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** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the {{Unfavourite}} out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
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** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the {{Unfavourite}} {{Theunfavourite}} out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
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** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the "Unfavourite" out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
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** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the "Unfavourite" {{Unfavourite}} out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
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** "I had a hard life. Hard for my parents, I mean. It wasn't that bad for me." - Drake Merwin.
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** "I ''"I had a hard life. Hard for my parents, I mean. It wasn't that bad for me." "'' - Drake Merwin.
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** Even smug snake Zil Sperry seems to have one, although it seems a little less tragic. Zil was simply the "unfavourite" in comparison to his little brother, which kick started his jealous and bitter traits.
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** Even smug snake {{smugsnake}} Zil Sperry seems to have one, although it seems a little less tragic. Zil was simply the "unfavourite" in comparison to his little brother, which kick started his jealous and bitter traits.
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* Every villian, anti-villian and anti-hero in the GONE series has one at the very least heavily implied.
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* Every villian, anti-villian and anti-hero in the GONE ''Literature/{{GONE}}'' series has one at the very least heavily implied.
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** Bug had a abusive step father who beat him, and a sick, alcoholic mother. His brother also got high a lot on class A drugs and liked to torment and bully him. The reason he was sent to Coates was apparently for "his own safety".
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* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the Children [[spoiler: are [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]]]]. This is because their stranded parents, starving, unable to stand the sound of their children crying from hunger, [[spoiler: started to feed the dead to them.]] Malnourished and uneducated - the last of the parents died when the oldest of the Children was seven - the Children remember this as something joyful, as the ultimate act of love, even though it was clear that their parents were absolutely horrified. Hearing about this makes Zak Arranda a lot more sympathetic towards them.
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* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the Children [[spoiler: are [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]]]]. This is because their stranded parents, starving, unable to stand the sound of their children crying from hunger, [[spoiler: started to feed the dead to them.]] Malnourished and uneducated - the last of the parents died when the oldest of the Children was seven - the Children remember this as something joyful, as the ultimate act of love, even though it was clear that their parents were absolutely horrified. Hearing about this makes Zak Arranda a lot more sympathetic towards them.them.
* Every villian, anti-villian and anti-hero in the GONE series has one at the very least heavily implied.
** Caine Soren was put up for adoption and never knew his parents, and was hated by his adopted parents, who sent him away to a rough reform school called Coates Academy and never saw him again.
** Diana Ladris's father was a alcoholic who cheated on her mother, who, upon finding out, threatened to divorce before being suspiciously paralysed from the neck down that very night. *Who pushed her is left ambigious...* Diana's father was then imprisoned, leaving Diana with nowhere to go except Coates academy, which she described in PLAGUE as "horrible". Diana was also implied in the 4th book to be sexually abused as a child. So basically, her pre-FAYZ life was just one big trauma conga line.
** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the "Unfavourite" out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
** Orc (who is a villain only in the first book before becoming more sympathectic), was abused by his father *Michael Grant seems to love this trope* to the point where a electric drill went through his arm. [[spoiler: and as of the end of the first book, is a stone-monster and alcoholic]]
** Even smug snake Zil Sperry seems to have one, although it seems a little less tragic. Zil was simply the "unfavourite" in comparison to his little brother, which kick started his jealous and bitter traits.
** The only case in which this trope in averted is in sadistic, rephrensively violent Drake Merwin, whose only motivation behind his heinous, pyshcopathic acts is "YOLO, bitch!"
** "I had a hard life. Hard for my parents, I mean. It wasn't that bad for me." - Drake Merwin.
* Every villian, anti-villian and anti-hero in the GONE series has one at the very least heavily implied.
** Caine Soren was put up for adoption and never knew his parents, and was hated by his adopted parents, who sent him away to a rough reform school called Coates Academy and never saw him again.
** Diana Ladris's father was a alcoholic who cheated on her mother, who, upon finding out, threatened to divorce before being suspiciously paralysed from the neck down that very night. *Who pushed her is left ambigious...* Diana's father was then imprisoned, leaving Diana with nowhere to go except Coates academy, which she described in PLAGUE as "horrible". Diana was also implied in the 4th book to be sexually abused as a child. So basically, her pre-FAYZ life was just one big trauma conga line.
** Penny the monster bringer's father was a pedophile and her mother was dead. Penny was also the "Unfavourite" out of her two sisters, and felt bitter jealousy towards them. This was shortly followed by her father being imprisoned. [[spoiler: in later books, Penny also has her legs broken, which Caine describes in FEAR as what really pushed her off the precipe of insanity and evil]]
** Orc (who is a villain only in the first book before becoming more sympathectic), was abused by his father *Michael Grant seems to love this trope* to the point where a electric drill went through his arm. [[spoiler: and as of the end of the first book, is a stone-monster and alcoholic]]
** Even smug snake Zil Sperry seems to have one, although it seems a little less tragic. Zil was simply the "unfavourite" in comparison to his little brother, which kick started his jealous and bitter traits.
** The only case in which this trope in averted is in sadistic, rephrensively violent Drake Merwin, whose only motivation behind his heinous, pyshcopathic acts is "YOLO, bitch!"
** "I had a hard life. Hard for my parents, I mean. It wasn't that bad for me." - Drake Merwin.
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* Max Barry's ''Machine Man'' has the excellent example of Lola, whose [[spoiler:father deliberately self-maimed himself in a series of industrial accidents to collect insurance and pay for Lola's HeartTrauma replacement.]] As a result, Lola as an adult finds men [[spoiler: who've lost body parts]] irresistible, and works in prosthetics.
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* Max Barry's ''Machine Man'' ''MachineMan'' has the excellent example of Lola, whose [[spoiler:father deliberately self-maimed himself in a series of industrial accidents to collect insurance and pay for Lola's HeartTrauma replacement.]] As a result, Lola as an adult finds men [[spoiler: who've lost body parts]] irresistible, and works in prosthetics.
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* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.
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* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol.Literature/AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.
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* The mostly sane (he hears voices in his head, but that's alright, one of them is his psychiatrist!) protagonist of Eric Nylund's ''AGameOfUniverse'' has a more subtle FreudianExcuse for his background. His childhood (born on a hellhole of a planet, dad killed his [[MissingMom mom]] when he was born, dad whored out his brother to miners (a fate he only avoided by being too young at the time), then accidentally killed his brother '''while his brother was trying to rape him''') doesn't mess him up that badly, it's only when this background leads him to panic over a misunderstanding and murder [[TheObiWan his mentor]] does he really start to lose it. (He spends the next few months hiding in a sewer, and then the next few years in a school based on {{Klingon Promotion}}s.)
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* The mostly sane (he hears voices in his head, but that's alright, one of them is his psychiatrist!) protagonist of Eric Nylund's ''AGameOfUniverse'' ''Literature/AGameOfUniverse'' has a more subtle FreudianExcuse for his background. His childhood (born on a hellhole of a planet, dad killed his [[MissingMom mom]] when he was born, dad whored out his brother to miners (a fate he only avoided by being too young at the time), then accidentally killed his brother '''while his brother was trying to rape him''') doesn't mess him up that badly, it's only when this background leads him to panic over a misunderstanding and murder [[TheObiWan his mentor]] does he really start to lose it. (He spends the next few months hiding in a sewer, and then the next few years in a school based on {{Klingon Promotion}}s.)
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* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the Children [[spoiler: are [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]]]]. This is because their stranded parents, starving, unable to stand the sound of their children crying from hunger, [[spoiler: started to feed the dead to them.]] Malnourished and uneducated - the last of the parents died when the oldest of the Children was seven - the Children remember this as something joyful, as the ultimate act of love, even though it was clear that their parents were absolutely horrified. Hearing about this makes Zak Arranda a lot more sympathetic towards them.
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* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the Children [[spoiler: are [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]]]]. This is because their stranded parents, starving, unable to stand the sound of their children crying from hunger, [[spoiler: started to feed the dead to them.]] Malnourished and uneducated - the last of the parents died when the oldest of the Children was seven - the Children remember this as something joyful, as the ultimate act of love, even though it was clear that their parents were absolutely horrified. Hearing about this makes Zak Arranda a lot more sympathetic towards them.
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* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the Children [[spoiler: are [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]]]]. This is because their stranded parents, starving, unable to stand the sound of their children crying from hunger, [[spoiler: started to feed the dead to them.]] Malnourished and uneducated - the last of the parents died when the oldest of the Children was seven - the Children remember this as something joyful, as the ultimate act of love, even though it was clear that their parents were absolutely horrified. Hearing about this makes Zak Arranda a lot more sympathetic towards them.
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** On the other hand, Lisbeth has very little sympathy or fellow feeling for [[spoiler: Harriet]]; but that probably says more about Lisbeth than anything else.
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* JaneAusten's ''MansfieldPark'' contains a TakeThat at this trope: Edmund excuses every red flag in Mary Crawford's behavior as the result of faulty upbringing or the influence of bad friends. He finally has to admit he's been LovingAShadow and the perfect woman he thought was spoiled by a crappy childhood in her uncle's house is a RichBitch who [[spoiler:was hoping his ill older brother would die so Edmund would become the heir of the family and be rich enough for her to consider marrying]]... which makes him smarter than [[DracoInLeatherPants many readers]].
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* JaneAusten's ''MansfieldPark'' contains a TakeThat at this trope: Edmund excuses every red flag in Mary Crawford's behavior as the result of faulty upbringing or the influence of bad friends. He finally has to admit he's been LovingAShadow and the perfect woman he thought was spoiled by a crappy childhood in her uncle's house is a RichBitch who [[spoiler:was hoping his ill older brother would die so Edmund would become the heir of the family and be rich enough for her to consider marrying]]... which makes him smarter than [[DracoInLeatherPants many readers]].marrying]].
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* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.
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* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.redemption.
*Literature/TrappedOnDraconica: Zarracka was spoiled by her mother and then banished for [[spoiler: seeking attention by]] summoning an emperor ghoul in the capital. The only reason she started working for Gothon is because she was living in a city that he conquered.
*Literature/TrappedOnDraconica: Zarracka was spoiled by her mother and then banished for [[spoiler: seeking attention by]] summoning an emperor ghoul in the capital. The only reason she started working for Gothon is because she was living in a city that he conquered.
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* Capricorn in ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', though it certainly isn't an attempt to justify his cruel actions; we just learn from Fenoglio that Capricorn's father was extremely abusive, and beat him for offenses such as showing pity. It is implied that the abuse was at least partially what made him [[CompleteMonster cold and heartless]].
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* Capricorn in ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', though it certainly isn't an attempt to justify his cruel actions; we just learn from Fenoglio that Capricorn's father was extremely abusive, and beat him for offenses such as showing pity. It is implied that the abuse was at least partially what made him [[CompleteMonster cold and heartless]].heartless.
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* ''InDeath'': Played straight and averted across the series. Some of the murderers have this, and some of them were always [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]]. Either way, Eve and Roarke do not consider the FreudianExcuse acceptable, considering the AbusiveParents they had.
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* ''InDeath'': Played straight and averted across the series. Some of the murderers have this, and some of them were always [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]].evil. Either way, Eve and Roarke do not consider the FreudianExcuse acceptable, considering the AbusiveParents they had.
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* Nancy Farmer's ''The {{House of the Scorpion}}'': El Patron's ruthlessness arises mainly from the fact that he lived a dirt poor childhood, and was the only surviving child of a large family. The man was forced to live by his wits.
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* Nancy Farmer's ''The {{House of the Scorpion}}'': HouseOfTheScorpion'': El Patron's ruthlessness arises mainly from the fact that he lived a dirt poor childhood, and was the only surviving child of a large family. The man was forced to live by his wits.
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*** [[spoiler: The guy was conceived via a combination of love potion and rape. No love in the biology, no love in the brain]].
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*** [[spoiler: The guy was conceived via a combination of love potion and rape. No love in the biology, no love in the brain]].
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* In the short story collection ''The Further Adventures of the Joker'', [[TheJoker the eponymous Joker]] gets a story devoted to a snapshot of his childhood with an abusive father (''SMILE, I SAID!'') as the centerpiece. That, and killing small animals [[spoiler:and collecting the bones to make grotesque sculptures]]. Perhaps most notably, we get some insight into how his father got to where he is. Big surprise -- it involves ''his'' father.
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* In the short story collection ''The Further Adventures of the Joker'', [[TheJoker [[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker the eponymous Joker]] gets a story devoted to a snapshot of his childhood with an abusive father (''SMILE, I SAID!'') as the centerpiece. That, and killing small animals [[spoiler:and collecting the bones to make grotesque sculptures]]. Perhaps most notably, we get some insight into how his father got to where he is. Big surprise -- it involves ''his'' father.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian, but trusting him fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she penis[[note]](she is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian, but trusting him fully is another matter)]], matter)[[/note]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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-->"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that DavidCopperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
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-->"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that DavidCopperfield Literature/DavidCopperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
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*** [[spoiler: The guy was conceived via a combination of love potion and rape. No love in the biology, no love in the brain]].
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* Deconstructed in ''{{Lolita}}''- Humbert's reason for being a pedophile is literally very Freudian (at age sixteen he was interrupted having sex with his childhood sweetheart who died shortly afterward) and he [[GenreSavvy thinks about it in these terms]]. However, the author's point was that this is a poor excuse for his terrible actions.
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* Deconstructed in ''{{Lolita}}''- Humbert's reason for being a pedophile is literally very Freudian (at age sixteen 16 he was interrupted having sex with his childhood sweetheart who died shortly afterward) and he [[GenreSavvy thinks about it in these terms]]. However, the author's point was that this is a poor excuse for his terrible actions.
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* Pretty much ''every single villain'' from ''Literature/WarriorCats''.
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* Pretty much ''every ''Every single villain'' from ''Literature/WarriorCats''.
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** And don't forget [[spoiler:Mapleshade]]: [[spoiler: Fell in love with a [=RiverClan=] warrior, but when she tried to bring her kits across the river into [=RiverClan=] territory (since her own Clan had driven her out), the kits drowned. Eventually, the tom she was in love with found another mate and had kits with her. She hated Crookedstar because he was her former mate's great-grandson.]]
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* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: Averted for the most part across the series. Practically none of the bad guys have a single excuse for their behaviour. With that said, Senator Webster from the book ''Payback'' and John Chai from ''Vendetta'' may be exceptions. The Senator had good parents, but he distanced himself from them and basically disowned them because he was ashamed of them and the fact that they were so low-class! John Chai is the son of a diplomat and an ambassador, and he may have gotten feelings of entitlement and being untouchable from being born in all that power, wealth and position.
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* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: Averted for the most part across the series. Practically none of the bad guys have a single excuse for their behaviour. With that said, Senator Webster from the book ''Payback'' and John Chai from ''Vendetta'' may be exceptions. The Senator had good parents, but he distanced himself from them and basically disowned them because he was ashamed of them and the fact that they were so low-class! John Chai is the son of a diplomat and an ambassador, and he may have gotten feelings of entitlement and being untouchable from being born in all that power, wealth and position.
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* Many ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' villains have these. Sloan is such a jerk because his wife died, and, of course, Galbatorix was partially motivated by the death of his dragon.
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* Many ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' villains have these. Sloan is such a jerk because his wife died, and, of course, and Galbatorix was partially motivated by the death of his dragon.
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* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely functional human being, certainly backs her argument.
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* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely a functional human being, certainly backs her argument.
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* Inverted with James T. Kirk, whose tendency to TakeAThirdOption is explained in various ''StarTrek'' novels as being a result of surviving the mass executions on Tarsus IV (from the TOS episode "The Conscience of the King") as a boy. It also probably explains why he doesn't believe in the [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation The Kobayashi Maru]] and the No-Win Scenario.
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* Inverted with James T. Kirk, whose tendency to TakeAThirdOption is explained in various ''StarTrek'' ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novels as being a result of surviving the mass executions on Tarsus IV (from the TOS episode "The Conscience of the King") as a boy. It also probably explains why he doesn't believe in the [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation The Kobayashi Maru]] and the No-Win Scenario.
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* IsaacAsimov: [[{{Foundation}} The Mule]] is driven to conquer the galaxy because of a childhood of ostracism and abuse due to his physically deformed stature; he claims in his internal monologue that it is now "his turn." Appropriately, he is stopped by a master psychologist administering instant therapy with a bit of mind control thrown in for good measure. He spends the rest of his life happy -- and out of the way.
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* IsaacAsimov: Creator/IsaacAsimov: [[{{Foundation}} The Mule]] is driven to conquer the galaxy because of a childhood of ostracism and abuse due to his physically deformed stature; he claims in his internal monologue that it is now "his turn." Appropriately, he is stopped by a master psychologist administering instant therapy with a bit of mind control thrown in for good measure. He spends the rest of his life happy -- and out of the way.
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*** Her argument is [[FridgeLogic flawed anyway]]. Who's to say jerks can't become saints?
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*** Her argument is [[FridgeLogic flawed anyway]]. Who's to say jerks can't become saints? saints?
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* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] lost much of his mystique when explanations for his actions were presented in ''Hannibal'' and ''Hannibal Rising'' during his jarring BadassDecay into a misunderstood AntiHero.
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* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] lost much of his mystique when explanations for his actions were presented in ''Hannibal'' and ''Hannibal Rising'' during his jarring BadassDecay into a misunderstood AntiHero.
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** And Sol has been given a backstory as well: [[spoiler: His mother, Cinders, didn't really care for her kits - she hadn't even bothered to name them - and complained all the time. His father was never around. The only good part in his life was that she told them stories of "sky warriors". She eventually abandoned them at different Twoleg nests. Sol felt that if he could have been a "sky warrior", she might have been proud of him and stayed around. Then he discovered [=SkyClan=], but after trying to train with them, they felt he didn't respect the warrior code, so they wouldn't make him a warrior. This resulted in his trying to get revenge on ''all'' the Clans, not just [=SkyClan=].]]
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** And Sol has been given a backstory as well: [[spoiler: His mother, Cinders, didn't really care for her kits - she hadn't even bothered to name them - and complained all the time. His father was never around. The only good part in his life was that she told them stories of "sky warriors". She eventually abandoned them at different Twoleg nests. Sol felt that if he could have been a "sky warrior", she might have been proud of him and stayed around. Then he discovered [=SkyClan=], but after trying to train with them, they felt he didn't respect the warrior code, so they wouldn't make him a warrior. This resulted in his trying to get revenge on ''all'' the Clans, not just [=SkyClan=].]] ]]
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-->'''Alex Rider''': Alright so you were bullied; ''lots'' of kids are bullied! It doesn't turn them into mass-murdering psychopaths!
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-->'''Alex Rider''': Alright so you were bullied; ''lots'' of kids are bullied! It doesn't turn them into mass-murdering psychopaths! psychopaths!
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* In ''TheSilmarillion'''s, some of Fëanor's rash actions can probably be attributed to the fact that, in what was virtually paradise, his mother was the first person ever to die, that his father (however loving) remarried (which was completely unheard of and never happened again), had other children, and then was the first person to be killed in Valinor. Now, in the published ''Silmarillion'', this is not belatedly revealed to excuse Fëanor's actions; in fact, it's not explicitly held up as an excuse at all. However, it ''is'' a relatively late addition to the ''Quenta Silmarillion'': in earlier versions, Fëanor's just someone who obsesses over his jewels and hates his brother because of Morgoth's lies; later, he's also to be pitied, a bit.
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* In ''TheSilmarillion'''s, some of Fëanor's rash actions can probably be attributed to the fact that, in what was virtually paradise, his mother was the first person ever to die, that his father (however loving) remarried (which was completely unheard of and never happened again), had other children, and then was the first person to be killed in Valinor. Now, in the published ''Silmarillion'', this is not belatedly revealed to excuse Fëanor's actions; in fact, it's not explicitly held up as an excuse at all. However, it ''is'' a relatively late addition to the ''Quenta Silmarillion'': in earlier versions, Fëanor's just someone who obsesses over his jewels and hates his brother because of Morgoth's lies; later, he's also to be pitied, a bit.
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* In the ''SherlockHolmes'' series, there is some evidence that Professor James Moriarty suffers from an inferiority complex because he has several other brothers, ''all'' of whom are named James, thus stifling his sense of individuality.
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* Pretty much ''every single villain'' from ''WarriorCats''.
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* Pretty much ''every single villain'' from ''WarriorCats''.''Literature/WarriorCats''.
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* A kind of subversion, based on going into more details. In ''ArtemisFowl and the Lost Colony'' we are introduced to Billy Kong (previously called Jonah Lee), and told that his teenage brother was killed when he was quite young. Later, we learn that when Jonah was young, his brother claimed that he was part of a secret group that fought child-eating demons, in an attempt to keep Jonah off the Miami streets while their mother was working, due to trouble his brother had been having with a gang at the time. When his brother was murdered, Jonah was convinced that demons did it, and he and his mother moved to Taiwan (where she was from) shortly after. Jonah is said to have later decided his brother had deceived him, causing him to become inherently distrustful and making it easier to hurt people, which combined with the environment he grew up in, turned him into a violent criminal. Shortly before the book begins, he is hired to help capture a fairy demon, causing Kong to start wondering if his brother had been honest after all. When Holly is captured while trying to save the captive demon and is being interrogated, she uses her knowledge of Kong's past to try and psych him out, and unknowingly feeds into his delusions by "confirming" the abilities that Billy's brother said demons had. This leads to Kong having a rather tragic nervous breakdown, and starts an obsession with destroying all demons, and killing anyone who gets in his way.
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* A kind of subversion, based on going into more details. In ''ArtemisFowl ''Literature/ArtemisFowl and the Lost Colony'' we are introduced to Billy Kong (previously called Jonah Lee), and told that his teenage brother was killed when he was quite young. Later, we learn that when Jonah was young, his brother claimed that he was part of a secret group that fought child-eating demons, in an attempt to keep Jonah off the Miami streets while their mother was working, due to trouble his brother had been having with a gang at the time. When his brother was murdered, Jonah was convinced that demons did it, and he and his mother moved to Taiwan (where she was from) shortly after. Jonah is said to have later decided his brother had deceived him, causing him to become inherently distrustful and making it easier to hurt people, which combined with the environment he grew up in, turned him into a violent criminal. Shortly before the book begins, he is hired to help capture a fairy demon, causing Kong to start wondering if his brother had been honest after all. When Holly is captured while trying to save the captive demon and is being interrogated, she uses her knowledge of Kong's past to try and psych him out, and unknowingly feeds into his delusions by "confirming" the abilities that Billy's brother said demons had. This leads to Kong having a rather tragic nervous breakdown, and starts an obsession with destroying all demons, and killing anyone who gets in his way.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian]], but trusting him fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian]], Justinian, but trusting him fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian]], but trusting him fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried is honestly devoted to her husband Justinian]], but trusting him fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.nine.
* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.
* This is part of the basis for AChristmasCarol. Scrooge is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk at the story's beginning, but the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes him back to see the various FreudianExcuses that made him that way. His mother died at a young age, leading his father to abandon him at boarding school and never return home, even at Christmas, which taught him not to empathize with his fellow man. When he became a workaholic obsessed with getting ahead, his fiance realized he cared more about money than her and left him. He hates Fred, his good-natured nephew and only living relative because his beloved sister died in childbirth. And all of these events happened over Christmas, making him despise the holiday. None of these excuses really serve to justify Scrooge's cruelty or selfishness, but do highlight his chance at redemption.
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Yeah, she\'s got issues.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried honestly loves her husband and is devoted to him, but trusting him totally is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried is honestly loves devoted to her husband and is devoted to him, Justinian]], but trusting him totally fully is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* In Richard Condon's "Manchurian Candidate" Raymond's mother is a seething pool of Freudian motives. She had an incestuous relationship with her father. Hated her mother as a sexual rival and complained that she could not understand how he could lie down with such an ugly woman (people said that as an adult she was nearly a twin for her mother). When her father died, her older brother claimed leadership of the family and she swore that she would follow him into any profession he chose to outdo him, and crush him. He chose politics.
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* In Richard Condon's "Manchurian Candidate" Raymond's mother is a seething pool of Freudian motives. She had an incestuous relationship with her father. Hated her mother as a sexual rival and complained that she could not understand how he could lie down with such an ugly woman (people said that as an adult she was nearly a twin for her mother). When her father died, her older brother claimed leadership of the family and she swore that she would follow him into any profession he chose to outdo him, and crush him. He chose politics.politics.
* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried honestly loves her husband and is devoted to him, but trusting him totally is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
* In ''The BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora's obsession with power (both the trappings and reality thereof), gut level distrust of anyone with a working penis[[hottip:*:(she [[HappilyMarried honestly loves her husband and is devoted to him, but trusting him totally is another matter)]], and overall mean streak is quite fully explained by her being sold to a pimp at the age of twelve... by a father who had started raping her when she was nine.
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* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely functional human being, certainly backs her argument.
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* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely functional human being, certainly backs her argument.argument.
* In Richard Condon's "Manchurian Candidate" Raymond's mother is a seething pool of Freudian motives. She had an incestuous relationship with her father. Hated her mother as a sexual rival and complained that she could not understand how he could lie down with such an ugly woman (people said that as an adult she was nearly a twin for her mother). When her father died, her older brother claimed leadership of the family and she swore that she would follow him into any profession he chose to outdo him, and crush him. He chose politics.
* In Richard Condon's "Manchurian Candidate" Raymond's mother is a seething pool of Freudian motives. She had an incestuous relationship with her father. Hated her mother as a sexual rival and complained that she could not understand how he could lie down with such an ugly woman (people said that as an adult she was nearly a twin for her mother). When her father died, her older brother claimed leadership of the family and she swore that she would follow him into any profession he chose to outdo him, and crush him. He chose politics.
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* Wang Sau-leyan in ''ChungKuo'', ugly, fat and clumsy, was treated as a poor sequel to his brothers while he grew up. This is not presented as an excuse for his behavior, but it helps explain it.
* Marco from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] survivalist early on. While Tobias exalts about how with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, Marco snaps back that Tobias can't even go a day without getting his head flushed down a toilet. Once Tobias is [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck as a hawk]], Marco's barbs begin to verge on actual cruelty. Later, we find out that Marco's mother [[FakingTheDead supposedly drowned]], and his father suffered a nervous breakdown; Marco is terrified of dying because he's afraid of what will happen to his father if he does. He fully admits to being a SadClown and that he makes fun of Tobias because what happened to Tobias scares him.
* IsaacAsimov: [[{{Foundation}} The Mule]] is driven to conquer the galaxy because of a childhood of ostracism and abuse due to his physically deformed stature; he claims in his internal monologue that it is now "his turn." Appropriately, he is stopped by a master psychologist administering instant therapy with a bit of mind control thrown in for good measure. He spends the rest of his life happy -- and out of the way.
* Subverted in ''[[EndersGame Children of the Mind]]'': In a backwards attempt to explain why she is so contrary, Quara reveals to Wang-mu that she was sexually abused at a young age by Quim, her soon-to-be sainted brother. When Wang-mu immediately believes her, she reveals it wasn't true, but points out the hypocrisy of people who would more easily believe the worst in a saint of a man like her brother than believe that some people are inherently, for no real reason, jerks.
** Though this is somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that all of the good and bad personality quirks of the Ribeira children are due to the [[AbusiveParents abusive nature of their father]], [[spoiler: who wasn't really their father.]]
*** Her argument is [[FridgeLogic flawed anyway]]. Who's to say jerks can't become saints?
* JackChalker really liked this trope.
** Subverted in one of the ''Dancing Gods'' books, wherein a) the character discussing his tragic early life is on the side of good, and b) it transpires that this tale of a sad past is complete and utter nonsense designed to throw the villain off his game. It works.
** Played straight in ''DowntimingTheNightSide'': TheDragon joins the BigBad because he blames the good guys for the loss of his father. Naturally [[StableTimeLoop it's more complicated than that.]]
** Still later we have Coydt Van Haaz, the BigBad of ''Empires of Flux and Anchor'', who wants to turn a LadyLand into a NoWomansLand to get back at the priestesses who [[DisproportionateRetribution castrated him]] for a relatively minor offense.
* Averted in Dostoevsky's novel ''Notes from Underground'' to the point of being AnAesop. Dostoevsky was concerned with the far-reaching consequences of certain ideas being batted around in his day - essentially, that despite humankind appearing to be fundamentally irrational and uncontrollable, using psychology and whatnot they'd one day be able to figure out exactly what makes people act the way they do, and could correct anti-social behavior easy as solving a math problem. (And then they could fix all their woes and achieve a socialist utopia, hooray). So he wrote a book featuring a maladjusted hero who's a miserable prick for no reason and will no doubt continue to be a miserable prick no matter what happens to him. Needless to say, it was not popular with Soviet critics.
* In the ''SherlockHolmes'' series, there is some evidence that Professor James Moriarty suffers from an inferiority complex because he has several other brothers, ''all'' of whom are named James, thus stifling his sense of individuality.
* Nancy Farmer's ''The {{House of the Scorpion}}'': El Patron's ruthlessness arises mainly from the fact that he lived a dirt poor childhood, and was the only surviving child of a large family. The man was forced to live by his wits.
* In Stella Gibbons' ''ColdComfortFarm'', having seen "something [[HarmfulToMinors nasty]] [[NoodleIncident in the woodshed]]" isn't just Aunt Ada's ''excuse'' for being a domestic tyrant who never leaves her room, it's also how she does the tyrannizing: anytime anyone tries to leave, or do anything else she disapproves of, it "brings on her trouble". [[BlitheSpirit Flora]] finds this suspiciously convenient.
* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] lost much of his mystique when explanations for his actions were presented in ''Hannibal'' and ''Hannibal Rising'' during his jarring BadassDecay into a misunderstood AntiHero.
** The author was all but [[ExecutiveMeddling forced to write]] ''Hannibal Rising'', having been told that if he didn't provide a backstory for Dr. Lecter, some other writer would.
** Jame Gumb and Francis Dolarhyde are given very detailed backstories in the novels, which works well to humanize them. Gumb was born to an alcoholic prostitute and lived in foster homes until moving in with his abusive Grandparents at the age of 10. Dolarhyde was born with a severe disfigurement to his face and was abused by his Grandmother, after being ditched by his stepfather's family [[spoiler: which had the same structure as the families he killed]]. There is only one reference to Gumb's Freudian Excuse is given in the movie, however, which is "Billy was not born a criminal, but made one by years of systematic abuse." It works rather effectively.
** Between the level of detail that goes into the other serial killers' backstories, the recurring emphasis on psychology (as unreliable as it can be), and Lecter being, well... Lecter, it's likely that Lecter's seemingly inherent evil was meant as the exception, not the rule.
* Gaston Leroux's ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' gives an excuse for Erik's cold bloodedness: [[spoiler: humanity hates him because of his deformity, so he hates humanity]]. The ''Phantom'' adaptation gives more of a {{backstory}} to this: [[spoiler: in addition to the deformity, his mother shows him no love and keeps him shut inside where he can't fully use his genius.]] Still a creepy guy for a protagonist.
** There's a similar version in the 1990 TV miniseries. While the Phantom's murderous behavior is not condoned or excused, when we get his backstory, his mother is depicted as loving and adoring him despite his deformity, and it is appears that his passion for Christine is based on the resemblance between the two. Which is a whole other FreudianExcuse.
* Notably averted by ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', as the opening quote reveals:
-->"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that DavidCopperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
** And then played straight, as you realise that Caulfield's [[DeadLittleSister deceased younger brother]] is a large part of the reason he's so unhinged.
* Deconstructed in ''{{Lolita}}''- Humbert's reason for being a pedophile is literally very Freudian (at age sixteen he was interrupted having sex with his childhood sweetheart who died shortly afterward) and he [[GenreSavvy thinks about it in these terms]]. However, the author's point was that this is a poor excuse for his terrible actions.
* The mostly sane (he hears voices in his head, but that's alright, one of them is his psychiatrist!) protagonist of Eric Nylund's ''AGameOfUniverse'' has a more subtle FreudianExcuse for his background. His childhood (born on a hellhole of a planet, dad killed his [[MissingMom mom]] when he was born, dad whored out his brother to miners (a fate he only avoided by being too young at the time), then accidentally killed his brother '''while his brother was trying to rape him''') doesn't mess him up that badly, it's only when this background leads him to panic over a misunderstanding and murder [[TheObiWan his mentor]] does he really start to lose it. (He spends the next few months hiding in a sewer, and then the next few years in a school based on {{Klingon Promotion}}s.)
* A kind of subversion, based on going into more details. In ''ArtemisFowl and the Lost Colony'' we are introduced to Billy Kong (previously called Jonah Lee), and told that his teenage brother was killed when he was quite young. Later, we learn that when Jonah was young, his brother claimed that he was part of a secret group that fought child-eating demons, in an attempt to keep Jonah off the Miami streets while their mother was working, due to trouble his brother had been having with a gang at the time. When his brother was murdered, Jonah was convinced that demons did it, and he and his mother moved to Taiwan (where she was from) shortly after. Jonah is said to have later decided his brother had deceived him, causing him to become inherently distrustful and making it easier to hurt people, which combined with the environment he grew up in, turned him into a violent criminal. Shortly before the book begins, he is hired to help capture a fairy demon, causing Kong to start wondering if his brother had been honest after all. When Holly is captured while trying to save the captive demon and is being interrogated, she uses her knowledge of Kong's past to try and psych him out, and unknowingly feeds into his delusions by "confirming" the abilities that Billy's brother said demons had. This leads to Kong having a rather tragic nervous breakdown, and starts an obsession with destroying all demons, and killing anyone who gets in his way.
* Inverted with James T. Kirk, whose tendency to TakeAThirdOption is explained in various ''StarTrek'' novels as being a result of surviving the mass executions on Tarsus IV (from the TOS episode "The Conscience of the King") as a boy. It also probably explains why he doesn't believe in the [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation The Kobayashi Maru]] and the No-Win Scenario.
* Pretty much ''every single villain'' from ''WarriorCats''.
** Tigerstar: His father abandoned him at a young age to be come a kittypet, causing his irrational hatred towards kittypets, and he was mentored by an incredibly aggressive warrior whose personality traits seemed to rub off on him. Apparently, father issues, an aggressive personality, racism, and ambition combine to create [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the feline version of Hitler]].
** Scourge: He was constantly teased and excluded by his brother and sister until he eventually ran away from home, where he was attacked and almost killed by Tigerstar. He spent the rest of his life trying to prove that he was strong, and to get revenge on Tigerstar, which eventually lead him to being a mass-murdering psychopathic dictator.
** Hawkfrost: Not mentioned often, but Hawkfrost was essentially an orphan and had to grow up living in his father's shadow until he eventually decided to follow in his footsteps. Also, his brother died, that might have something to do some of it... kinda...
** Brokenstar: He had a horrible foster mother in his kithood, who hated him and always tried to exclude him, making him the UnFavorite. Due to this, he saw aggressiveness as the only way to [[WellDoneSonGuy prove himself]], and eventually killed Raggedstar,[[spoiler: his real father]], to show that he could become a leader, and prove his greatness. This lead him to commit all sorts of atrocities, so that he could make [=ShadowClan=] the strongest Clan of them all.
** [[spoiler: Ashfur]]: Started out as an adorable, boisterous young apprentice, [[BreakTheCutie until his mom was killed indiscriminately by Tigerstar]]. [[spoiler: Fell in love with [[ActionGirl Squirrelflight]], only for her to pass him over in favor of Brambleclaw]]. Then he was forced to mentor their "son", whose very presence was a constant reminder of the mate that he lost. [[spoiler: He eventually went insane and went on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, attempting to kill Squirrelflight's "kits" to make her feel the same emotional pain that he felt when she rejected him.]]
** And don't forget [[spoiler:Mapleshade]]: [[spoiler: Fell in love with a [=RiverClan=] warrior, but when she tried to bring her kits across the river into [=RiverClan=] territory (since her own Clan had driven her out), the kits drowned. Eventually, the tom she was in love with found another mate and had kits with her. She hated Crookedstar because he was her former mate's great-grandson.]]
** And Sol has been given a backstory as well: [[spoiler: His mother, Cinders, didn't really care for her kits - she hadn't even bothered to name them - and complained all the time. His father was never around. The only good part in his life was that she told them stories of "sky warriors". She eventually abandoned them at different Twoleg nests. Sol felt that if he could have been a "sky warrior", she might have been proud of him and stayed around. Then he discovered [=SkyClan=], but after trying to train with them, they felt he didn't respect the warrior code, so they wouldn't make him a warrior. This resulted in his trying to get revenge on ''all'' the Clans, not just [=SkyClan=].]]
* Snape from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' was revealed to have had an abusive father and poor home life in ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]''. In addition he was bullied by James Potter, thus explaining why Snape bullies James' son.
** Oh, it's worse than that: [[spoiler: Snape's only friend and love interest growing up was Lily Evans, but his poor lifestyle choices (hanging with would-be-Death Eaters and supporting their racist cause, even though that cause is racist against people like Lily) ended up pushing her away from him. Who'd she end up marrying? ''James Potter''. Harry is not only James' son, but the son of James ''and the woman Snape loved'', something Snape is always reminded of when looking at Harry (who has his father's face, but his mother's eyes.) To Snape's credit, Harry being Lily's son is also the reason he protects him, despite his bullying of him.]]
** Voldemort also grew up an average orphanage but he already seemed to have chosen a life of evil. At [[CreepyChild age]] [[EnfantTerrible Eleven]] he had already [[KickTheDog killed other kids pets]], taken up stealing the possessions of other kids, and horribly mentally scarred two fellow orphans.
* Capricorn in ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', though it certainly isn't an attempt to justify his cruel actions; we just learn from Fenoglio that Capricorn's father was extremely abusive, and beat him for offenses such as showing pity. It is implied that the abuse was at least partially what made him [[CompleteMonster cold and heartless]].
* In the short story collection ''The Further Adventures of the Joker'', [[TheJoker the eponymous Joker]] gets a story devoted to a snapshot of his childhood with an abusive father (''SMILE, I SAID!'') as the centerpiece. That, and killing small animals [[spoiler:and collecting the bones to make grotesque sculptures]]. Perhaps most notably, we get some insight into how his father got to where he is. Big surprise -- it involves ''his'' father.
* JaneAusten's ''MansfieldPark'' contains a TakeThat at this trope: Edmund excuses every red flag in Mary Crawford's behavior as the result of faulty upbringing or the influence of bad friends. He finally has to admit he's been LovingAShadow and the perfect woman he thought was spoiled by a crappy childhood in her uncle's house is a RichBitch who [[spoiler:was hoping his ill older brother would die so Edmund would become the heir of the family and be rich enough for her to consider marrying]]... which makes him smarter than [[DracoInLeatherPants many readers]].
* The title character of the ''Wally [=McDoogle=]'' series writes a new [[ShowWithinAShow superhero story]] in [[OnceAnEpisode every book]] in between the action. Every one introduces the VillainOfTheWeek with speculation as to what might have caused him to turn evil.
* Herod Sayle of ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]'' (renamed Darrius Sayle in TheFilmOfTheBook) came from a poor Lebanese background and was sent to a British boarding school after saving a wealthy English tourist couple (in the film, he was an American who lived in a trailer until his mother won the lottery), where he was bullied due to his background by several other children, many of whom became influential figures in British government (including the Prime Minister). His reaction to this is to invest in a multi-million dollar advanced computer system which he would donate to the British scool system, which secretly contains biological weapons which, when simultaneously activated, ''will kill millions of children, and probably thousands of other innocent people''. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the movie.
-->'''Alex Rider''': Alright so you were bullied; ''lots'' of kids are bullied! It doesn't turn them into mass-murdering psychopaths!
** Same with [[ScaryBlackMan Desmond McCain]], who was bullied for being black and criticized in the newspapers. Still doesn't justify [[spoiler: his evil charity and his love of killing]].
** General Alexei Sarov, from the third book. His son was killed at war, and then he lost the country that he lived for. That still doesn't come ''close'' to excusing him for his [[spoiler: plan to cause a massive nuclear explosion]].
** In ''Scorpia Rising'' we have [[spoiler: Julius Grief]]. He is a fifteen year old who gets pleasure from other people's pain, seems quite fond of murdering people, and is consumed by his hatred of Alex. However, considering [[spoiler: he was created and raised so he ''would'' be evil, with no purpose other than helping Doctor Grief take over the world, and it is stated that he and the other clones got the cane if they shot a gun the wrong way]], resulting in him being completely insane, it's hard not to feel a ''little'' sorry for him.
*** Not really. He never experienced any sort of emotional pain or trauma in his childhood, and never spoke badly of his father. In fact, the fact that his own psychologist ''instinctively'' dislikes him seems to be a subtle hint that readers should not pity him.
* Dr. No, in [[Film/DrNo the novel of the same name]], got where he is in large part due to his father's rejection of him. His beginnings in the crime world -- violence, destruction, and a general lack of empathy -- were largely a reaction to his father's treatment of him and a manifestation of his rejection of authority in general. Curiously, by the events of the story, he is plainly aware of this fact and doesn't hesitate to put it in those very words.
* In ''WatershipDown'', General Woundwort's violent and un-rabbitlike behavior stem from his traumatic kittenhood, in which his father was shot, his siblings scattered, and his wounded mother killed and eaten by a weasel right in front of him. Adopted and nurtured by a kindly human, who'd nevertheless failed to keep his cat from menacing the young rabbit, Woundwort never learned to interact civilly with other rabbits, and his lapine psyche became warped, his natural flight-instincts supplanted by aggression.
** TruthInTelevision, as captive-reared wild animals tend to develop behavioral problems and socialize poorly with their own species.
* In ''TheSilmarillion'''s, some of Fëanor's rash actions can probably be attributed to the fact that, in what was virtually paradise, his mother was the first person ever to die, that his father (however loving) remarried (which was completely unheard of and never happened again), had other children, and then was the first person to be killed in Valinor. Now, in the published ''Silmarillion'', this is not belatedly revealed to excuse Fëanor's actions; in fact, it's not explicitly held up as an excuse at all. However, it ''is'' a relatively late addition to the ''Quenta Silmarillion'': in earlier versions, Fëanor's just someone who obsesses over his jewels and hates his brother because of Morgoth's lies; later, he's also to be pitied, a bit.
* In Violet Eyes, the reason for Dr. Frankenstein's cruelty is that [[spoiler: during his childhood, he was jealous of his brother, who was more talented than he was.]]
* This one depends upon your point of view. In "The Icemark Chronicles" Medea had a bad childhood because her parents didn't give her the attention that her sibling had. However there is a debate among fans as to whether this was her parents fault or her own.
* [[ArtifactOfDoom Crenshinibon]] from the ForgottenRealms was originally an extremely powerful and dangerous but nonsentient artifact. At one point it fell into the hands of a sultan who overestimated its power and relied entirely on the crystal towers it generated to protect his land from invasion. He realized too late that the more towers that are created they weaker they are, and his lands were overrun. At the moment of his death, his tormented spirit merged with the Crystal Shard, and at last Crenshinibon was complete. The insatiable desire for power and control that Crenshinibon forces upon its wielders is the twisted reflection of a sad man's regrets of failing to protect his people.
* The mystery villain of Janet Evanovich's ''Smokin' Seventeen'' engages in his killing spree because [[spoiler: Stephanie's it's-complicated Joe stole his girlfriend back when they were all in high school together, so now he intends to steal Joe's girlfriend. With murder]]. [[StepThreeProfit Somehow]].
* In ThePaleKing, The unnamed narrator of Chapter 23 has issues with regards to his self-worth. He remembers a presentation he did on The Iliad in the eleventh grade, and he freely associates it with his family. He likens his family to Achilles, in that his seemingly perfect brother is Achilles's shield, while he is the [[AchillesHeel heel]]. He even develops a [[FootFocus fixation]] on people's feet.
* ''InDeath'': Played straight and averted across the series. Some of the murderers have this, and some of them were always [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]]. Either way, Eve and Roarke do not consider the FreudianExcuse acceptable, considering the AbusiveParents they had.
* Max Barry's ''Machine Man'' has the excellent example of Lola, whose [[spoiler:father deliberately self-maimed himself in a series of industrial accidents to collect insurance and pay for Lola's HeartTrauma replacement.]] As a result, Lola as an adult finds men [[spoiler: who've lost body parts]] irresistible, and works in prosthetics.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: Averted for the most part across the series. Practically none of the bad guys have a single excuse for their behaviour. With that said, Senator Webster from the book ''Payback'' and John Chai from ''Vendetta'' may be exceptions. The Senator had good parents, but he distanced himself from them and basically disowned them because he was ashamed of them and the fact that they were so low-class! John Chai is the son of a diplomat and an ambassador, and he may have gotten feelings of entitlement and being untouchable from being born in all that power, wealth and position.
* The narrator/protagonist of ''Literature/LettersBackToAncientChina'' (a time travelling mandarin from medieval China) compliments a western woman on her breasts. She rationalized his odd behavior by concluding that he wasn't breastfed enough.
* Many ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' villains have these. Sloan is such a jerk because his wife died, and, of course, Galbatorix was partially motivated by the death of his dragon.
* In ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'', [[spoiler:Merrin Meredith's nastiness is explained by WordOfGod as coming from his bad life with [=DomDaniel=], and it's mentioned InUniverse as well.]]
* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely functional human being, certainly backs her argument.
* Marco from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] survivalist early on. While Tobias exalts about how with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, Marco snaps back that Tobias can't even go a day without getting his head flushed down a toilet. Once Tobias is [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck as a hawk]], Marco's barbs begin to verge on actual cruelty. Later, we find out that Marco's mother [[FakingTheDead supposedly drowned]], and his father suffered a nervous breakdown; Marco is terrified of dying because he's afraid of what will happen to his father if he does. He fully admits to being a SadClown and that he makes fun of Tobias because what happened to Tobias scares him.
* IsaacAsimov: [[{{Foundation}} The Mule]] is driven to conquer the galaxy because of a childhood of ostracism and abuse due to his physically deformed stature; he claims in his internal monologue that it is now "his turn." Appropriately, he is stopped by a master psychologist administering instant therapy with a bit of mind control thrown in for good measure. He spends the rest of his life happy -- and out of the way.
* Subverted in ''[[EndersGame Children of the Mind]]'': In a backwards attempt to explain why she is so contrary, Quara reveals to Wang-mu that she was sexually abused at a young age by Quim, her soon-to-be sainted brother. When Wang-mu immediately believes her, she reveals it wasn't true, but points out the hypocrisy of people who would more easily believe the worst in a saint of a man like her brother than believe that some people are inherently, for no real reason, jerks.
** Though this is somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that all of the good and bad personality quirks of the Ribeira children are due to the [[AbusiveParents abusive nature of their father]], [[spoiler: who wasn't really their father.]]
*** Her argument is [[FridgeLogic flawed anyway]]. Who's to say jerks can't become saints?
* JackChalker really liked this trope.
** Subverted in one of the ''Dancing Gods'' books, wherein a) the character discussing his tragic early life is on the side of good, and b) it transpires that this tale of a sad past is complete and utter nonsense designed to throw the villain off his game. It works.
** Played straight in ''DowntimingTheNightSide'': TheDragon joins the BigBad because he blames the good guys for the loss of his father. Naturally [[StableTimeLoop it's more complicated than that.]]
** Still later we have Coydt Van Haaz, the BigBad of ''Empires of Flux and Anchor'', who wants to turn a LadyLand into a NoWomansLand to get back at the priestesses who [[DisproportionateRetribution castrated him]] for a relatively minor offense.
* Averted in Dostoevsky's novel ''Notes from Underground'' to the point of being AnAesop. Dostoevsky was concerned with the far-reaching consequences of certain ideas being batted around in his day - essentially, that despite humankind appearing to be fundamentally irrational and uncontrollable, using psychology and whatnot they'd one day be able to figure out exactly what makes people act the way they do, and could correct anti-social behavior easy as solving a math problem. (And then they could fix all their woes and achieve a socialist utopia, hooray). So he wrote a book featuring a maladjusted hero who's a miserable prick for no reason and will no doubt continue to be a miserable prick no matter what happens to him. Needless to say, it was not popular with Soviet critics.
* In the ''SherlockHolmes'' series, there is some evidence that Professor James Moriarty suffers from an inferiority complex because he has several other brothers, ''all'' of whom are named James, thus stifling his sense of individuality.
* Nancy Farmer's ''The {{House of the Scorpion}}'': El Patron's ruthlessness arises mainly from the fact that he lived a dirt poor childhood, and was the only surviving child of a large family. The man was forced to live by his wits.
* In Stella Gibbons' ''ColdComfortFarm'', having seen "something [[HarmfulToMinors nasty]] [[NoodleIncident in the woodshed]]" isn't just Aunt Ada's ''excuse'' for being a domestic tyrant who never leaves her room, it's also how she does the tyrannizing: anytime anyone tries to leave, or do anything else she disapproves of, it "brings on her trouble". [[BlitheSpirit Flora]] finds this suspiciously convenient.
* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] lost much of his mystique when explanations for his actions were presented in ''Hannibal'' and ''Hannibal Rising'' during his jarring BadassDecay into a misunderstood AntiHero.
** The author was all but [[ExecutiveMeddling forced to write]] ''Hannibal Rising'', having been told that if he didn't provide a backstory for Dr. Lecter, some other writer would.
** Jame Gumb and Francis Dolarhyde are given very detailed backstories in the novels, which works well to humanize them. Gumb was born to an alcoholic prostitute and lived in foster homes until moving in with his abusive Grandparents at the age of 10. Dolarhyde was born with a severe disfigurement to his face and was abused by his Grandmother, after being ditched by his stepfather's family [[spoiler: which had the same structure as the families he killed]]. There is only one reference to Gumb's Freudian Excuse is given in the movie, however, which is "Billy was not born a criminal, but made one by years of systematic abuse." It works rather effectively.
** Between the level of detail that goes into the other serial killers' backstories, the recurring emphasis on psychology (as unreliable as it can be), and Lecter being, well... Lecter, it's likely that Lecter's seemingly inherent evil was meant as the exception, not the rule.
* Gaston Leroux's ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' gives an excuse for Erik's cold bloodedness: [[spoiler: humanity hates him because of his deformity, so he hates humanity]]. The ''Phantom'' adaptation gives more of a {{backstory}} to this: [[spoiler: in addition to the deformity, his mother shows him no love and keeps him shut inside where he can't fully use his genius.]] Still a creepy guy for a protagonist.
** There's a similar version in the 1990 TV miniseries. While the Phantom's murderous behavior is not condoned or excused, when we get his backstory, his mother is depicted as loving and adoring him despite his deformity, and it is appears that his passion for Christine is based on the resemblance between the two. Which is a whole other FreudianExcuse.
* Notably averted by ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', as the opening quote reveals:
-->"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that DavidCopperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
** And then played straight, as you realise that Caulfield's [[DeadLittleSister deceased younger brother]] is a large part of the reason he's so unhinged.
* Deconstructed in ''{{Lolita}}''- Humbert's reason for being a pedophile is literally very Freudian (at age sixteen he was interrupted having sex with his childhood sweetheart who died shortly afterward) and he [[GenreSavvy thinks about it in these terms]]. However, the author's point was that this is a poor excuse for his terrible actions.
* The mostly sane (he hears voices in his head, but that's alright, one of them is his psychiatrist!) protagonist of Eric Nylund's ''AGameOfUniverse'' has a more subtle FreudianExcuse for his background. His childhood (born on a hellhole of a planet, dad killed his [[MissingMom mom]] when he was born, dad whored out his brother to miners (a fate he only avoided by being too young at the time), then accidentally killed his brother '''while his brother was trying to rape him''') doesn't mess him up that badly, it's only when this background leads him to panic over a misunderstanding and murder [[TheObiWan his mentor]] does he really start to lose it. (He spends the next few months hiding in a sewer, and then the next few years in a school based on {{Klingon Promotion}}s.)
* A kind of subversion, based on going into more details. In ''ArtemisFowl and the Lost Colony'' we are introduced to Billy Kong (previously called Jonah Lee), and told that his teenage brother was killed when he was quite young. Later, we learn that when Jonah was young, his brother claimed that he was part of a secret group that fought child-eating demons, in an attempt to keep Jonah off the Miami streets while their mother was working, due to trouble his brother had been having with a gang at the time. When his brother was murdered, Jonah was convinced that demons did it, and he and his mother moved to Taiwan (where she was from) shortly after. Jonah is said to have later decided his brother had deceived him, causing him to become inherently distrustful and making it easier to hurt people, which combined with the environment he grew up in, turned him into a violent criminal. Shortly before the book begins, he is hired to help capture a fairy demon, causing Kong to start wondering if his brother had been honest after all. When Holly is captured while trying to save the captive demon and is being interrogated, she uses her knowledge of Kong's past to try and psych him out, and unknowingly feeds into his delusions by "confirming" the abilities that Billy's brother said demons had. This leads to Kong having a rather tragic nervous breakdown, and starts an obsession with destroying all demons, and killing anyone who gets in his way.
* Inverted with James T. Kirk, whose tendency to TakeAThirdOption is explained in various ''StarTrek'' novels as being a result of surviving the mass executions on Tarsus IV (from the TOS episode "The Conscience of the King") as a boy. It also probably explains why he doesn't believe in the [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation The Kobayashi Maru]] and the No-Win Scenario.
* Pretty much ''every single villain'' from ''WarriorCats''.
** Tigerstar: His father abandoned him at a young age to be come a kittypet, causing his irrational hatred towards kittypets, and he was mentored by an incredibly aggressive warrior whose personality traits seemed to rub off on him. Apparently, father issues, an aggressive personality, racism, and ambition combine to create [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the feline version of Hitler]].
** Scourge: He was constantly teased and excluded by his brother and sister until he eventually ran away from home, where he was attacked and almost killed by Tigerstar. He spent the rest of his life trying to prove that he was strong, and to get revenge on Tigerstar, which eventually lead him to being a mass-murdering psychopathic dictator.
** Hawkfrost: Not mentioned often, but Hawkfrost was essentially an orphan and had to grow up living in his father's shadow until he eventually decided to follow in his footsteps. Also, his brother died, that might have something to do some of it... kinda...
** Brokenstar: He had a horrible foster mother in his kithood, who hated him and always tried to exclude him, making him the UnFavorite. Due to this, he saw aggressiveness as the only way to [[WellDoneSonGuy prove himself]], and eventually killed Raggedstar,[[spoiler: his real father]], to show that he could become a leader, and prove his greatness. This lead him to commit all sorts of atrocities, so that he could make [=ShadowClan=] the strongest Clan of them all.
** [[spoiler: Ashfur]]: Started out as an adorable, boisterous young apprentice, [[BreakTheCutie until his mom was killed indiscriminately by Tigerstar]]. [[spoiler: Fell in love with [[ActionGirl Squirrelflight]], only for her to pass him over in favor of Brambleclaw]]. Then he was forced to mentor their "son", whose very presence was a constant reminder of the mate that he lost. [[spoiler: He eventually went insane and went on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, attempting to kill Squirrelflight's "kits" to make her feel the same emotional pain that he felt when she rejected him.]]
** And don't forget [[spoiler:Mapleshade]]: [[spoiler: Fell in love with a [=RiverClan=] warrior, but when she tried to bring her kits across the river into [=RiverClan=] territory (since her own Clan had driven her out), the kits drowned. Eventually, the tom she was in love with found another mate and had kits with her. She hated Crookedstar because he was her former mate's great-grandson.]]
** And Sol has been given a backstory as well: [[spoiler: His mother, Cinders, didn't really care for her kits - she hadn't even bothered to name them - and complained all the time. His father was never around. The only good part in his life was that she told them stories of "sky warriors". She eventually abandoned them at different Twoleg nests. Sol felt that if he could have been a "sky warrior", she might have been proud of him and stayed around. Then he discovered [=SkyClan=], but after trying to train with them, they felt he didn't respect the warrior code, so they wouldn't make him a warrior. This resulted in his trying to get revenge on ''all'' the Clans, not just [=SkyClan=].]]
* Snape from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' was revealed to have had an abusive father and poor home life in ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]''. In addition he was bullied by James Potter, thus explaining why Snape bullies James' son.
** Oh, it's worse than that: [[spoiler: Snape's only friend and love interest growing up was Lily Evans, but his poor lifestyle choices (hanging with would-be-Death Eaters and supporting their racist cause, even though that cause is racist against people like Lily) ended up pushing her away from him. Who'd she end up marrying? ''James Potter''. Harry is not only James' son, but the son of James ''and the woman Snape loved'', something Snape is always reminded of when looking at Harry (who has his father's face, but his mother's eyes.) To Snape's credit, Harry being Lily's son is also the reason he protects him, despite his bullying of him.]]
** Voldemort also grew up an average orphanage but he already seemed to have chosen a life of evil. At [[CreepyChild age]] [[EnfantTerrible Eleven]] he had already [[KickTheDog killed other kids pets]], taken up stealing the possessions of other kids, and horribly mentally scarred two fellow orphans.
* Capricorn in ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', though it certainly isn't an attempt to justify his cruel actions; we just learn from Fenoglio that Capricorn's father was extremely abusive, and beat him for offenses such as showing pity. It is implied that the abuse was at least partially what made him [[CompleteMonster cold and heartless]].
* In the short story collection ''The Further Adventures of the Joker'', [[TheJoker the eponymous Joker]] gets a story devoted to a snapshot of his childhood with an abusive father (''SMILE, I SAID!'') as the centerpiece. That, and killing small animals [[spoiler:and collecting the bones to make grotesque sculptures]]. Perhaps most notably, we get some insight into how his father got to where he is. Big surprise -- it involves ''his'' father.
* JaneAusten's ''MansfieldPark'' contains a TakeThat at this trope: Edmund excuses every red flag in Mary Crawford's behavior as the result of faulty upbringing or the influence of bad friends. He finally has to admit he's been LovingAShadow and the perfect woman he thought was spoiled by a crappy childhood in her uncle's house is a RichBitch who [[spoiler:was hoping his ill older brother would die so Edmund would become the heir of the family and be rich enough for her to consider marrying]]... which makes him smarter than [[DracoInLeatherPants many readers]].
* The title character of the ''Wally [=McDoogle=]'' series writes a new [[ShowWithinAShow superhero story]] in [[OnceAnEpisode every book]] in between the action. Every one introduces the VillainOfTheWeek with speculation as to what might have caused him to turn evil.
* Herod Sayle of ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]'' (renamed Darrius Sayle in TheFilmOfTheBook) came from a poor Lebanese background and was sent to a British boarding school after saving a wealthy English tourist couple (in the film, he was an American who lived in a trailer until his mother won the lottery), where he was bullied due to his background by several other children, many of whom became influential figures in British government (including the Prime Minister). His reaction to this is to invest in a multi-million dollar advanced computer system which he would donate to the British scool system, which secretly contains biological weapons which, when simultaneously activated, ''will kill millions of children, and probably thousands of other innocent people''. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the movie.
-->'''Alex Rider''': Alright so you were bullied; ''lots'' of kids are bullied! It doesn't turn them into mass-murdering psychopaths!
** Same with [[ScaryBlackMan Desmond McCain]], who was bullied for being black and criticized in the newspapers. Still doesn't justify [[spoiler: his evil charity and his love of killing]].
** General Alexei Sarov, from the third book. His son was killed at war, and then he lost the country that he lived for. That still doesn't come ''close'' to excusing him for his [[spoiler: plan to cause a massive nuclear explosion]].
** In ''Scorpia Rising'' we have [[spoiler: Julius Grief]]. He is a fifteen year old who gets pleasure from other people's pain, seems quite fond of murdering people, and is consumed by his hatred of Alex. However, considering [[spoiler: he was created and raised so he ''would'' be evil, with no purpose other than helping Doctor Grief take over the world, and it is stated that he and the other clones got the cane if they shot a gun the wrong way]], resulting in him being completely insane, it's hard not to feel a ''little'' sorry for him.
*** Not really. He never experienced any sort of emotional pain or trauma in his childhood, and never spoke badly of his father. In fact, the fact that his own psychologist ''instinctively'' dislikes him seems to be a subtle hint that readers should not pity him.
* Dr. No, in [[Film/DrNo the novel of the same name]], got where he is in large part due to his father's rejection of him. His beginnings in the crime world -- violence, destruction, and a general lack of empathy -- were largely a reaction to his father's treatment of him and a manifestation of his rejection of authority in general. Curiously, by the events of the story, he is plainly aware of this fact and doesn't hesitate to put it in those very words.
* In ''WatershipDown'', General Woundwort's violent and un-rabbitlike behavior stem from his traumatic kittenhood, in which his father was shot, his siblings scattered, and his wounded mother killed and eaten by a weasel right in front of him. Adopted and nurtured by a kindly human, who'd nevertheless failed to keep his cat from menacing the young rabbit, Woundwort never learned to interact civilly with other rabbits, and his lapine psyche became warped, his natural flight-instincts supplanted by aggression.
** TruthInTelevision, as captive-reared wild animals tend to develop behavioral problems and socialize poorly with their own species.
* In ''TheSilmarillion'''s, some of Fëanor's rash actions can probably be attributed to the fact that, in what was virtually paradise, his mother was the first person ever to die, that his father (however loving) remarried (which was completely unheard of and never happened again), had other children, and then was the first person to be killed in Valinor. Now, in the published ''Silmarillion'', this is not belatedly revealed to excuse Fëanor's actions; in fact, it's not explicitly held up as an excuse at all. However, it ''is'' a relatively late addition to the ''Quenta Silmarillion'': in earlier versions, Fëanor's just someone who obsesses over his jewels and hates his brother because of Morgoth's lies; later, he's also to be pitied, a bit.
* In Violet Eyes, the reason for Dr. Frankenstein's cruelty is that [[spoiler: during his childhood, he was jealous of his brother, who was more talented than he was.]]
* This one depends upon your point of view. In "The Icemark Chronicles" Medea had a bad childhood because her parents didn't give her the attention that her sibling had. However there is a debate among fans as to whether this was her parents fault or her own.
* [[ArtifactOfDoom Crenshinibon]] from the ForgottenRealms was originally an extremely powerful and dangerous but nonsentient artifact. At one point it fell into the hands of a sultan who overestimated its power and relied entirely on the crystal towers it generated to protect his land from invasion. He realized too late that the more towers that are created they weaker they are, and his lands were overrun. At the moment of his death, his tormented spirit merged with the Crystal Shard, and at last Crenshinibon was complete. The insatiable desire for power and control that Crenshinibon forces upon its wielders is the twisted reflection of a sad man's regrets of failing to protect his people.
* The mystery villain of Janet Evanovich's ''Smokin' Seventeen'' engages in his killing spree because [[spoiler: Stephanie's it's-complicated Joe stole his girlfriend back when they were all in high school together, so now he intends to steal Joe's girlfriend. With murder]]. [[StepThreeProfit Somehow]].
* In ThePaleKing, The unnamed narrator of Chapter 23 has issues with regards to his self-worth. He remembers a presentation he did on The Iliad in the eleventh grade, and he freely associates it with his family. He likens his family to Achilles, in that his seemingly perfect brother is Achilles's shield, while he is the [[AchillesHeel heel]]. He even develops a [[FootFocus fixation]] on people's feet.
* ''InDeath'': Played straight and averted across the series. Some of the murderers have this, and some of them were always [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]]. Either way, Eve and Roarke do not consider the FreudianExcuse acceptable, considering the AbusiveParents they had.
* Max Barry's ''Machine Man'' has the excellent example of Lola, whose [[spoiler:father deliberately self-maimed himself in a series of industrial accidents to collect insurance and pay for Lola's HeartTrauma replacement.]] As a result, Lola as an adult finds men [[spoiler: who've lost body parts]] irresistible, and works in prosthetics.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: Averted for the most part across the series. Practically none of the bad guys have a single excuse for their behaviour. With that said, Senator Webster from the book ''Payback'' and John Chai from ''Vendetta'' may be exceptions. The Senator had good parents, but he distanced himself from them and basically disowned them because he was ashamed of them and the fact that they were so low-class! John Chai is the son of a diplomat and an ambassador, and he may have gotten feelings of entitlement and being untouchable from being born in all that power, wealth and position.
* The narrator/protagonist of ''Literature/LettersBackToAncientChina'' (a time travelling mandarin from medieval China) compliments a western woman on her breasts. She rationalized his odd behavior by concluding that he wasn't breastfed enough.
* Many ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' villains have these. Sloan is such a jerk because his wife died, and, of course, Galbatorix was partially motivated by the death of his dragon.
* In ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'', [[spoiler:Merrin Meredith's nastiness is explained by WordOfGod as coming from his bad life with [=DomDaniel=], and it's mentioned InUniverse as well.]]
* ''[[MillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'': After SerialKiller [[spoiler: Martin Vanger]]'s death, Mikael mentions how, given his ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast, the boy "never had a chance". Cue [[BerserkButton absolute outrage]] from [[DarkActionGirl Lisbet]], claiming that [[SubvertedTrope childhood trauma doesn't excuse his actions as an adult]]. The fact that she herself experienced a TraumaCongaLine of her own as a girl and that [[spoiler: Harriet Vanger]], despite going through the same upbringing as [[spoiler: Martin]] yet emerged an entirely functional human being, certainly backs her argument.
