History FreudianExcuse / LiveActionTv

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%%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct alphabetical order.

*** Ironically, Creator/HughLaurie actually ''does'' have parent issues because he felt they disliked him and expected too much from him; his father Ran in particular was a distinguished medical doctor (how's that for irony) and an [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Olympic]] rower who won gold in the 1948 Coxless Pairs. They also apparently disapproved of his wife. Read and see enough interviews with him and his low self-esteem issues become fairly obvious. This has not, on the other hand, stopped Laurie from being described as a "panda" by everyone who knows him.

** Cavil. The genocide of the colonies was brought about because he thought his parents loved humans more than him. However, he decides to go so overboard with this that he just comes across as a whiny brat who uses the excuse as a shallow pretext for his own murderous urges instead. In probably his most despicable act, he knowingly raped his Cylon mother, yet ''still'' has the gal to blame her for his own actions when she offers her sadistic son a chance at redemption.

** Later subverted again with the manipulative intern Katie who justifies her actions to Carla with "My dad died when I was a baby, and my mother was a heavy drinker. I've had to do everything myself my entire life." Carla's response? "Awww...HEARD IT! Me? Dead mom. JD? Dead dad. Elliot? Emotionally abusive parents. Dr Cox? Emotionally ''and'' physically abusive ''dead'' parents who he may have killed. No one's really sure."

** Wesley, of all people, chastises Angel for hiding behind his gyspy curse so he doesn't have to face having actual relationships with women. Angel actually acknowledges he is ''completely right''.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}} II'': Parodied, in which Blackadder discovers and exploits a super-villain's Freudian excuse with deadly accuracy:

** An earlier scene howed that Tess' mother had made something of a habit of not making enough time for her daughter. (Tess tries to call her and, though we're not privy to the mother's end of the conversation, it's made clear that she blew Tess off because she was busy with her concert.) The phone call thing at Final Jam was apparently just the latest in a long string of these incidents.

** Also, the Master, as [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]] has revealed that at the age of eight, as part of a Time Lord initiation ceremony, he looked into the [[TheLifestream Time Vortex]], which drove him insane. Of course, that episode also revealed that every other Time Lord saw the same vortex, and he was still the only one we know who went supervillainy as a result. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] reveals that the root of his villainy is more complicated than just the Time Vortex. [[spoiler: During the Time War, Rassilon sent a messege as a beacon throughout the Time Vortex. This beacon was the sound of drums or rather the four-sound pattern of a Time Lord's heartbeat. Basically, the Master was used as a pawn so the Time Lords could try and break the Time Lock. After the Doctor TookAThirdOption and broke the machine, causing them to go back, the Master protected his friend while unleashing his fury on Rassilon for the mental agony inflicted on him since 8.]]

** After breaking up with a woman who was perfect for him and whom everyone in his family loved, Frasier imagines having a conversation with his ex-wives and the woman who left him at the alter. They eventually bring his mother into the discussion and come to the conclusion that Frasier subconsciously sabotages relationships because he's afraid the woman will leave him, just as mother did.

** Quinn Fabray was bullied badly before coming to [=McKinley=] High, which is elaborated on in "Born this way" as a Freudian Excuse for her cruelty. Of course, every season the writers think up a new freudian excuse for her to be the way she is (most notably in "Ballard", "Preggers", "Born This Way", "I Kissed a Girl" and "Big Brother")

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': Naturally this shows up, most famously with Goren's [[BrokenPedestal ex-FBI profiler mentor]] [[spoiler: 's daughter who, having washed out of the FBI several times decided the next best thing was to become one of his subjects. The constant "shop talk" at home and using [[NauseaFuel dad's torture tapes]] to test potential boyfriends [[{{Squick}} right before making out]] also had something to do with it...]] Another example is Creator/StephenColbert's master forger [[spoiler: who was doing his best to discredit a soon-to-be canonized priest because his mom used the guy's charity to steal his childhood.]]

** Given a variation with Locke who was middle aged when he met his truly monstrous parents who used him and discarded him like trash. A rare case of a hero having a Freudian Excuse for his behavior (In Locke's case, his desperate need to stay on the island and serve a purpose).

*** Becomes even worse [[spoiler:when it's shown what ''really'' happened to his father during the the third season. His father, having had a stressed out and work-filled childhood, tried to compensate it with a carefree adulthood. For that, he ''despised'' Rumple since the day he was born, and when give the chance did not hesitate to give him up for eternal youth. Rumpel's father would then transform, right before Rumple's very eyes, into the boy that would be known as Peter Pan.]]

* ''Series/{{Selfie}}'' Eiza Dooley is shallow, vain, obsessed with herself, and doesn't have real friendships, with her romantic relationships usually being built around sex. This is because when she was young, she was called butt ugly, no one wanted to be her friend, and so she distracted herself from her feelings-which is why she's so active on the internet as an adult, where she's seen as sexy and well-liked.

** Lionel Luthor's refusal to show his son any affection, or leave his sense of self-worth intact is a major part of Lex's slide into villainy. However, as the show frequently points out, people are defined, not by what happened to them, but by the choices they make. Emotional abuse left Lex damaged, but he still could have pulled back. Lionel is himself the product of abuse, having received severe physical abuse as the hands of his own father, Lachlan. Both cases end with [[SelfMadeOrphan the son ultimately murdering the father]].

-->'''Data:''' You are a fine debator, sir. It is a pity you have used your verbal skills for mere hucksterism and the advancement of your own greed.\\

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'': Uther is given one of these for all the atrocities he's committed in trying to wipe out magic. His excuse: He hates and fears magic because [[spoiler: Nimueh cast a spell, at Uther's request, to give him a child. He asked her to do this even though he knew that in order to give life by magic, a life must be taken. Uther's wife died and Arthur was born.]]

-->'''Killer:''' So there's something I've been wanting to ask you for some time now. You've seen the things I do in the past as well as in the future.\\
'''Clyde Bruckman:''' They're terrible things.\\
'''Killer:''' I know they are. So, tell me, please, why have I done them?\\
'''Clyde Bruckman:''' Don't you understand yet, son? Don't you get it?\\

'''Clyde Bruckman:''' You do the things you do because you're a homicidal maniac.\\

'''Killer:''' That... that does explain a lot, doesn't it? It's all starting to make sense now.

* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'': This spin-off has Liam starting off as bad...so bad he's almost 'evil'. Then it's explained he had a jackass step-father. Dylan from the original series (mum's a hippie, dad's in jail) also works, and for some extent most flaws on most characters (Kelly's mum's a drunk, Steve's adopted, Gina grew up poor, David's the son of a serial cheater and a schizo...).

* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'': Valerie is given a succession of increasingly horrifying Freudian Excuses. First, [[spoiler: her father committed suicide]]. Then, it is revealed that [[spoiler: she was the one who found him in a pool of blood]]. Later, [[spoiler: we learn that her father had been raping her since she was 11 years old]]. And for the grand finale, [[spoiler: she was the one who murdered him]].

-->'''Blackadder''': One thing, Ludwig, just before you go -- were you ever bullied at school?\\
'''Ludwig''': ''(tense)'' What do you mean?\\
'''Blackadder''': Well, all this ranting and raving about power. There must be ''some'' reason for it.\\
'''Ludwig''': Nonsense, no -- at my school, having dirty hair and spots was a sign of maturity.\\
'''Blackadder''': I thought so. And I bet your mother made you wear shorts right up till your final year.\\
'''Ludwig''': ''(losing it)'' Shut up! Shut up! When I am King of England, ''no one'' will ''ever'' dare call me 'shorty greasy spot-spot' again! ''(storms out)''\\
'''Blackadder''': [[DeadpanSnarker Touched a nerve there, I think.]]

** The Slitheen, in particular Margaret Blaine.

** The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse audio drama ''Master'', which predated the new series, gives another origin for the Master's evils that may or may not have affected his Vortex Madness[[note]]which would make a great trope name[[/note]]: In his youth, the Doctor was visited by Death, who wanted to make him her disciple. The Doctor avoided her by directing her to the Master, turning him into Death's Champion. He regretted this decision since.

* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'': DiscussedTrope where we learn that DeadpanSnarker Frank was indeed beaten by his father. What's interesting however is that they actually '''do''' go into depth about how ''his'' father being beaten as a child too, and even ''his'' father as well...Ray and Robert both were surprised by this fact; because although Frank isn't exactly an 'ideal' father himself, he never actually hit them.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Scorpius was revealed to have been engineered and brutally raised by the Scarrans, spawning an intense hatred of that species for his treatment as well as for the rape and death of his Sebacean mother. For this reason, he's prepared to do anything he can to take revenge - including the acts committed against John Crichton. However, when Scorpius actually brings up these details close to the end of the third season, he does so not to make Crichton pity him, but to try and convince him that the Scarrans must be stopped before any more innocent people suffer - and given their actions [[MoralEventHorizon in the fourth season]], he's not exactly incorrect.

** One episode actually managed to make the perp sympathetic and a bit tragic. An elderly piano teacher and his younger assistant are discovered to be molesting a young boy and evidence is found which indicates this is a pattern that they have repeated multiple times. When the detectives uncover that the assistant himself was molested by the tutor when ''he'' was a boy, they confront him about putting other children through the same nightmare. He breaks down crying and agrees to confess and testify against the older man rather than force their young victims to take the stand. As he put it, "I don't know why [my abuser] is the way he is, but I know why ''I'' am… (sobbing) I don't want [my victim] to end up a monster like me…"

* ''Series/MurphyBrown'':
** Although they're not villains, it's clear that at least three of the characters' traits come as a direct result of lousy parental relationships:

* Creator/StephenColbert:
** His {{Freudian Excuse}}s are frequently hinted at, and were made explicit during the "Superegomaniac" segment celebrating Freud's 150th birthday:
--->'''Stephen:''' Yeah, maybe a library shelf fell on me when I was three, but that's not why I hate books.\\
'''[[FootnoteFever Bullet Point]]:''' It's Why He ''[[BookBurning Burns]]'' Books
** His book, ''Literature/IAmAmericaAndSoCanYou'', is pretty explicit about most of his Freudian excuses.

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Zoom's psychopathic tendencies are revealed to be rooted in him [[spoiler:witnessing his mother's murder by his father at roughly the same age when Barry lost his mother and then growing up in the foster system]].
* ''Series/TheFamily'': {{Discussed}} when Nina interrogates Doug and brings up the theory that pedophilia is caused by an individual's own sexual abuse as a child. He dismisses the implications.
* ''Series/ForeverKnight'': One episode featured a serial killer who was targeting women because of memories of his horribly abusive mother. They all reminded him of her in some way, but since they're not his actual mother he didn't derive any closure from it and had to keep on killing.
* ''Series/MurderInTheFirst'': Dustin Maker's defense attorney tries to use severe abuse he suffered in childhood as a mitigating factor when he's facing the death sentence for eighteen murders.
* ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'': All of the Mord-Sith were kidnapped as girls, tortured until psychologically broken, and forced to kill their fathers as part of the training they underwent.

-->'''Frasier''': Oh yes, here it comes -- the old sob story. "Daddy didn't love me. Mother ignored me. The bully next door stole my baseball glove."\\

-->'''Diane''': You left him too!\\
'''Hester''': Oh, I had no choice. Perhaps you heard? I died.

* ''{{Series/Frasier}}'': Spoofed in the episode "Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice...":

** It is revealed in season 4 that Leo Fitz had an emotionally, and [[ImpliedTrope potentially physically]], abusive father that abandoned him when Fitz was 10. It certainly gives new insight into his visceral reactions to the [[HarsherInHindsight various betrayals]] throughout the series, particularly that of [[spoiler:Grant Ward]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Radcliffe]]. In the Framework, the trope is played straight where Fitz is shown to be a [[MadDoctor cold-hearted, sadistic doctor]] having been raised by his father instead of his mother. He even compares himself to [[spoiler:Ward]] when he comes back to himself after [[spoiler:escaping the Framework]].

** It is revealed in season 4 that Leo Fitz had an emotionally, and [[ImpliedTrope potentially physically]], abusive father that abandoned him when Fitz was 10. It certainly gives new insight into his visceral reactions to the [[HarsherInHindsight various betrayals]] throughout the series, particularly that of [[spoiler:Grant Ward]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Radcliffe]]. In the Framework, the trope is played straight where Fitz is shown to be a [[TheMengele cold-hearted, sadistic doctor]] having been raised by his father instead of his mother. He even compares himself to [[spoiler:Ward]] when he comes back to himself after [[spoiler:escaping the Framework]].

** It is revealed in season 4 that Leo Fitz had an emotionally, and [[ImpliedTrope potentially physically]], abusive father that abandoned him when Fitz was 10. It certainly gives new insight into his visceral reactions to the [[HarsherInHindsight various betrayals]] throughout the series, particularly that of [[spoiler:Grant Ward]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Radcliff]]. In the Framework, the trope is played straight where Fitz is shown to be a [[TheMengele cold-hearted, sadistic doctor]] having been raised by his father instead of his mother. He even compares himself to [[spoiler:Ward]] when he comes back to himself after [[spoiler:escaping the Framework]].

** Viserys Targaryen lost his family and kingdom when he was no more than a child, leaving him to care for his newborn sister Daenerys (whose birth killed their mother) and carry the fate of the dynasty on his shoulders practically alone. Given the stress of such a situation and the Targaryen tendency for madness, its not really surprising he went nuts.

** Sandor Clegane was mutilated at a young age by his psychopathic older brother and grew up watching that brother rewarded for his brutality with praise and eventually a knighthood, leading Sandor to embrace his BloodKnight tendencies and disdain knighthood because he believes nobility and chivalry are absurd constructs and only the strong survive.

** Pearl and Nash from Season 9.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': It's made pretty clear that a big part of the reason why Frank Burns is such a JerkAss is that his entire childhood was miserable, complete with heaping helpings of [[AbusiveParents ParentalAbuse]] (both physically and mentally).