History Main / AngstWhatAngst

** [[KidAppealCharacter Tails]] is apparently an orphan that lives alone in his laboratory building things until [[TheMcCoy Sonic]] decides to call him up whenever he needs to use his airplane. It's also mentioned in most continuities that he was heavily bullied before he met Sonic. Yet he still manages to be a CheerfulChild, despite a backstory that should make him every bit as depressed as [[AntiHero Shadow]]. Perhaps him being so happy-go-lucky regardless is because Sonic had that much of a positive effect on him.

** [[KidAppealCharacter Tails]] is apparently an orphan that lives alone in his laboratory building things until [[TheMcCoy Sonic]] decides to call him up whenever he needs to use his airplane. It's also mentioned in most continuities that he was heavily bullied before he met Sonic. Yet he still manages to be a CheerfulChild, despite a backstory that should make him every bit as depressed as [[AntiHero Shadow]].

Contrast TheStoic, EmotionSuppression, ConditionedToAcceptHorror, TooBrokenToBreak, SeenItAll, and UnfazedEveryman for when their lack of angst is justified by their character or experiences; and TheSociopath and LackOfEmpathy for when they're treated as wrong or callus for it. Also contrast StepfordSmiler, HeroicSafeMode, and ToughLeaderFacade for when they try to act like this hiding that they are feeling appropriate angst; and LawOfDisproportionateResponse for when their underreacting to big things and overreacting to little things is used as comedy or to show how mentally unstable they are.

** Some of the Showa series (for non-Japanophiles, "Showa era" means "up to nearly the end of TheEighties.") have angst as an InformedAttribute; sometimes the episode ends with [[Series/KamenRiderBlack Kotaro]] hoping to get Nobuhiko back someday but laughing and having fun with his friends for now at the end of an episode as the narrator assures us that despite the ''soul-searing agony'' that is the ''torturous existence'' of a Kamen Rider, our poor tragic hero shall valiantly soldier on. It's [[{{Narm}} frankly hilarious]].

*** For further justification, the finale three-parter of Series 9 ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven Face the Raven]]"[=/=]"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent Heaven Sent]]"[=/=]"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]") examines '''exactly''' what happens to the Doctor if he isn't able to run. When the Doctor's beloved companion Clara dies in a SenselessSacrifice planned by a woman he failed and his own people, instead of getting to run, he is immediately consigned to a PsychologicalTormentZone where he can only dwell on her loss and his own pain. When he finally breaks out of the torture chamber after billions of years, he responds by going insane and breaking the logic of time and space in a desperate attempt to save Clara, regardless of her own feelings on the matter, not to mention everyone else's. In the end, Clara is forced to wipe his memory of her in order to allow him to return to anything approaching a functioning life, eventually returning them to him once he'd taken another companion, processed his old memories, and moved on.

* ''WesternAnimation/AMatterOfLoafAndDeath'': While he sadly laments Piella's death in the moment, Wallace is quickly back to his chipper old self seconds later]].
-->'''Wallace:''' Farewell, my angel cake. You'll always be my Bake-O-Lite girl]]. ''({{Beat}})'' I think I'll need a cup of tea after all that!

* Speaking of Whedon, his version of ''[[Film/JusticeLeague2017 Justice League]]'' was noted to suffer from the same problem as ''Age of Ultron'' below, but it was even more noticeable since this made two characters - Superman and Batman - act OutOfCharacter. While the two films that led up to ''JL'' - while not flawless in their execution[[note]]''Man of Steel'' does gloss over the damage and deaths caused in the climax, [[DeletedScene but this wasn't the original intention]]; while ''Dawn of Justice'' doesn't necessarily explain Bruce's SanitySlippage well[[/note]] - usually didn't shy away from utilizing SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome to both [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstruct the superhero genre]] and to add some sense of realism to the setting (Such as Superman's struggle to limit the damage to Metropolis in ''Man of Steel'' making people question his motives, or Batman developing PTSD from witnessing the same event), in ''JL'' most of the two character's trauma is largely forgotten about and both regularly crack jokes in the finale. While some watchers were pleased with [[BaseBreakingCharacter this]] [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade Superman]] becoming more light-hearted, both fans and detractors alike have pointed out that having ''Batman'' acting this way isn't only out of character for the DCEU version, but arguably the character in general.

* Firestar in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' doesn't think twice about leaving his 'housefolk' to go live with a group of feral cats. It seems he didn't really care for his owners, which is arguably a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome since plenty of cats ''do'' just run off, but is a bit jarring. He thinks about his feline friends and believes he's better off with Thunderclan, but doesn't think of his humans besides the fact that they'll get a ReplacementGoldfish after he leaves (which they do).

* Nina of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' is gradually revealed to have the darkest past of any of the player party, including being excommunicated by her family, raised half a continent away from her home, and generally shunned from returning thanks to her [[FreakinessShame black wings]]. Apart from being a bit depressed when she explains the symbolism of the latter, she never shows any angst over it, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome due to a stable upbringing, a healthy set of coping mechanisms]], and [[{{Determinator}} willpower]] that impresses even her ancestor.

-->--''WebVideo/ScreenRantPitchMeetings'': ''Film/DayShift''

Given how disliked {{Wangst}} is, you'd think this would be preferable, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it can be mishandled]]. A fictional character shrugging at trauma that would reduce a RealLife person to emotional collapse -- or at least a few honest tears -- can definitely strain the audience's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief (and disturb the in-universe characters too). Someone who does not react to suffering at all can come across as cruel and uncaring -- hardly what it's meant to express. Of course, it can be used for laughs as well, or even for drama, especially if the lack of any emotional emotional is used to imply that something be seriously mentally "off" with the character in question.

If it's later reveal they were suffering angst over it then that's CerebusRetcon, and SalvagedStory if it was done in response to complaints about their lack of angst.

* ''Anime/ChargemanKen'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYdveLWlszo episode 53]] of the memetic anime from the 70s, Ken's sailor uncle, Yamada marries a woman named Yoshiko. Literally a day after the marriage, Yoshiko is revealed to be an alien in disguise and a spy, leading to her getting killed by Chargeman Ken. Immediately following the scene of Yoshiko's death, the episode jumps to Yamada cheerfully taking in the news that his newly wed bride is a dead alien spy, leading to an EverybodyLaughsEnding when his brother suggests finding a new girl.

* ''Literature/TheMister'':
** Alessia comes off as having surprisingly little trauma despite [[spoiler:growing up with a violent, domineering father who forced her into a betrothal to an equally repulsive man, ''and'' being a victim of sex trafficking who was fortunate enough to escape before she was sexually violated (the kidnapping alone was bad enough)]]. She expresses a bit of angst over [[spoiler:the other women being trafficked alongside her - with whom she was on a first name basis -]] but beyond mentioning on a few occasions that [[spoiler:she hoped they escaped]] she rarely thinks about it. This also doesn't impact her romance with Maxim much; despite her background priming her to have issues with trust and intimacy, she quickly overcomes any qualms and is happy to jump into bed with Maxim just weeks after meeting him.
** The novel's climax is sapped of a lot of its urgency and tension due to Maxim's rather nonchalant approach to [[spoiler:Alessia being kidnapped and forced to return to Albania by her crazy ex, who intends to force her into marriage]]. He never seems truly concerned that he might not reach her in time, that he may never see her again at all or that horrible things might be happening to her; he takes his sweet time [[spoiler:coming to her rescue]] and thinks stopping off to drink with his buddy and shop for engagement rings on the way is [[SkewedPriorities a good idea]].* ''Literature/PeterPan'' is legendary for this. Pirates and Indians are fun to read about, and some children would want to have adventures with them. But most children would decide enough was enough after the third time they nearly get killed. The Darlings, by contrast, are having the time of their lives in Neverland, and never wanted to go home until they realized their mother was feeling awful. Not everybody would want to be a kid forever, either -- the ending suggests that being eternally young isn't [[WhoWantsToLiveForever all it's cracked up to be]]. The books lay out that part of why Peter is the one child who will never grow up is because of his immaturity. When an older Wendy asks him what happened to Tinker Bell, he has absolutely no memory of her although the Fairy was a loyal companion. She died seasons ago and faded from Peter's mind to protect him from growing up. Similarly, the longer the Darlings stay in Neverland the harder it gets for them to want to remember their old lives, thus explaining the missing angst. By having Peter avoid getting too angst-filled, it sure does invoke it in the reader.

The [[OppositeTropes polar opposite]] of {{Wangst}}, this is when a character has been given every reason to fall into depression or go AxCrazy, but... just doesn't, and life goes on. They aren't the {{Determinator}}; they aren't holding off their real feelings by an effort of will. Nor are they putting on a brave face because [[DontYouDarePityMe they can't endure pity]]. They're just sort of rolling with it, riding out the adventure as it comes and looking ahead to the next plot event.

* ''Anime/DinosaurKing'': Rex is bizarrely fine with being uprooted from everyone and everything he's ever known and dragged back to the future by his birth parents. Yes, the Ancients are his birth mother and father, and yes they're nice people... ''but they're not his family.'' He's never known them, as he was separated from them as a newborn. Dr. Owen is the only father he's ever known, and Max and Zoe are repeatedly said to be like a brother and sister to him. He's never even BEEN to the Ancients' time... he was born in 65 Million B.C. and was lost on the way back. The Ancients are two people he's never known from a future he's never seen, demanding that he leave behind everyone and everything he loves to be with them... and it's just bizarre that no one, not even Rex himself, mentions how massively unfair that is, not even at the end of Season 2 when the time machine is broken and they explicitly state that he will NEVER be able to return to the modern day again, no matter what. Sure, Rex, says that he'll miss his friends, but you'd expect way more than that, and it never comes... Hell, the end of the first season is even worse, when he leaves '''without even saying goodbye to Dr. Owen, the man who raised him from a baby!!!!''' Seriously, what the Hell?!

* Portrayed in the most [[{{Narm}} unintentionally hilarious]] way ever in ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'': during the AlienInvasion, [[MilitarySuperhero Nantz]] gives a ''long'' [[RousingSpeech speech]] in which he reels off the [[TheDeadHaveNames names and serial numbers]] of all of his men who were killed on the last mission, making it clear he remembers each one of them. After a MelodramaticPause, he [[GutturalGrowler growls]] "But none of that matters now" because they can't dwell on the past and have to get back to killing aliens. Cue laughter ''and applause'' from the audience.

Given how disliked {{Wangst}} is, you'd think this would be preferable, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it can be mishandled]]. A fictional character shrugging at trauma that would reduce a RealLife person to emotional collapse -- or at least a few honest tears -- can definitely strain the audience's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief (and disturb the in-universe characters too). Someone who does not react to suffering at all can come across as cruel and uncaring -- hardly what it's meant to express. Of course, it can be used for laughs as well.

** In ''VisualNovel/SeraphimSlum'', Ezekiel becomes this after entering the slum. Despite being fated to fall, she tells Oriel (with no small amount of glee) that she hasn't been happier than she's ever been in the slum. Justified, as Ezekiel in heaven was suffering in monotony and entering the slum was the only time that made her feel alive.

* ''Film/TheBloodOnSatansClaws'':