History DysfunctionJunction / WesternAnimation

* WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons were, in the early years, considered the epitome of dysfunction on television. UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush famously gave an address during which he stated that Americans needed to be 'less like The Simpsons, and more like Series/TheWaltons' [[note]]The show responded with Bart claiming that they were ''just'' like the Waltons, waiting for an end to the depression, too[[/note]]. Today, they are one of the more stable examples of a family on TV, which says a lot when you consider that...

** Raven is half demon. Her father at his nicest just wants her to join the family business of destroying the universes. Her DangerousSixteenthBirthday involved her father trying to destroy the universe, using her to open a magic portal. Oh, and [[ChildByRape her mother didn't give consent]].

** Twilight Sparkle is a neurotic perfectionist NeatFreak who must always do everything by the book and according to plan -- and she will be sick if something deviates from them. She also displays an obvious InferioritySuperiorityComplex, her outwardly confident and (occasionally) [[InsufferableGenius know-it-all attitude]] belying a pony with serious self-esteem issues underneath. She tends to doubt herself, belittle her own achievements and suffer from crippling fear of disappointing her mentor or failing her friends. On several occasions, this led her to full-fledged mental breakdown. Also -- particularly at the beginning of the series -- she [[NoSocialSkills often fails to grasp basic social rules]], having spend [[FriendlessBackground most of her life as a loner]].

** Fluttershy was [[KidsAreCruel bullied as a child]] and as a result, she is [[ShrinkingViolet very withdrawn]] and avoids interacting with others out of fear of being ridiculed or rejected. At the beginning of the series, she wasn't even able to speak to a pony she didn't know (Twilight, when they first met, couldn't even get her to ''introduce herself'' properly). Even seemingly innocuous things -- like two ponies nearby laughing for reasons totally unrelated to her -- may cause her to [[TraumaButton relive traumating experiences from the past]] and turn her into [[BrokenTears sobbing wreck]]. She later admits to living her entire life in a state of nervous anxiety. Paradoxically, she may also display a disturbing HairTriggerTemper when pushed, and [[BewareTheNiceOnes has physically assaulted other ponies]] on several occasions.

** Rarity is a textbook example of a DramaQueen (to the point of serving as a page image) and therefore seems to be suffering from histrionic personality disorder. While reasons behind her [[FreakOut Freak Outs]] are sometimes understandable -- like being humiliated in front of the person she needed to impress to advance her career -- most of the time she will go into meltdown over even tiniest, most inconsequential things, like the fact that she lost a ribbon she planned to adorn her new dress with or that she forgot to pack the plates for a picnic. What makes it the most jarring that she can [[MoodWhiplash instantly switch]] between over-the-top freakout and being totally calm (not to mention, act completely unfazed when facing an ''actual'' danger, like a giant monster attacking her), further indicating that while she ''could'' easily recover from a failure, she apparently just has an inner need to make a drama out of it every time.

* The cast of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' are a more downplayed example; while they can go crazy, they'll help one another out. With that being said;
** Twilight Sparkle is a neurotic perfectionist NeatFreak frequently terrified into full mental breakdowns by the prospect of academic failure, and who [[NoSocialSkills often fails to grasp basic social rules]].

** Fluttershy was [[KidsAreCruel bullied as a child]] and at the beginning of the series [[ShrinkingViolet wasn't even about to speak to a pony she didn't know]]; she later admits to living her entire life in a state of nervous anxiety. Paradoxically, she also displays a terrifying HairTriggerTemper when pushed, and [[BewareTheNiceOnes has physically assaulted other ponies]] on several occasions.
** Applejack [[StubbornMule takes stubbornness to new extremes]], being willing to flee town and seriously imperil her own health [[SkewedPriorities for comparatively silly reasons]].

** Rarity is, while a DramaQueen, ultimately the sanest of the group; her only real issue is OCD, and her only breakdown of note was a completely understandable 'humiliated in front of the person she needed to impress to advance her career' FreakOut.

* This trope is a defining feature of WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros, where every major character and most of the minor ones are profoundly damaged. Rusty Venture and his father, Jonas Venture Sr. Rusty endured kidnappings and [[ChildrenForcedToKill was forced to kill people at young age]] (once to save his father) among other things. His dad called him ungrateful for not liking his life as a boy-adventurer. Now he's a "SeenItAll" AntiHero[=/=]VillainProtagonist and a bit of an AttentionWhore. He puts his sons through the same adventures (as a result of having his dad's old life forced upon him) [[spoiler: and [[ReplacementGoldfish clones them after they die]].]] He also made a LotusEaterMachine or "Joy Can" PoweredByAForsakenChild.

* This trope is a defining feature of WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers, where every major character and most of the minor ones are profoundly damaged.
** Rusty Venture and his father, Jonas Venture Sr. Rusty endured kidnappings and [[ChildrenForcedToKill was forced to kill people at young age]] (once to save his father) among other things. His dad called him ungrateful for not liking his life as a boy-adventurer. Now he's a "SeenItAll" AntiHero[=/=]VillainProtagonist and a bit of an AttentionWhore. He puts his sons through the same adventures (as a result of having his dad's old life forced upon him) [[spoiler: and [[ReplacementGoldfish clones them after they die]].]] He also made a LotusEaterMachine or "Joy Can" PoweredByAForsakenChild.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': One meme: [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/5689f2ce0f371de2e6b15534da1a8f28/2e514e78c3642f53-df/s1280x1920/9e9cfb9e93ec97384a5eea990a7c3ae998f0cf37.jpg My Baby needs Advanced Therapy]]. Most of the major characters are kind of messed up.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Lots of characters have issues.

** Last, but most certainly not least, is Eddy. Eddy is a ConArtist with [[SmallNameBigEgo an ego bordering on narcissism]], [[{{Greed}} a love for money]], [[HairTriggerTemper a short temper]] and a NapoleonComplex) and wrapped up into a SnarkKnight look on the world. All of which would make him utterly irredeemable, except [[TrueCompanions he truly cares for his true friends and all the effort to get rich and popular is for them, too.]] [[spoiler:TheMovie shed light on ''why'' Eddy acts like this: he was physically tormented by his sadistic older brother (previously said to be TheAce, which Eddy admits was all a lie, up to the point where ''he'' started believing it), making Eddy grow up to believe that [[HiddenHeartOfGold acting like his brother]] would help him make friends.]]

** Edd, the OnlySaneMan, is a SuperOCD DramaQueen who only goes along with his two friend's poorly-planned schemes because they're his only friends and he's too meek to stop them. His parents [[ParentalNeglect are almost never home and communicate with him through a mass amount of sticky notes.]] Although they are implied to be very caring when they're actually there.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', despite being a show high in comedy, is very much this. Finn is a human who is secretly depressed about being the last of his kind (and may have issues with being sexually aroused by violence), Jake's parents are dead (and may have kleptomania issues), Princess Bubblegum has the stress of ruling a kingdom and never being able to be a kid, Marceline has daddy issues, the snail is possessed, the Tart Toter is insane, the Ice King suffers from severe dementia, Cinnamon Bun is brain-damaged, Peppermint Butler is borderline satanic, Lemongrab is a lemon in every sense of the word, LSP is SurroundedByIdiots, in addition to being a bratty teenager (or possibly an adult with a bratty teenager [[{{Manchild}} personality]]), the list goes on.

%%** a JerkJock so stupid he can't identify others' genders
%%** a genius BubbleBoy
%%** scott-
%%** a compulsive liar who never shuts up
%%** a CrazySurvivalist obsessed with zombies

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Although the show is upbeat and positive, its characters have deep-seated emotional issues.
** Jet struggles to keep his alien identity a secret and secretly fears being alone/being abandoned. He gets very upset at the prospect of Sean and Sydney not liking him anymore in "Jet 2", and has a nightmare where he's all alone in "My Three Suns".
** Sean is a NervousWreck with daddy issues and PTSD. In the ChristmasEpisode, he gets stage fright in front of hundreds of people, and stage fright becomes a TraumaButton later on for him in "Galileo, Galileo!". He's also an extreme perfectionist, something that mellows out over the series.
** Sydney is overly attached to fictional characters and struggles to be the team peacekeeper, heavily fearing her friends being in danger, like in "One Small Step" and "My Fair Jet".
** While Mindy is [[FlatCharacter normal]] compared to her friends, her mother is overprotective (until Season 2).
** Face 9000 suffers from serious jealousy and abandonment issues. He really wants his owners to like him and doesn't want to be replaced with someone else. Having a competitive asshole of a brother doesn't help much.
** Lillian is very naive, almost too much for her own good.
** Mitchell is a lonely kid who wants to have friends, but he also acts like an asshole, temporarily ruining his potential friendship and making him a ByronicHero as well as HisOwnWorstEnemy.
** Mr. Peterson caters to Mitchell's every whim, yet is also snobby and uptight, with slight anger issues. Heck, he rages at the prospect of his soccer game broadcast being interrupted in "What's a Satellite?".
** Dr. Rafferty is as anxiety-ridden as her son Sean, with workplace issues such as not getting enough funding (in "My Fair Jet") and her husband being absent slapped on top.
** Dr. Bergs is an extreme caffeine addict. Exemplified in "Astronaut Ellen Ochoa", where he drinks so much coffee he gets hyper.
** Zerk is a racist braggart, who looks down on humans in "Whole Lotta Shakin'".
** Face 9001 is an AttentionWhore bully who gaslights his brother by telling him that their mother prefers 9001 over 9000 in "A Kid's Guide to Mars".
** Really, the only characters without some sort of issue are Sunspot, Moonbeam, Dr. Skelley, Carrot, Celery, Zucchini, and Eggplant.

* The cast of WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} are all terrible people in their own ways, their issues including, but not limited to: substance abuse, infidelity, assault, sexual assault, murder, arson, alcoholism, trust issues, childhood trauma, binge eating, piracy, torture, drug trafficking, and more.

* The cast of WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} are all terrible people in their own ways, their issues including, but not limited to: substance abuse, infidelity, assault, sexual assault, murder, arson, alcoholism, piracy, torture, drug trafficking, and more.