History FreudianExcuse / Comicbooks

* While not a villain persay, Rorschach from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' was raised by a prostitute who never cared for him. The Comedian is implied to have had a rough childhood as well.

* Another X-Men villain, the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain mutant-hating]] Graydon Creed, was a victim of [[ParentalAbandonment]], and his parents were both mutants (Mystique and Sabertooth) even though he is not. When he discoved this, he grew to resent mutants as a result, to the point of founding hate groups like the Friends of Humanity and the Upstarts.

** TheRiddler is another of the "abusive father" strain. In particular, his father would savagely beat him every time he lied, so the Riddler feels the compulsion to always tell the truth... albeit in convoluted riddles.

** The Riddler is another of the "abusive father" strain. In particular, his father would savagely beat him every time he lied, so the Riddler feels the compulsion to always tell the truth... albeit in convoluted riddles.

* Barracuda from [[ThePunisher The Punisher MAX]] series. Though an AffablyEvil character to the point of almost being likable, he's a CompleteMonster. He turns on allies in an instant, given sufficient reason to do so, and tries to get revenge on Castle by [[spoiler: kidnapping his infant illegitimate daughter and planning to torture her to death in front of him]]. However, during a scene in which the tortured Barracuda snaps completely and utterly, a dialogue in his head reveals that his father had been abusive to the point of torturing his young son. When he goes off the deep end, Barracuda screams "I never did find you, Dad! I had to take this shit out on the goddamn world, instead!"

* Subverted in the BrianBendis run on the comic book ''{{Daredevil}}''. Daredevil has spent his life tormented by the monstrous Bullseye. When Daredevil discovers Bullseye had a horrible childhood, the hero feels no sympathy, and says he will never fear Bullseye again. A mass murderer is scary; a mass murderer who kills because he had a crappy childhood is merely pathetic.

** One of the few "abusive father" backstories that really works: Harvey Dent/Two-Face's violent, sadistic alternate persona, called "Big Bad Harv" in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the cartoon]], emerged as Harvey's way of coping with a drunken, abusive father. In the comic in which this element of the character was introduced, it's revealed that his father would take Harvey and "play a game" with him, flipping a silver dollar and beating the child if it came up heads. [[NightmareFuel The coin had two heads.]]

* Many of the ''{{Batman}}'' villains: Anyone born looking like Waylon "Killer Croc" Jones would have trouble leading a normal life; Bane was forced to live out his escaped father's life sentence, and so on. Some are a bit suspect -- Scarecrow was bullied as a child, yes, but so were a lot of us, and we didn't turn evil.

** Lampshaded in ''BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', wherein Terry gets the better of the titular villain by, among other things, mercilessly mocking his past, although in this version it's just the chemical bath.

** Noteworthy that in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game, Riddler tells his Arkham shrink that his abusive father (who constantly called him a moron), accused him of cheating on a school logic puzzle, and beat him for lying. When the shrink tells him she's sorry to hear that, Riddler proudly proclaims that father was right and he HAD cheated.
** Scarecrow gets an [[MommyIssues abusive grandmother and maternal abandonment]], as well as vicious school bullying. In fangirl circles, this is taken as an actual excuse. If you can find a Youtube Scarecrow video posted by a female user who doesn't portray him as TheWoobie or, after Cillian Murphy played him in the movie, a DracoInLeatherPants, I will give you five bucks.

* In the [[TheTransformersIDW IDW Transformers]] continuity, Megatron forms the Decepticons because he is [[oppressed by the corrupt Autobot Government, with his band originally formed as ''freedom fighters''. In a sense, most of the Decepticons fall under this trope.

** This was actually addressed in ''{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'', where Nick Fury reveals that the reason he had given Spidey such a hard time was because he has assumed, due to the tragedy in his life, Peter was almost certain to become a villain.

* {{Magneto}} of ''{{X-Men}}'': his parents and family were okay people, but they were Jews in Nazi Germany. He was the only one who lived; some issues say that he was forced to clean their ashes out of the incinerators. Magneto is constantly going through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, [[WellIntentionedExtremist always working to make the]] [[FantasticRacism oppressed mutants]] safer, often [[KnightTemplar going too far]]. By some accounts, he can't make himself believe that peaceful coexistence is possible.

* I'm surprised it's not already here, but I would think Marvel's ComicBook/{{Loki}} would count. First, there is the fact that he is a midget giant who was abused by his real father for being a weak, midget giant. After he helps kill said father, he is adopted by Odin, who does so only because he is convinced that it is the only way to appease the spirit of his own dead father. After he is adopted, it is implied that [[TheUnfavourite Odin neglected him wholly in favor of his real son, Thor.]] Thor, in return, is implied to be one of maybe a hand full of people who like Loki, as well as maybe being the only person who probably actually loves him. For Loki, this boils down to a seething self-hatred, which he in turn projects onto Thor, which he only does because he knows that his brother will never completely turn him away.

** And then, once he and his soon-to-be wife Magda settled in Ukraine, a mob burnt down the inn where they were staying, and he was unable to do anything while his daughter burned to death. And ''then,'' when he lost control of the powers he didn't know he had and killed the mob, Magda ran from him, calling him a monster. Later, when he was hunting [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] for a living, the people he worked for (heavily implied to be the CIA) killed a female friend of his because he went after the "wrong" Nazis. Oh, and his [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity powers make him]][[StealthPun bipolar]]. The man has so many issues it's a wonder he's still able to function.

** And then, once he and his soon-to-be wife Magda settled in Ukraine, a mob burnt down the inn where they were staying, and he was unable to do anything while his daughter burned to death. And ''then,'' when he lost control of the powers he didn't know he had and killed the mob, Magda ran from him, calling him a monster. Later, when he was hunting [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] for a living, the people he worked for (heavily implied to be the CIA) killed a female friend of his because he went after the "wrong" Nazis. Oh, and his [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity powers make him bipolar]]. The man has so many issues it's a wonder he's still able to function.

* In the {{New52}}, {{Nightwing}}'s latest foe Saiko (which appropriately enough sounds a lot like "psycho") [[spoiler:is really his former friend and fellow former circus boy Raymond. The circus was a front for the Court of Owls who would repeatedly take children from the circus and put them through TrainingFromHell to make them into new Talons. The Owls kidnapped Raymond and put him through that training before deciding he was a failure and left him to die in the woods with his [[EyeScream eyes pecked out by birds]].]] His entire murderous grudge against Dick is that [[spoiler:it should have been Dick instead of Raymond. The Owls originally wanted to make Dick into a Talon, but they had to "settle" for Raymond after the Flying Graysons died and Bruce Wayne adopted Dick in the wake of the tragedy.]] Saiko then engages Dick in a fight during a reunion show at Haly's Circus while threatening the lives of everyone present with a bunch of bombs. Dick rightfully calls Saiko out on his bs, stating that his suffering is no excuse for endangering so many innocent lives.

** Nicky Cavella was [[spoiler:manipulated and sexually abused by his aunt. She also made him kill his parents, although the SlasherSmile on his face heavily implies that he wasn't quite normal to begin with]]. When he's grown up [[spoiler:and finally suffocated his aunt with a pillow]], he gleefully pisses on the remains of Frank Castle's family and murders the youngest son of one of his opponents before cooking and serving him to said opponent. Do I need to mention he's a CompleteMonster?

* In the [[TheTransformersIDW IDW Transformers]] continuity, Megatron forms the Decepticons because he is [[oppressed by the corrupt Autobot Government, with his band originally formed as ''freedom fighters''. In a sense, most of the Decepticons fall under this trope. Well, ''[[CompleteMonster most of them.]]''

** TheJoker himself likes to make fun of this trope, by making up horrible child abuse stories in order to mess with people's minds. He did this most notably in ''Mad Love''.

* In the {{New52}}, [[{{Nightwing}} Nightwing's]] latest foe Saiko (which appropriately enough sounds a lot like "psycho") [[spoiler:is really his former friend and fellow former circus boy Raymond. The circus was a front for the Court of Owls who would repeatedly take children from the circus and put them through TrainingFromHell to make them into new Talons. The Owls kidnapped Raymond and put him through that training before deciding he was a failure and left him to die in the woods with his [[EyeScream eyes pecked out by birds]].]] His entire murderous grudge against Dick is that [[spoiler:it should have been Dick instead of Raymond. The Owls originally wanted to make Dick into a Talon, but they had to "settle" for Raymond after the Flying Graysons died and Bruce Wayne adopted Dick in the wake of the tragedy.]] Saiko then engages Dick in a fight during a reunion show at Haly's Circus while threatening the lives of everyone present with a bunch of bombs. Dick rightfully calls Saiko out on his bs, stating that his suffering is no excuse for endangering so many innocent lives.

** The Joker himself likes to make fun of this trope, by making up horrible child abuse stories in order to mess with people's minds. He did this most notably in ''Mad Love''.

* Has been used at times to explain the motives of ''{{Spider-Man}}'' villains, and to possibly contrast them with Spidey himself, who did not exactly have the best childhood. The worst example was when Venom was given a cliched tragic backstory (complete with the drunk, abusive father) as part of a bad idea to turn the character into a hero.

* Arguably every member of the ''Umbrella Academy'', and definitely Vanya. Hargreeves is a dick and terrible parent, for instance his habit of sorting his children by their apparent worth.

* In the IDW Transformers continuity, Megatron forms the Decepticons because he is [[oppressed by the corrupt Autobot Government, with his band originally formed as ''freedom fighters''. In a sense, most of the Decepticons fall under this trope. Well, ''[[CompleteMonster most of them.]]''

* I'm surprised it's not already here, but I would think Marvel's [[TheMightyThor Loki]] would count. First, there is the fact that he is a midget giant who was abused by his real father for being a weak, midget giant. After he helps kill said father, he is adopted by Odin, who does so only because he is convinced that it is the only way to appease the spirit of his own dead father. After he is adopted, it is implied that [[TheUnfavourite Odin neglected him wholly in favor of his real son, Thor.]] Thor, in return, is implied to be one of maybe a hand full of people who like Loki, as well as maybe being the only person who probably actually loves him. For Loki, this boils down to a seething self-hatred, which he in turn projects onto Thor, which he only does because he knows that his brother will never completely turn him away.

** On the two occasions when Magneto decided to try the more ethical path of establishing a separate nation as a sanctuary for mutants and otherwise leaving flatscans entirely alone, both times his attempted 'Mutant Israel' was almost immediately nuked off the map. With literal nukes. Magneto's subsequent urges to burn the world are most definitely ''understandable''.

** This is turned on its head in ''[[TheDarkKnightSaga Batman Begins]]'', in which the corrupt psychiatrist, when his "clients" cease to be useful to him, uses a neurotoxin to render them ''legitimately'' insane.

** One of the few "abusive father" backstories that really works: Harvey Dent/Two-Face's violent, sadistic alternate persona, called "Big Bad Harv" in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the cartoon]], emerged as Harvey's way of coping with a drunken, abusive father. In the comic in which this element of the character was introduced, it's revealed that his father would take Harvey and "play a game" with him, flipping a silver dollar and beating the child if it came up heads. The coin had two heads.

** Bullseye has a MultipleChoicePast, so it's possible "The Crappy childhood" is a lie. In some versions of his origin, he was bad even as a kid.

* [[{{Comicbook/Empowered}} Sistah Spooky's]] rather pathological hatred of blondes (like her teammate [[TheWoobie Empowered]]) was summed up thusly to said teammate by an ex-lover:
--> ''"It's a messy High School (Über-Aryan MeanGirls) trauma, to oversimplify things considerably."''

* While not a villain persay, Rorschach from ''{{Comicbook/Watchmen}}'' was raised by a prostitute who never cared for him. The Comedian is implied to have had a rough childhood as well.

** Ozymandias had an (unspoken) excuse of his own in the movie, or at least from the POV of the actor who played him. Matthew Goode decided to portray Veidt as being shamed by being the son of a Nazi, and that his WellIntentionedExtremist views arose out of a desire to shed his family guilt and save the world.

* Barracuda from [[ThePunisher The Punisher MAX]] series. Though an {{Affably Evil}} character to the point of almost being likable, he's a {{Complete Monster}}. He turns on allies in an instant, given sufficient reason to do so, and tries to get revenge on Castle by [[spoiler: kidnapping his infant illegitimate daughter and planning to torture her to death in front of him]]. However, during a scene in which the tortured Barracuda snaps completely and utterly, a dialogue in his head reveals that his father had been abusive to the point of torturing his young son. When he goes off the deep end, Barracuda screams "I never did find you, Dad! I had to take this shit out on the goddamn world, instead!"
** Nicky Cavella was [[spoiler:manipulated and sexually abused by his aunt. She also made him kill his parents, although the [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smile]] on his face heavily implies that he wasn't quite normal to begin with]]. When he's grown up [[spoiler:and finally suffocated his aunt with a pillow]], he gleefully pisses on the remains of Frank Castle's family and murders the youngest son of one of his opponents before cooking and serving him to said opponent. Do I need to mention he's a CompleteMonster?
** Even Jake Gallows, the Punisher in 2099, runs afoul of guys with backgrounds like this. Kron Stone claims his family never loved him, leaving a robot to care for him but never bothering to program it, causing it to default to veterinarian mode. "Do you know what it's like to be fitted with a collar, live in a kennel, and be fed on dog meat?!" "No, but I know what it's like to have your family butchered by a crazy with a sob story."

* I'm surprised it's not already here, but I would think Marvel's [[TheMightyThor Loki]] would count. First, there is the fact that he is a midget giant who was abused by his real father for being a weak, midget giant. After he helps kill said father, he is adopted by Odin, who does so only because he is convinced that it is the only way to appease the spirit of his own dead father. After he is adopted, it is implied that [[TheUnfavourite Odin neglected him wholly in favor of his real son, Thor.]] Thor, in return, is implied to be one of maybe a hand full of people who like Loki, as well as maybe being the only person who probably actually loves him. For Loki, this boils down to a seething self-hatred, which he in turn projects onto Thor, which he only does because he knows that his brother will never completely turn him away.
* Averted in JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac as little/nothing is mentioned of Nny's backstory. Jhonen himself even mentioned that the reason he avoided going into Nny's backstory was to avoid this trope. He then proceeds to parody it in a hypothetical scenario... "YAAAARGH!! I have been pantsed!! I kill like the damned now!!!"

** Of course, Bullseye has a MultipleChoicePast, so it's possible "The Crappy childhood" is a lie. In some versions of his origin, he was bad even as a kid.

** This even extends to non-villain characters. Much of Jason Todd's problems lie from his childhood (mother died when he was young, father was a Two-Face mook who was eventually killed). When he is adopted by Batman, Jason lives for the WellDoneSonGuy, and his desire to see his real mother (who he has never even met) led to his death at the hands of the Joker. Since he was revived, he's been unable to fully understand why Batman got a new Robin, but still lives for his old mentor's approval. This reached a head in "Battle for the Cowl" where his inability to accept Batman's death resulted in Jason snapping completely, trying to take his Batman's place (as a murderous Batman), and even nearly killing Tim Drake.

*** Of course, the whole point of ''TheKillingJoke'' is Joker trying to prove that all it takes is "one bad day" for even the sanest person to go off the deep end. He tries to drive Commissioner Gordon insane by shooting and brutalizing his daughter Barbara, then forcing Gordon to look at photographs of her naked, broken body. However, Gordon doesn't break and, when Batman rescues him, he tells Bats to bring Joker in by the book, to prove "our way works".

** The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Trial" has the ''villains'' putting Batman on trial for ruining their lives. Of course, even they end up admitting that they had problems, some self-inflicted, before Batman became involved. Being villains, they attempt to follow up the verdict of innocence with an execution, regardless.

* In ''UltimateFantasticFour'' #7, it is explained that on Victor Van Damme's tenth birthday he was presented with his family history dating back to Vlad Tepes Dracula and basically the blueprint for his entire villainous mindset, and from that day on at dinner he was required to recite said family history from memory, receiving beatings when he got it wrong and being forced to start over until he got it right. Not much of a Freudian Excuse, but... the last page of the flashback shows ten-year-old Victor sitting in the chair where he received the original lecture and instruction in five panels depicting it slowly getting darker. In the last one, he says "It's my birthday." If you don't feel sorry for him (at least the child version, not necessarily the one who proceeds to recite the names of his ancestors and ask if his father can hear him now while attacking the FF with a rocket launcher) after that, then you have a heart of stone.

*** [[IncrediblyLamePun Of course the magnet guy is bi-"polar"...]]
** Let's not forget that on the two occasions when Magneto decided to try the more ethical path of establishing a separate nation as a sanctuary for mutants and otherwise leaving flatscans entirely alone, both times his attempted 'Mutant Israel' was almost immediately nuked off the map. With literal nukes. Magneto's subsequent urges to burn the world are most definitely ''understandable''.

* Arguably every member of the ''Umbrella Academy'', and definitely Vanya. Hargreeves is a total dick and terrible parent, for instance his habit of sorting his children by their apparent worth.

** Let's not forget Nicky Cavella, who was [[spoiler:manipulated and sexually abused by his aunt. She also made him kill his parents, although the [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smile]] on his face heavily implies that he wasn't quite normal to begin with]]. When he's grown up [[spoiler:and finally suffocated his aunt with a pillow]], he gleefully pisses on the remains of Frank Castle's family and murders the youngest son of one of his opponents before cooking and serving him to said opponent. Do I need to mention he's a CompleteMonster?

** Which would make this one rare example of Cap being a [[JerkAss hypocritical douche]], since he himself did well enough to study art at college before he joined up. Of course, the Skull is his ArchEnemy and a [[Monster/{{Marvel}} thoroughly unpleasant individual]] besides, so he might probably be forgiven for this lapse.

** One of the few "abusive father" backstories that really works: Harvey Dent/Two-Face's violent, sadistic alternate persona, called "Big Bad Harv" in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the cartoon]], emerged as Harvey's way of coping with a drunken, abusive father. In the comic in which this element of the character was introduced, it's revealed that his father would take Harvey and "play a game" with him, flipping a silver dollar and beating the child if it came up heads. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel The coin had two heads.]]