History Main / AngstWhatAngst

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH2TimmyToTheRescue'': Despite the fact that Martin went missing when Timmy was young, the latter is seen happily singing in the GrowingUpMontage.

* [[spoiler: Doma]] from ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' is an example of this. He lacked compassion since birth, and was entirely unfazed when [[spoiler: his mentally unstable mother stabbed his father to a bloody mush, then committed suicide right after.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': When six teenagers discover that their parents are supervillains and have to go on the run, they handle it remarkably well, barely complaining about being betrayed. But there are hints dropped that they've been traumatized like real teenage runaways -- they just show it less. (Their motto is that no adult, ever, is to be trusted, and some of the kids -- especially Karolina and Molly -- approach StepfordSmiler territory in the early issues.) The use of this was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Karolina and Xavin when the team is indulging in some (mostly appropriate) angst after [[spoiler:Gert's death]], where Xavin points out that [[spoiler:Karolina's homeworld and at least one Skrull colony world]] have all but been destroyed in a war the two of them failed to stop, and everyone is angsting more about [[spoiler:the death of one girl instead of two whole worlds]].

** How the movie ends for the most part. [[spoiler:Ming tries to outright hurt Mei and ruins the concert that she was anticipating for months, while having an angry fugue episode]]. Anyone with an abusive parent or guardian can tell you that getting physically hurt by a person responsible for protecting you is a trauma that can last for years and cause lingering trust issues. Instead, [[spoiler:Mei forgives her mother after finding her in the astral plane, getting her to the mirror where she can control the transformation again]]. Heck, when Ming was in a similar situation, the trauma colored her for years on end, and it informs most of her actions throughout the movie. The TimeSkip shows that their relationship is in a healthier place, [[spoiler:with Mei being more comfortable about setting boundaries]].

* ''Film/TheSantaClause'': When Scott first arrives at the North Pole, the elves are completely nonchalant about the appearance of a new Santa Claus and show no sign of mourning the previous Santa's death. ''Series/TheSantaClauses'' eventually explains it with the reveal that [[spoiler: the previous Santa didn't really die, but staged his "accident" because he had chosen Scott to take over his role, and the elves were in on the plan.]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': In ''Ball of Fire'', Patrick Jane goes through an ''insane'' amount of trauma. He's kidnapped at gunpoint, sees someone he knows shot dead trying to help him, nearly succeeds at hypnotising the guy who kidnapped him only for ''them'' to be shot in front of him by the [[ManBehindTheMan real kidnapper]]. Then he's held at gunpoint, fired at (simulated execution is a recognised form of torture), tortured with [[ElectricTorture a cattleprod]] for an unknown amount of time but it seems to be most of an afternoon, nearly burned alive along with the person he cares about most in the world and nearly shot before being [[BigDamnHeroes rescued in the nick of time]]. All in a ''day''. In spite of the fact that Jane is not exactly a Navy Seal, the closest thing to emotional fallout from all this is that he no longer says things like, "pain is in the mind." Two episodes later he voluntarily goes undercover at a clinic that uses aversion therapy in the form of electric shocks.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the Champions seem on the whole remarkably cheery despite [[spoiler:having been killed in the Great Calamity and trapped as ghosts in their Divine Beasts for a century. Only Mipha is shown to have been truly upset by this, having been "awash in a pool of tears" until Link came to free her. Revali is more annoyed that Link took so long than anything. Daruk and Urbosa are especially happy and encouraging when guiding Link through their Divine Beasts.]]

* The second ''VideoGame/{{Ubersoldier}}'' has a rather baffling moment in the end where it's revealed the Nazi super-soldier you've spent most of the game's first half battling to be Dietrich Schneider, your LoveInterest Maria Schneider's supposedly-deceased brother, captured and converted into becoming a Nazi tool of war until you defeat him in a boss fight. Dietrich regains his memories in time and eventually betrays his boss, the BigBad Nazi Schaeffer, and performs a HeroicSacrifice to destroy Schaeffer and the Ubersoldier facility for good. Maria actually yells "[[BigNo NO!]]" while you drag her away from the [[CollapsingLair exploding facility]], as the whole place explodes behind you... and in the following cutscene, you're frolicking and rolling around in the snow with Maria, less than a mile away from the facility's ruins, with the not-really-that-upset Maria laughing as she sits on you. Despite, you know, witnessing her brother's death barely an hour ago.

* [[ComicallyInvincibleHero Saitama]] from ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' seems pretty unfazed by the unwarranted hate mail he gets. Might be because [[spoiler: he never had any close friends or family growing up, and lived alone in a secluded area for most of his life. Everything he does including his hero hobby is for himself, thus he does not care what others have to say about it.]]

--->'''[[WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob Cinema Snob]]:''' Weren't you [[spoiler: Doctor Insano?]]\\

* In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', Orsted [[HeroicMime silently]] bears all the misfortunes his quest throws in his way as it slowly goes from a very generic "save the princess" plot into the depths of FromBadToWorse territory. He's told that as long as someone's counting on him, he should keep moving forward, and that's exactly what he does. [[spoiler:Until the princess tells him she hates him and [[DespairEventHorizon kills herself rather than be saved by him]]. Then he, uh... [[OmnicidalManiac breaks.]]]]

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** Gohan's screentime can be summarized thusly. Four years old, kidnapped by screaming crazies twice in one day, learning second-hand that his father was dead, gets abandoned in the wilderness for months, then goes through TrainingFromHell until he develops what a particularly cruel critic might identify as Stockholm Syndrome. He then loses a father figure in a hideous battle against space aliens, battles some more space aliens in an attempt to revive him, loses biological father ''again'' when he gets lost in space and won't come home and doesn't tell anyone why. Biological father finally comes home a year and a half later, they go through three more years of training (four, if you count the time chamber) and then Dad dies again and decides to ''stay dead''. This is six or seven years of consistent, repeated emotional trauma, yet Gohan never stops acting like a happy, well-adjusted little nerd boy. ...Except for that whole ''"Saiyaman"'' phase, which was noted as being weird and unhealthy.
** Android 18 is a minor example; after what is basically being physically SwallowedWhole by Cell's tail and enduring who knows what horrors inside his body and then later getting spat out, she shows no signs of being remotely traumatized upon waking up, seemingly being more concerned with learning Gohan beat Cell than the fact that she was ''EatenAlive''[[note]]Though learning that the one responsible already faced his comeuppance may have helped her a little[[/note]].

*** Bulma asks Goku how he can be so happy when he tells her that he was abandoned in the woods, his grandfather died, and he was left alone for several years.
*** While everyone else is worried about the Cell Games and the possible end of the world, Goku is very chilled and chooses to spend his time hanging out with his family instead of training. This, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness naturally]], has everyone worried.
*** Beerus continuously lays into Goku for his willy-nilly attitude towards the universe's possibility of [[spoiler:being erased]] if they lose the Tournament of Power. He orders Goku to panic or emote something other than excitement.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'':
** For a guy who saw his parents murdered in front of him, saw the Thievius Racoonus torn apart, saw his friends being held captive, been captured a couple of times himself, saw his friend (Bentley) get crippled by Clock-La at [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves the end of the second game]], amongst other stuff, Sly doesn't show much angst.

** In Thieves in Time, Sly isn't too unhappy when Carmelita catches him stealing in the tutorial, putting an end to their relationship or at least making it much harder to maintain. Slightly mitigated by the fact that he and his gang were racing against time then, and he ''does'' worry a little about how he's going to make it up to her later into the game.
-->'''Sly:''' ''(talking to himself)'' How will I explain this to Carmelita? Time travel? She'll never believe it!

* ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'': Queen Amaya is a loving and faithful wife to King Magnifico, who aside from his choice to hoard the by-choice ungranted wishes of his people (as opposed to returning them so people might actualize them on their own) is beloved by the entire kingdom for the peace and prosperity he has brought to them. Over the course of about three days, she watches him JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope into becoming a SorcerousOverlord, much to her horror and to the point of [[spoiler: joining Asha's side to stop him]]...but at the end, when he [[spoiler: proves unredeemable thanks to the hold of forbidden magic and is trapped in his magic staff's mirror upon defeat]], she shows no regret or sorrow and happily [[spoiler: has the mirror placed in the dungeon and becomes the kingdom's sole ruler]]. Discussed in the ''WebVideo/ScreenRantPitchMeetings'' for the film: "Wait, are we sure ''she'''s not evil?"

* ''Manga/BloodBLockadeBattlefront'':

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** A story featured a villain trying to psychically possess [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]]'s corpse. To stop her, [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] secretly had Jean's body dug up and replaced with somebody else's. Oddly, despite all the truckloads of angst that Cyke has had about Jean's death over the years, '''digging up her corpse''' didn't seem to disturb him that much. He got over it in about two pages.
** Discussed by [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Jubilee]] (a [[PluckyGirl sassy orphan]]) and [[Characters/MarvelComicsAngel Warren Worthington III]] (who's been tortured, mutilated, brainwashed, and had his fiancee murdered, and has since been playing TheStoic).
--->'''Jubilee:''' I'm just a kid -- if I want to pretend nothin' ever bothers me, that's my right as an immature brat. But you -- what's your excuse, [[WingedHumanoid Tweety]]?
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', six teenagers discover that their parents are supervillains and have to go on the run. They handle it remarkably well, barely complaining about being betrayed. But there are hints dropped that they've been traumatized like real teenage runaways -- they just show it less. (Their motto is that no adult, ever, is to be trusted, and some of the kids -- especially Karolina and Molly -- approach StepfordSmiler territory in the early issues.) The use of this was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Karolina and Xavin when the team is indulging in some (mostly appropriate) angst after [[spoiler:Gert's death]], where Xavin points out that [[spoiler:Karolina's homeworld and at least one Skrull colony world]] have all but been destroyed in a war the two of them failed to stop, and everyone is angsting more about [[spoiler:the death of one girl instead of two whole worlds]].
* Lady Blackhawk of ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' is mind-controlled in a {{squick}}-inducing fashion by a villain. When one of her teammates later suggests that she should seek therapy, Lady Blackhawk responds that breaking the villain's face was all the therapy she needed.
* Beast Boy/Changeling spent most of his life as a glutton for punishment. Details aside, most people tend to assume he's miserable and pity him. In Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', he makes it clear that the problems in his life don't bother him nearly as much as they think; but what he can't stand is when people feel sorry for him.
* ''ComicBook/XFactor'':
** Strong Guy is one of the "hurts on the inside" variety. He's always cracking jokes, despite emotional pain and physical pain (because of the way his powers warped his body).
** One issue in ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'' was all about [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Doctor Leonard Samson]] going through the team in his role as a psychiatrist. This revealed that [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonetStCroix Monet]] kept all her feelings bottled up inside because she feels she needs to put up a brave face, and she is afraid of losing control of herself, especially with how her brother ended up evil. Meanwhile, Siryn appeared to take her father's death in ''Deadly Genesis'' oddly lightly. She explained that he was bound to come back from the dead, given how [[DeathIsCheap that happens constantly in the Marvel universe]]. Samson is left speechless. Whether that is a perfectly reasonable stance or unhealthy denial is left up to the reader to decide.
* ComicBook/{{Static}} of the Creator/MilestoneComics was created in an attempt of capturing a more modern interpretation of Spider-Man. Virgil carries similar wit and banter but none of the angst. He becomes a Super Hero, not because of dead parents or to follow in his mentor's footsteps. He does it just because he knows right from wrong. The [[WesternAnimation/StaticShock animated series]] plays with it a bit more. Virgil still is a superhero because of a sense of justice, but he also occasionally angsts over his dead mother, who he only just remembers and misses, at least until a TimeTravel episode.
* In ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily'' #165, [[Characters/SupermanSupportingCast Krypto the Superdog]] travels through time and emerges in the past, almost immediately transformed into a cow (thanks to some Red Kryptonite). He finds himself milked, and he gets so upset over his situation he knocks a lamp over, causing a fire. Krypto soon turns back to normal and leaves the farm, only to overhear the farmer calling for Mrs. O'Leary. It is at that moment that Krypto realises that he traveled to the beginning of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Krypto's reaction upon realising that he's the one who caused the greatest fire in history? [[http://www.comicbooktidbits.com/Krypto%27s%20Time%20Trip.htm "Well, I'll fly back to my own time-era!"]]

* The most reaction we get from [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Tim Drake]] about the death of [[LoveInterests Stephanie Brown]] was the story where she was revealed to be NotQuiteDead.
* In ''[[ComicBook/GreenLantern Green Lantern: New Guardians]]'', Glomulus is essentially a living construct made by Larfleeze. As in he can be dispersed whenever Larfleeze feels like it. Kyle Rayner asks if Glomulus is truly alive or not. Glommy's response? "Glomulus is Glomulus." It's kind of endearing that he can brush off something like that.
* [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] was made of this. Billy Batson had his parents murdered when he was around 8 years old, lost his sister, and was given over to his uncle Ebenezer Batson, who was his only living blood relative. Ebenezer only kept Billy around long enough to legally secure the boy's inheritance as his own, and then threw Billy out onto the street, leaving him homeless. But instead of becoming bitter about his circumstances, Billy instead became more empathic to the suffering of others, maintained his positive outlook, and refused to let his bad situation ruin his ideals or his sense of wonder and hope. It was precisely these qualities that made him worthy to wield the power the wizard Shazam bestowed upon him. It's also one reason why many fans dislike the Nu-52 Billy Batson, who has done a complete 180 and is an angry, petulant little brat consumed by {{Wangst}}.
* Lian Harper is understandably freaked out when Dreamslayer summons her in ''[[ComicBook/{{Convergence}} Convergence: Titans]]'' but she manages to roll with everything that happens after Arsenal saves her. She doesn't even seem fazed by how, since the last time she saw her father (which to her had just been earlier in her day), he now has a prosthetic arm.
* An X-Man finally snapped in a 2016 storyline. A serial killer in Germany had been murdering what he had hallucinated with contagious sentients. When [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] saw the mass grave, he had a complete mental breakdown.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Frank's family being killed by criminals during a picnic comes up a lot (especially by criminals facing him), but his only real reaction since it happened is to go out and shoot criminals in the face (for over 30 years in the MAX 'verse). Note that whether this makes him badass or severely mentally disturbed is a debate that goes on in-universe, several characters have gone through similar trauma with nowhere near Frank's level of self-control or detachment. In one case, he managed to snap a man who'd gone through a similar TraumaCongaLine back to his senses with six words: "Do you want to be me?"

* ''ComicBook/YoungJustice2019'': The series manages to somehow entirely avoid the angst that would come with Bart Allen returning to a world where his sidekick role has been filled by Wallace West, his grandpa and grandma are no longer married, his favourite parental figure Linda Park no longer remembers anything about her life with the Flash Family, both of his adoptive fathers Max Mercury and Jay Garrick doesn't even exist '''and''' the fact that Wally West, his preferred partner Flash, has committed manslaughter and is imprisoned. He somehow is just as chipper as he was in [[ComicBook/YoungJustice the '90s series]].

** Luke Skywalker in ''Film/ANewHope'' regarding the deaths of his family members: Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. You know, the people who raised him from a baby. Okay, he grieved for them for... 15 seconds screen time? He seemed over it by the time they reached Mos Eisley. Worse, they ([[''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker probably'']]) can't even become Force Spirits like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin did, each of whom Luke seemed a lot more sad about dying. In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'' Luke ''finally'' talks about his Aunt and Uncle's deaths to Cade who's in their old home. More or less, at first he wanted to make the Empire pay but knew he couldn't stop and angst about it. Later, when he became a Jedi, he accepted their deaths and knew they're part of the Living Force now, which they are.

** Luke Skywalker in ''Film/ANewHope'' regarding the deaths of his family members: Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. You know, the people who raised him from a baby. Okay, he grieved for them for... 15 seconds screen time? He seemed over it by the time they reached Mos Eisley. Worse, they (''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker probably'') can't even become Force Spirits like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin did, each of whom Luke seemed a lot more sad about dying. In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'' Luke ''finally'' talks about his Aunt and Uncle's deaths to Cade who's in their old home. More or less, at first he wanted to make the Empire pay but knew he couldn't stop and angst about it. Later, when he became a Jedi, he accepted their deaths and knew they're part of the Living Force now, which they are.

** Luke Skywalker in ''Film/ANewHope'' regarding the deaths of his family members: Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. You know, the people who raised him from a baby. Okay, he grieved for them for... 15 seconds screen time? He seemed over it by the time they reached Mos Eisley. Worse, they ([[''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker probably'') can't even become Force Spirits like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin did, each of whom Luke seemed a lot more sad about dying. In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'' Luke ''finally'' talks about his Aunt and Uncle's deaths to Cade who's in their old home. More or less, at first he wanted to make the Empire pay but knew he couldn't stop and angst about it. Later, when he became a Jedi, he accepted their deaths and knew they're part of the Living Force now, which they are.

** Luke Skywalker in ''Film/ANewHope'' regarding the deaths of his family. What's that you say? He certainly did wangst about Obi-Wan and Darth Vader? No, I don't mean them. I mean Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. You know, the people who raised him from a baby. Okay, he grieved for them for... 15 seconds screen time? He seemed over it by the time they reached Mos Eisley. In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'' Luke ''finally'' talks about his Aunt and Uncle's deaths to Cade who's in their old home. More or less, at first he wanted to make the Empire pay but knew he couldn't stop and angst about it. Later, when he became a Jedi, he accepted their deaths and knew they're part of the Living Force now, which they are.