of her dislikes) and fears going back on the streets again when she loses her voice and beauty. After the timeskip, she's a straight-up Broken Bird.

*** Monty can be [[spoiler:savagely beaten by the janitor for [[DisproportionateRetribution correcting his spelling]]]]. This particular action [[CuttingOffTheBranches carries into the sequel]], where he's now confined to a wheelchair as a result.

*** The Huxley twins consist of Felix, an arrogant snob who looks down on everyone else for being poorer than him, and Ted, a meek ExtremeDoormat whom Felix constantly orders around, belittles, and [[TheUnfavorite reminds how their father considers him a disgrace to the family name]]. He's so desperate to prove his worth to them that he's even willing to [[spoiler:murder Ozzy]] without even knowing why other than Felix says it needs to happen. [[spoiler:Little does he know that it's actually part of a plot by Felix to kill ''[[CainAndAbel him]]'' in order to gain full control of their inheritance, because Felix thinks Ted is too naïve to be trusted with the family company.]]

** Rufus is a ruthless, Machiavellian bastard who sides with the winners and then screws them over; and Hojo is an Evil Scientist who commits atrocities with little or no reason. If you believe the Compilation, some of the heroes get better later through ThePowerOfFriendship. Awww.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' also has universal tragic past syndrome. All of the characters a)are being hunted by the Empire (even before the story begins), b)are imprisoned or harassed by the Empire, c)are misused by the Empire, d)have lost a loved one to the Empire, or e)some combination of the above.

* This is so prevalent in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' that HK-47 lampshades it in one of the funniest pieces of dialogue in the sequel, where everyone's favourite rusty psychopath mocks the group of companions the first game's protagonist picks up.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'''s R.E.D. and B.L.U.: [[DrillSergeantNasty Sol]][[PatrioticFervor dier]], [[JerkAss Sco]][[AttentionWhore ut]], [[PyroManiac Py]][[PsychopathicManchild ro]], [[MadBomber Demo]][[DrunkenMaster man]], [[ColdSniper Sni]][[{{Hypocrite}} per]], [[LargeHam Hea]][[CompanionCube vy]], [[MadScientist Engi]][[MachineEmpathy neer]], [[DrJerk Me]][[MadScientist dic]], and [[MagnificentBastard The ]][[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Spy]]. And it's all overseen by the Administrator (the announcer), a middle-aged woman who seems to have an almost-sexual desire to watch the two opposing sides hate and kill each other. She and the above are every single character in the game itself. All ten of them. This is funnier than it sounds.

* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' and Shadows of Undrentide are mostly immune to this, but your allies in Hordes of the Underdark consist of a drow [[TheAtoner out to redeem herself from past crimes]] and suffering from a severe case of guilt, a tiefling with rage issues who feels he has to bury his emotions as deep as possible to avoid exploding, an unjustly executed dead paladin, and a kobold who spent most of his life as the ButtMonkey of a kobold clan ruled by a dragon. It should perhaps be clarified that that last one actually joined you in ''Undrentide'' as well, and was arguably even more dysfunctional there (your character had an... inspirational effect on him).
** The companions in the Shadowlords arc have some serious issues; Anera was thrown out of Celestia for daring to try to do good in the mortal realm; and Teira was betrayed by the man who had raised her and forced to use a magical effect that is currently consuming her life force to escape.
** The companions in ''VideoGame/TalesOfArterra'' also have lots of issues: Evanine is a FallenPrincess with trust issues because everyone who was ever kind to her (except for the player) has been killed; Persey has no concept of self-worth and honestly believes she is an object to be bought, sold, and used; and Montador comes from a society in which strength is valued above all and despises his own parents for weakness. The PlayerCharacter, meanwhile, is an orphaned [[FarmBoy Farm Boy/Girl]] with a heavy dose of SurvivorsGuilt for escaping their DoomedHometown when no one else did.
** ''VideoGame/ADanceWithRogues'', especially in the second module. Vico is a psychopath who has fallen in love with the player character and is trying to work out how to deal with it, Pia has had most of her friends slain in the Dhorn purge of the Betancuria thieves' guild, Anden has thrown away his home and his life to follow a woman who he loves yet believes he is unworthy of, Bran and Norah had their entire clan killed and are on a quest to find the killer (and are the most well-adjusted characters in the party, no less), and Rizzen is on the run from his own family after inadvertently witnessing his mother's embarrassment and is a realistically-played runaway drow besides.
* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', the only party members without a traumatic past, a mental disorder, or both are Grobnar and Zhjaeve. As for the others, Khelgar is an arrogant BloodKnight who left his clan to go on a quest to become a Monk [[CompletelyMissingThePoint while having no idea what they're about and just assuming that all they do is punch things]], and much of his clan resent his decision to leave, claiming (perhaps truthfully) that he did it solely for personal glory. Neeshka has been oppressed her entire life due to being a Tiefling. Elanee had to watch her beloved Mere slowly become a twisted, barren wasteland due to [[BigBad the King of Shadows']] influence, believing her beloved Druid Circle to be dead. [[spoiler:She later learns that they're still alive, but is horrified to learn that they, with a single exception, have been driven mad by the King's influence, and is forced to kill them.]] Casavir abandoned his Paladin order due to frustration over their inaction over the many plights of the common folk, and has difficulty recognizing the value of friends and teamwork. Bishop is a sarcastic SocialDarwinist with a bad case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and an equally DarkAndTroubledPast. Sand was originally a member of [[WretchedHive Luskan's]] Hosttower (Essentially a wizard mafia), but was forced to flee for his life after refusing to continue performing their atrocities. Qara is an egotistical, sociopathic pyromaniac who thinks she's the center of the universe. Shandra Jerro lost her farm to desperate Lizardfolk, which she blames the PC for, and later [[spoiler:becomes a target of the Githyanki due to their history with her bloodline. Oh, and she's killed by her own grandfather. That grandfather, Ammon Jerro, was originally a kind, eccentric mage who fell to increasingly extreme and flatout evil acts to combat the King of Shadows, not realizing what he's becoming until ''after'' he kills Shandra. Oh, and did I mention that he is wracked with guilt over not just her death, but everything else he did before opening his eyes?]] The PlayerCharacter themselves is an orphan raised in a swamp by an emotionally abusive half-elf [[spoiler:and has a piece of the MacGuffin embedded in his/her chest]]. And this is just the ''original campaign''.
** Mask of the Betrayer gives us Gannayev, a hagspawn [[TheCasanova casanova]] searching for "a dream that truly touched him" and suffering from a more severe case of ParentalAbandonment than is normal; Safiya is obeying the last orders of her now-deceased and somewhat distant mother after her contact in Rashemen was murdered; Okku has failed in his oath to destroy the spirit-eater twice now after nearly destroying the spirits of his clan in order to entrap the spirit-eater the first time and has been reluctantly roped into a wild goose chase; and Kaelyn has some pretty severe parental issues along with a major crisis of faith that has her banned from her home.
* ''VideoGame/TraumaTeam'' has a team of six playable characters, all with their own unique quirks and flaws.
** CR-S01, the general surgeon, is a convicted mass-murderer with LaserGuidedAmnesia performing operations to atone for his [[spoiler: supposed]] crimes and to shorten his sentence.
** Gabriel Cunningham, the diagnostician, has lost the ability to care about his patients and is dealing with his mediocre parenting skills.
** Maria Torres, the paramedic, is a headstrong Jerkass who always tries to do things herself and has trouble cooperating with others.
** Hank Freebird, the orthopedic surgeon, leads a double life as a HeroWithBadPublicity and has trouble getting other people to understand his views on humanitarianism.
** Tomoe Tachibana, the endoscopic surgeon, is the heiress of a powerful Japanese ninja clan who moved to America and became a doctor because she was tired of living in luxury.
** Naomi Kimishima, the forensic examiner and a returning character from ''Trauma Center: Second Opinion'', has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is patiently waiting for her life to end.
* A pretty boy experiment gone wrong who lost it completely and killed dozens of innocent people-including and in fact, mostly children [[spoiler: including his own sister]] , a sheltered (and I do mean sheltered) girl who was supposed to have her life and death predetermined and yet somehow was saved, and the sole survivor of a vicious massacre of his entire military troop, brought to you via ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate''. And these are just your playable characters.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. Be it main, secondary or side character, if they have a name, they have a tragic past. And most probably a tragic present and future too. The villains are no exception.
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''. When half the cast have world-wrecking power and 90% of the cast is ChaoticNeutral to varying degrees, this trope can't be helped. Special mention goes to the Scarlet Mansion: the mistress of the house has delusions of grandeur, her maid is blindly loyal to her, her best friend is extremely apathetic, and her little sister is crazy. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh, and their gate guard is incompetent.]]
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': The cast by and large is more messed up than they appear, even if they are nice people overall. Just for example, Laurentius of the Swamp is one of the [[NiceGuy nicest characters]] in the game. Even then, his dialog implies he has probably never had anyone close to him aside from his pyromancy teacher, meaning the player is quite possibly his first real friend.
** Not even the resident deities had it easy. [[spoiler: They're staring extinction in the face now that the [[GoldenAge Age of Fire]] is ending, and all attempts to delay the inevitable have backfired ''horribly''. Of the original Lords, one's become a [[MookMaker living source of demonic spawn]], one's [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity lost his mind]], one's [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere decided to give up on the whole mess entirely]], one's [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan had their sanity collapse]] [[BarrierMaiden keeping the Fire alive]], and [[TheChessmaster one's hatching a scheme to actually ignite the Age of Darkness]]. The lesser deities have all fled save for Gwyndolin, who [[WellDoneSonGuy probably has]] [[TheUnfavorite a few issues]], seeing as [[WholesomeCrossdresser his father ordered him raised as a daughter]] for being the only [[{{Lunacy}} Moon God]] in a family of [[ThePowerOfTheSun Sun Gods]].]]
* ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria''. [[TheHero Stocke]] keeps running into timelines where [[KillEmAll everyone dies horribly]] and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the entire continent is covered by desert]], Raynie has SurvivorGuilt issues, Rosch [[spoiler:sees his entire squad butchered around him]], and Eruca's family is RoyallyScrewedUp to an impressive degree. Even the more sane characters have a habit of going completely nuts in [[NonStandardGameOver bad ends]]- there's one where Aht [[spoiler:goes {{Yandere}} and traps Stocke in [[LotusEaterMachine an illusory world]] so that nothing can hurt him]], one where Gafka [[spoiler:turns into a bestial OneManArmy that the continent has to team up to take down]], and another where the [[BewareTheNiceOnes usually-inoffensive]] Marco [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy murders the rest of the party]] to get revenge on Stocke]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Rule Of Rose}}'': Each of the main characters gets this, to the point of being ''named'' in narration after their attitude problems. And they're all under 15 years old. Because, in 1930s rural England, ThereAreNoTherapists!
** Diana the Strong-Willed Princess: Caught in the middle of puberty, Diana is simultaneously afraid of growing up (hence her childish speech and position in the Aristocrat Club) and is desperate to become a woman (hence her vanity and patronizing demeanor). [[spoiler:This is implied to stem from Hoffman's abuse of her.]] She's an apathetic smart-ass to boot.
** Meg the Wise-Looking Princess: As the title suggests, she isn't as wise as she likes to believe. She has book-smarts, but is madly in love with Diana, and is apparently unaware that she laughs about it behind her back. She also designs torture devices. She is ranked as TheBaroness for a reason.
** Eleanor the Cold Princess: An emotionless young girl, who holds a high rank in the Aristocrats but is too indifferent to care. She carries around a red bird in a cage, a symbol of her desire to fly away from her life in the orphanage. The end of her personal chapter implies that she is actually incapable of showing any kind of emotion.
** Amanda the Small-hearted Princess: The lowest-ranked of the girls, relentlessly bullied for (among other things) her weight. She is ''desperate'' to prove herself and move up the social ladder. [[GreenEyedMonster Changes her opinion of Jennifer the second she surpasses her in social ranking]]. [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy She also makes an effigy of Jennifer and beats it with a stick when she's angry]]]].
** Wendy [[spoiler:the Princess of the Rose: An eternally lonely young girl who fell head over heels in love with Jennifer, but didn't... [[{{Yandere}} handle it well...]] when she brought Brown home. She leads the Aristocrats against Jennifer, and eventually orders Brown's death]]. WalkingSpoiler, beware.
** Jennifer/Poor Unfortunate Girl/[[spoiler:Prince Joshua]]: She endures a massive TraumaCongaLine throughout the game, and as an older woman [[spoiler:has repressed the memories of her time at the orphanage to the point that the entire game - a confused spiel of her memories - happens]].
* Saying that the player's companions in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' are all messed up one way or another is an understatement to say the least. The only companions who doesn't have serious issue the player needs to help them with are Rex and ED-E who are a cyborg dog and a robot respectively.
** Arcade Israel Gannon is a WideEyedIdealist living in a CrapSackWorld with a trouble history.
** Cass is an alcoholic and former caravan merchant with serious heart issues whose caravan was wiped out by raiders.
** Craig Boone is a former NCR Sniper who has become a DeathSeeker following [[spoiler: taking part of the massacre at Bitter Springs]] and having to MercyKill his pregnant wife.
** Lily Bowen is a sweet old lady who was turned into a Nightkin who served in the Master's army. She has developed schizophrenia but avoids taking her medicine because it makes her forget her dead grandchildren.
** Raul is a Mexican ghoul who lived when the bombs fell whose little sister and only family was killed by raiders. He is also troubled by his age and has started to doubt his abilities.
** Veronica is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel who was separated from her girlfriend and has to watch her friends and family dwindle away in a bunker because of their refusal to end their own ways.
* VideoGame/NamcoHigh: Eighteen options and most of them have issues, at the very least. Some of them have full-on subscriptions.
** The ship from ''Galaga'' has a legitimate SoBeautifulItsACurse thing, causing serious self-doubt.
** Donko has a similar problem, only with "cute and popular" instead of "beautiful".
** [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} Lolo]] is a StrawNihilist with body image issues.
** Hiromi is ''worryingly'' into her motorbike. [[CargoShip She recites a love poem to it at one point.]]
** Anti-Bravoman has some ''deep'' self-consciousness issues.
** Richard Miller is ''incredibly'' paranoid and does everything at around 300% intensity.
** Aki is a colossal perfectionist who has never quite figured out that work-life balance does not mean "cross out the life section".
** Nobody even wants to ''speculate'' on Al B. Tross.
** Taira is prone to berserker "revenge rages" and isn't really all that smart.
** Valkyrie has no real grasp of self-control.
** Blue Max is an ExtremeDoormat [[spoiler:and an acrophobe. ''[[AcrophobicBird He's a bird]]''.]]
** Mr Driller has some heavy-duty issues with his father.
** Jane is extremely wrapped up in her own worldview.
** Terezi is...[[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Terezi]].
** Meowkie has ''major'' repressed anger issues.
** Tomari is a MadScientist who thinks the entire world depends on his personal obsessions.
** Davesprite has some serious insecurities that he carried over from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', ''plus'' meta-related issues.
** Nidia is beginning to seriously lose it under the burden of her quest.
* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', the Commander (that is, the player character) seems pathologically unable to make friends with normal people. Their entire guild is full of people with various traumas and issues, and it's highly implied that the Commander both has PTSD and considers themselves to be a DoomMagnet who gets people killed.
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': Where to begin? Where to end? Just for the companions:
** Beast: A dwarven prince who tried to overthrow his sister after she started going power mad. When that failed he was left on a small, isolated island for several years which...changed him. He now seeks to get back at her.
** Fane: A recently awoken undead who missed out on millennia of developments, and is thus a FishOutOfTemporalWater.
** Ifan: A human raised by elves. During the war against The Black Ring, he brought was he thought was a portal to the elven homeland, hoping to help them escape. As it turned out, it was a deathfog bomb and wiped out the only family he knew. He now passes his days as an assassin.
** Lohse: Has a frigging demon in her head. An extremely powerful one besides. And it's trying to take over.
** The Red Prince: A powerful lizard prince exiled for consorting with demons (which he only did because he was ''bored''), and now seeking to take his throne back.
** Sebille: Possibly the worst of the bunch. After the elven homelands were destroyed in the aforementioned deathfog incident, she was taken as a slave by the lizards, and forced to kill her own kind for years on end. Having broken free of his control, she now hunts him and the years of being an assassin under his control haven't done her sanity any favors.
** And to think they're the ones who are fated to become the next Divine...

* In ''Videogame/{{MARDEK}}'', the main evil force, the Governance De Magi, includes an extremely creepy necromancer called Moric, who volunteered first to hunt down Rohoph simply for the pleasure of killing him and was allowed to go first because the rest of the GDM wanted to be rid of him for a while, an utterly insane member called Melchior, who at one point complained of him saying "The galaxy will soon be mine", since it would be "theirs", not "his" specifically, and when it is pointed out that he did say "ours" and was asked if he was even listening, his response was "No, I had a nice little tune going in my head. It go da da daaa da da da daaa da daaaaa da.". There are also Gaspar, who always talks in what he probably thinks are swear words, but are actually more of gibberish, and in no particular way, Balthazar and Qualna are both quite annoying. Even considering the whole thing with the evil plan to enslave the galaxy, you almost kind of pity Anu for having to put up with them.
** Things get worse in the third chapter. Mardek's a CloudCuckooLander who dwells on [[spoiler:his best friend's supposed death]], Deugan is a self-depreciating man [[HeroicSelfDeprecation who can't accept himself as a hero]] [[spoiler:even after he takes a HeroicSacrifice and lives.]] Emela [[spoiler:is the Water Guardian, a position that is doomed to keep herself alone for life, and can't hold a relationship with Deugan (though to be fair, it was equally his fault for that)]], Vehrn [[spoiler:was an abandoned child]], Zach [[spoiler:is a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who dishonored his clan and forced to become a mercenary to people who consider him as a weapon only]], Donovan [[spoiler:is the King of Goznor's son, who is forced to become king after his father's death at the end of the chapter]], Sslen'ck [[spoiler:is another ProudWarriorRaceGuy whose parents were killed by undead]], Solaar [[spoiler:is an alien who was supposed to keep the Dark Crystal safe from some evil, and failed to do so]], Elwyen's parents were [[TakenForGranite crystallized]] in the last chapter, Gloria [[spoiler:had a half-brother named Steele (more on that later)]], Meraeador [[spoiler:accidently killed his parents in an accident, causing him to nearly commit suicide if it weren't for Mardek and Deugan]], and of the four souls of Legion [[spoiler:one was a Shaman killed by her husband, another was once the evil ruler of the world, a fourth went insane in the Lost Monastery, and one is TheEeyore]]. Even the villains aren't exempt from this, whether [[spoiler:Steele, who is Gloria's half-brother and took a FaceHeelTurn after being shot in the face by Emela]], or Muriance [[spoiler:who is implied to be the evil Solaar was sent to stop, and is being forced by a previous incarnation of his soul to seek the elemental crystals when he really doesn't want to]]. Then there's Rohoph [[spoiler:who is quickly becoming a KnightTemplar due to the Violet Crystal]] and Qualna [[spoiler:who really wanted Rohoph's help to destroy the Violet Crystal and was killed by Rohoph because of his KnightTemplar attitude]]. And finally there's [[spoiler:Enki, Mardek's DisappearedDad, who is implied to actually be the captain of a ship from another planet.]] It's much easier to list the major characters who AREN'T screwed up in some way.
* It's hard to find a single character in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series that doesn't have a horrible past and/or at least one mental condition (usually caused by that past).
** As a matter of fact, it is rare to find a character with just a horrible past or just a mental condition.
* Most, if not all, of the major characters of the computer RPG ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' possess some manner of dysfunction, tragic past, or similar torment. The player character, The Nameless One, is an amnesiac immortal with [[IdentityAmnesia a large number of dark pasts]], and his party members range from an orphaned part-demon to an insane fire wizard who was turned into a living conduit to the elemental plane of fire. Most of the major [=NPCs=] are similarly tormented - many of them, it turns out, as a result of interactions with The Nameless One at some point. This turns out to be a major plot point - [[spoiler: one of the 'powers' possessed by The Nameless One as a result of his immortality is an unconscious dominion over torment, symbolized by a tattoo on his shoulder. Whether he likes it or no, his power draws troubled and dysfunctional souls to him like moths to a flame and binds their destinies to his]]. Furthermore, in several cases (notably [[spoiler: Ignus, Vhailor, Dak'kon, Morte, and ''especially'' Deionarra]]), the Nameless One is the direct and intentional ''cause'' of this horrid past, in one of his ChessMaster incarnations.
* Proving that Creator/BioWare has been doing this from the start, the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series has this trope in spades:
** In the [[VideoGame/BaldursGate first game]], the character personalities are pretty one-dimensional sketches, and tend to range from quirky to weird to outright insane.
** The crew in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' is better-developed and seems to be higher-functioning than usual for a Bioware game, but party banter, conversations, and [[CompanionSpecificSidequest Companion Specific Sidequests]] reveal otherwise. Your fighting fellowship can include the following: a [[VengefulWidow recent widow]] looking to finish off her husband's killer, a man who was [[WhatHappenedToMommy forced to kill his own mother]], a woman raised in an AlwaysChaoticEvil society who faces prejudice when she leaves it, another woman who was subject to [[FreakinessShame horrific abuse and abandonment]], a BloodKnight who gleefully tells you he'll kill you [[PsychoSupporter if you become too weak,]] a [[ThePaladin knight]] whose marriage is in shambles because of [[LovedINotHonorMore his devotion to duty]], the knight's {{Jerkass}} protege who has [[WellDoneSonGuy massive daddy issues]], an [[SmugSnake egotistical wizard]] scheming to TakeOverTheWorld (or at least the group), a possibly [[CloudCuckoolander brain-damaged man]] who relies on his [[ConsultingMisterPuppet hamster]] for moral guidance, a bard whose philosophy [[PerkyGoth embraces the eventual destruction of the universe]], a SpoiledSweet who loses her home and family in one blow, another knight who is barred by [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration race/class restrictions]] from becoming ThePaladin and lost her entire adventuring party, a druid who [[spoiler:unknowingly abandoned his unborn son]], a [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnome]] whose beloved married (and is abused by) someone else, and [[spoiler: in ''Throne of Bhaal'', you can recruit Sarevok, who tried his level best to kill you and become the new murder god before you defeated him.]] Not to mention the protagonist, [[spoiler:the offspring of a murder god]], can be played as struggling against their dark side, fully embracing it, or some combination of both. The only exemption from this trope seems to be [[spoiler:Yoshimo]], and even he [[spoiler:is compelled by a geas to make sure the protagonist ends up dead]].
* Every non-Valkyrie character in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' has some sort of personal tragedy that ends in a convenient KarmicDeath. Even the Valkyrie [[spoiler: was once a mortal girl who was raised by an abusive mother that was going to sell her into slavery. Her self-esteem was so low that she allowed herself to die in a field of poisonous flowers.]]
* If someone doesn't have a problem in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', they're probably going to be dead soon. The protagonist Caim is filled with UnstoppableRage, [[{{Determinator}} determined]] to kill all of his enemies because his parents were murdered when he was younger. Leonard [[DrivenToSuicide wanted to commit suicide]] because he failed to protect his family from TheEmpire, and really doesn't have the will to live anymore (he's a pedophile in the Japanese version, and said 'family' were his victims). Arioch is AxCrazy because TheEmpire killed her children, so now ''she eats babies''. Seere is the closest thing to normal, but he's got issues concerning [[CreepyChild his twin sister]], who happens to be the BigBad. And those are just ''the protagonists'' - the supporting characters and villains are even more messed up!
** Let's start with the side characters. Furiae [[BrotherSisterIncest has a huge thing for Caim]] which in turn [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide caused her to kill herself once the secret was exposed]]]] by [[CreepyChild Manah]] who was [[AbusiveParents abused by her mother]] when her brother received all of the attention, was handed over to ReligionOfEvil and became the leader of it, and became [[DemonicPossession possessed by the gods of the Drakengard world]] ! Also, Inuart gets MindRaped by said ReligionOfEvil GoMadFromTheRevelation that Furiae doesn't love him, gets into a pact, loses the only thing that he's good for, singing, and proceeds to kidnap said woman he's hopelessly in love with. Finally there's Verdelet, the resident HolierThanThou priest who constantly complains about the state of the world, and later on develops into a JerkAss and says that he can't be a good priest anymore after feeling angry about Inuart attacking him...
* Drakengard's spiritual successor ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' is in much the same vein. To say that the main characters are psychologically scarred for life is a gross understatement. The protagonist(depending on the version of the game) is either an already jaded man or a young optimistic orphaned boy whose entire world falls apart [[spoiler: when his daughter is kidnapped by the BigBad. It's also revealed in Brother Nier's [[AllThereinTheManual backstory]] that he prostituted himself to buy medicine for Yonah, which made him develop a fear of people touching his hair.]] This has a pretty negative effect on his psyche, making him more pessimistic and murderous. The rest of the cast might even be worse off him, with Kainé and Emil having enormous self-image issues; Kainé had a horrible childhood in the Aerie [[spoiler:due to being a hermaphrodite, and her kindly grandmother being killed by a Shade.]] Things didn't get any better when she was possessed by a Shade. Emil was essentially robbed of his childhood and experimented on to serve as a weapon. He hates his eyes because of their petrification powers, and he is eventually cured, but at the cost of turning into a female skeleton (the game makes it very clear he hates himself even more after this). [[UpToEleven And that's just the tip of the iceberg of people's problems in this game.]]
* VideoGame/{{Drakengard 3}} has its share of Dysfunction Junction from our "heroes" and villains. Zero is an AxCrazy bitch who plans to kill her five Intoner sisters and will kill anyone who gets in her way. Her disciples practically live in an apartment on the corner. Dito is a sadistic psychopath who loves inflicting pain and hearing the cries of Zero's victims. Decadus, while being TheSmartGuy, is a masochist who relishes any opportunity to be hurt. Octa is an old pervert who loves to fuck anything that's walking upright, male or female. Cent is a KnowNothingKnowItAll. The only person who has the lightest bit of dysfunction is Mikhail who's pretty much a child. The only spot on his resume is a hatred of wyverns.

* Your parties in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' range from reasonably well-adjusted with a few oddities (Consular, Trooper) to a full-blown CastFullOfCrazy. The Imperial Agent probably ends up with the oddest bunch; a BombThrowingAnarchist, a diplomat who [[GoingNative went native]] with an insectoid species, a MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate who [[ProfessorGuineaPig experimented on himself]] with [[PlagueZombie rakghoul DNA]] (and can transform into one at will) and has a [[NoodleIncident long and bizarre career]] as an operative, a low-level Force Sensitive who was sent to the Chiss to avoid being killed by the Sith, and a RoboticPsychopath built by a race of AbusivePrecursors.

** [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 The second game]], meanwhile, set the standard that the later games [[FollowTheLeader followed]], turning the town into an attraction for the mentally warped.

* Many, many of the players of ''The World'' in ''[[Franchise/DotHack .hack//]]'' are very, very disturbed people. It doesn't help that the game ''uses this against them.'' To be fair, most players are just fine. It's the screwed up ones that get the malevolent forces' attention.
* Every character in Story Mode of ''VideoGame/{{Shadowverse}}'' is experiencing despair in one form or another. [[spoiler: Rowen cannot go back home to his family because of the dragon's curse. Isabelle's fiance is killed by Rowen. Luna's parents died in front of her very eyes. Urias attempts to seek a worthy opponent now that his rival Balthazar is dead, Erika goes after Urias after seeing him as a threat against her princess, Arisa had a friend who was abducted by Shades, and Eris attempts to ''end despair'' for the other characters by siding with Nexus and letting them sleep in Serenity... that is, until she breaks down shortly after a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'''s R.E.D. and B.L.U.: [[DrillSergeantNasty Sol]][[PatrioticFervor dier]], [[JerkAss Sco]][[AttentionWhore ut]], [[PyroManiac Py]][[PsychopathicManchild ro]], [[MadBomber Demo]][[DrunkenMaster man]], [[ColdSniper Sni]][[{{Hypocrite}} per]], [[LargeHam Hea]][[CompanionCube vy]], [[MadScientist Engi]][[MachineEmpathy neer]], [[DrJerk Me]][[MadScientist dic]], and [[MagnificentBastard The ]][[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Spy]].
** And The Administrator (the announcer), a middle-aged woman who seems to have an almost-sexual desire to watch the two opposing sides hate and kill each other. She and the above are every single character in the game itself. All ten of them. This is funnier than it sounds.
---> '''The Administrator:''' The bomb has ''almost reached the final terminus!'' [[EvilLaugh WA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]]

** Mission is a fourteen-year-old Twi'lek who grew up as an orphan on Taris, a planet where class divisions and FantasticRacism are as much a part of the gestalt as towering skyscrapers. Her only guidance was her [[PromotionToParent brother]], who abandoned her before the game begins - meaning she suffered ParentalAbandonment ''twice'' - and who she later learns to be an unreliable ConMan.
** Mission's best friend, Zaalbar, is a Wookie at a time when [[MegaCorp Czerka Corporation]], with the collaboration of Zaalbar's [[ManipulativeBastard own brother]], is enslaving Wookies wholesale ''on their own home planet''. He's also a victim in what may be the single most reprehensible act of the game's dark side playthrough: [[spoiler:using the Force to brainwash him into killing Mission]].
** Juhani believes that she [[AccidentalMurder killed]] her Jedi master in a fit of rage, and though she soon learns otherwise, she still spends most of the game struggling with TheDarkSide and its allure. (Of course, that's assuming you don't [[KickTheDog kill her the first time you meet her]], instead of trying to redeem her).

** Handmaiden has spent most of her life being belittled by her siblings as the "runt of the litter" and for having a different mother than the rest of them [[spoiler:who was definitely the Jedi Arren Kae]].

** Kreia is a cranky mentor who encourages [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic kinds of evil]]; [[spoiler:she was a Jedi whose students kept falling to the Dark Side, most notably Revan, then she became a Sith Lord, was betrayed by her students, and developed a hatred of the Force, perceiving it as a callous manipulator that causes mass death in the name of "balance". Ironically, her own callous manipulations frequently either cause mass death or risk it if anything goes wrong, and unlike her hatred of the Force not preventing her from being a Jedi Consular, this does not get a HypocrisyNod. Then, at the end, she becomes the BigBad.]]

** Solas does not feel he belongs to either Dalish or City elves, and berates both groups for their complacency. That is however nothing compared to [[spoiler: his being the elven deity Fen'Harel, awakened after millenia of slumber to find himself in a [[FishOutOfTemporalWater completely changed, nightmarish Thedas]]]]. In addition to THAT, he also appears to blame himself for causing at least some of the game's events.
** Vivienne is an exception to the rule, being by all accounts remarkably well-adjusted. Not that she has many fans in the group. It's a mask. Before she was sent to the Circle, her family lived in poverty, and though she excelled in the Circle's academic setting, she was terrified of doing anything that would give the Templars any reason to kill her. In the aftermath of the Mage Rebellion, she is desperate to restore the Circles and the political power she worked so hard to get.

** [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Iron Bull]] is a Qunari secret policeman and ShellShockedVeteran after trying to keep order in a rebellious Tevinter city. After a crisis of faith, he voluntarily turned himself over to the [[ThoughtPolice reeducators]]. Still not considered a "good" Qunari, he was sent off to Southern Thedas as a spy undercover as a mercenary leader. Fortunately for him, the Chargers are a band of TrueCompanions. Unfortunately, the Qun expects him to sacrifice them.
** Blackwall is [[spoiler: a former soldier who betrayed his lord for money and ordered his men to slaughter a rival general and his retinue, discovering too late that the nobleman had his wife and four children with him. After that, he fled and let the soldiers take the fall for it. After an unsuccessful attempt to join the [[TheOrder Grey Wardens,]] he stole the identity of the Warden who had recruited him to atone for his deeds, despite only knowing the fairy tale version of the Wardens.]]

** Sephiroth discovers he's a genetic experiment, suffers a complete mental breakdown and becomes convinced he's [[AGodAmI God]].

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Shepard has a tendency to collect crewmembers with....''issues.'' Fortunately, not many of them actually get in the way of the mission [[spoiler: with the exception of Wrex.]]

** Liara is subject to prejudice from her own species due to being a "pureblood" child of two asari. Her relationship with her mother is strained [[spoiler: even before her mother joins the BigBad]], and she knows nothing about her "father."

** Jacob, [[OnlySaneMan perhaps the most normal playable character in the game]], has a father who has been missing for the past ten years, and before said disappearance hadn't talked with him for years before that. He has also severe conscience issues as he is really good guy perfectly aware that he works for really shady organization (he hasn't quit only becuase he thinks that goverments are no different).

*** Yusuke lost his parents at a young age and his mentor exploited him. [[spoiler: It is later revealed his mentor basically murdered Yusuke's mother via inaction.]]

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. Yuri despises most authority and in the game's second part alienates his best friend by [[spoiler:[[VigilanteMan killing]] two villains]], Estelle is naive and caring to a fault, and [[spoiler:is causing the world to die simply by ''existing'']], Karol is extremely timid and cowardly to the point he's been discharged from multiple guilds, Judith is conflicted between her longheld desire to keep her life's mission a secret and her newfound loyalty to her new friends, Rita didn't have any friends before meeting the party, and in fact was treated like a freak and an outcast by the people of her town, and Raven [[spoiler:was brought BackFromTheDead against his will by one of the major villains and forced to serve him, becoming a DeathSeeker as a result]]. Whew.

** Noel, who's a clone of the sister of the above two and is bumped up to a position that she's ''waaaaay'' too emotionally fragile and unstable to properly work in. Did we mention that she's also a living weapon designed to bring about the end of the world and that her "sisters" include 1.) an EmotionlessGirl whose sadly the most stable of the three and 2.) an incestuous yandere obsessed with Ragna?

* Most, if not all, of the major characters of the computer RPG ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' possess some manner of dysfunction, tragic past, or similar torment. The player character, The Nameless One, is an amnesiac immortal with [[IdentityAmnesia a large number of dark pasts]], and his party members range from an orphaned part-demon to an insane fire wizard who was turned into a living conduit to the elemental plane of fire. Most of the major [=NPCs=] are similarly tormented - many of them, it turns out, as a result of interactions with The Nameless One at some point. This turns out to be a major plot point - [[spoiler: one of the 'powers' possessed by The Nameless One as a result of his immortality is an unconscious dominion over torment, symbolized by a tattoo on his shoulder. Whether he likes it or no, his power draws troubled and dysfunctional souls to him like moths to a flame and binds their destinies to his]]. Furthermore, in several cases (notably [[spoiler: Ignus, Vhailor, Dak'kon, Morte and ''especially'' Deionarra]]) the Nameless One is the direct and intentional ''cause'' of this horrid past, in one of his ChessMaster incarnations.

** Let's start with the side characters, Furiae [[BrotherSisterIncest has a huge thing for Caim]] which in turn [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide caused her to kill herself once the secret was exposed]]]] by [[CreepyChild Manah]] who was [[AbusiveParents abused by her mother]] when her brother received all of the attention, was handed over to ReligionOfEvil and became the leader of it, and became [[DemonicPossession possessed by the gods of the Drakengard world]] ! Also, Inuart gets MindRaped by said ReligionOfEvil GoMadFromTheRevelation that Furiae doesn't love him, gets into a pact, loses the only thing that he's good for, singing, and proceeds to kidnap said woman he's hopelessly in love with. Finally there's Verdelet, the resident HolierThanThou priest who constantly complains about the state of the world, and later on develops into a JerkAss and says that he can't be a good priest anymore after feeling angry about Inuart attacking him...

** The ship from Galaga has a legitimate SoBeautifulItsACurse thing, causing serious self-doubt.

** And to think they're the ones who are fated to become the next Divine...

*** Strago is so distraught with the reasonable possibility that [[spoiler:[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat his adopted granddaughter is dead]] that he's next seen as a member of the cult worshiping the guy [[MonsterClown that did it]].]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Relm has to slap him out of it]], since the intervention of a loved one is said to be the only thing strong enough to do so.

** Juhani believes that she [[AccidentalMurder killed]] her Jedi master in a fit of rage, and though she soon learns otherwise, she still spends most of the game struggling with TheDarkSide and its allure. (Of course, that's assuming you don't [[KickTheDog kill her the first time you meet her]], instead of [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming trying to redeem her]]).

*** In the manga, the Protagonist's parents' line of work causes him to move constantly. As a result he is afraid to get close to others, lest he becomes too attached to them and is hurt when he has to leave. This causes him to be a secretly cynical StepfordSmiler. [[spoiler: From the final scenes of the game it can be deduced that he gets over it because all the people he formed social links with, while living with his uncle, were actually reaching out to him without either side realizing it (in contrast to P3's protagonist). He leaves Inaba with a smile and no regrets. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming D'aww]]]].

*** Tsubaki is the sole surviving child of an incest-plagued family and, in some ways, is too affixed to the aforementioned Jin for her own good. Not to mention that she's got a pretty severe case of BlackAndWhiteInsanity, ESPECIALLY after she gets brutally {{Mind Rape}}ed by the bad guys.

*** Noel and Carl's classmates don't fare much better. Tsubaki is the sole surviving child of an incest-plagued family and, in some ways, is too affixed to the aforementioned Jin for her own good. And beneath the bright and bubbly Makoto's surface is a literal Pandora's Box of racism issues she's trying to keep shut.

*** Making a long list much shorter, Kagura Mutsuki is split between a HandsomeLech and a Fratbro in his mindset of least resistance, and has stigma left over as a veteran of the Ikaruga Civil War. It says a lot about ''literally everyone else'' when this horndog is the ''most'' stable member of the entire cast.