History Main / BornUnlucky

** Then there's Dave in Fallout 2. If you talk to him he'll tell you every unlucky bad thing that's ever happened in his life. It would be tragic but it's also extremely funny.

* Lazlow of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''. Lazlow is mainly just a Radio DJ/Show Host of the games, but has this reputation of becoming more and more unlikable with each game. While he thinks himself as a star and funny, life can be quick to assure him that the opposite is true. How he's remained...somewhat successful is never fully explained, but by the time Grand Theft Auto V rolled around, he does suffer a bit of an emotional breakdown on his show which gives us a bit of insight into how his life can be.

* In ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'', Scott says that Rick's unlucky streak started [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2012/5/6/how-to-be-gracious-in-defeat.html when the obstetrician's "spank" his his head instead]]. Rick does not deny or question this.

* ''WesternAnimation/Luck2022'' has Sam Greenfield. She's had bad luck her entire life, and it's kept her from getting adopted so she aged out of foster care. Her bad luck also causes her to lose things, and even makes her a little [[CuteClumsyGirl clumsy]].

* Asebi Inoue from ''LightNovel/BenTo'', who apparently is always sick, is constantly falling from high places and it tends to affect everyone around her. She gets the NomDeGuerre [[{{Shinigami}} Reaper]] despite the fact that she never participates in any of the battles.
* ''LightNovel/ByTheGraceOfTheGods'': Ryouma in his Earth life, pre-reincarnation. In the books, it's mentioned that his colleagues had a in-house RunningGag about it - to the point where they semi-seriously wondered if he'd been cursed. Among other things, Tabachi (the co-worker who was the closest thing he had to a friend) was warned "Don't ''ever'' get on a plane with Takebayashi!". On a good day, the plane would be cancelled or delayed; on a bad? Ryouma was on five planes in two years that needed to make emergency landings!

* Both Lancers in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/FateZero'' have rank E luck (E being the poorest possible for a Servant to have), and both are extremely unlucky in their respective stories. Cu Chulainn is a BloodKnight saddled with a DirtyCoward of a master who denies him battles and leads him to suffer TheWorfEffect, while Diarmud is a TragicHero whose BlessedWithSuck ends up denying him everything he ever wanted from his participation in the Grail War.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has another literal example in Izuku "[[InSeriesNickname Deku]]" Midoriya. [[EveryoneIsASuper Humans in this setting have an estimated 80% chance]] to be born with a Quirk. He's among the 20% that did not.

* Sonja in ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' often gets unlucky and does less damage than she should, as a trade-off for enhanced FogOfWar vision. As enhanced vision is only situationally useful, and even then not very, she basically amounts to [[LowTierLetdown the worst character in the entire series]].
* On ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', to reference the harsh life Zangetsu has had to live, his luck stat is permanently locked at 1 while playing as him no matter how high you level him up. [[BadassNormal Not that he needs good luck]].

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' backstory, one story states that the ancient [[OurElvesAreDifferent Falmer (Snow Elves)]] were visited by Sai, the God of Luck in the Iliac Bay region. He had the ability to bring supernaturally good luck to those around him, but not to himself. However, the Falmer treated him poorly and he refused to ever return to them. They probably could have used the luck, as their once mighty civilization crumbled when they were attacked by the ancient [[HornyVikings Nords]]. The survivors fled to their [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] cousins, but were [[EnslavedElves enslaved]] and [[BodyHorror mutated]] by the Dwemer into the bestial goblin-like creatures seen in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''.
* Harold, a recurring character in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, is practically the definition of this trope. He witnessed the world being destroyed by nuclear war when he was only five years old, and was then separated from his parents when he was placed into a vault inhabited exclusively by children. When the vault opened he went west and became a trader, but his caravans kept getting attacked by mutated monsters. To remedy this he traveled to the source of the mutants to put a stop to them, only to then get mutated himself when things went wrong. Harold can tell the player this story in ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', where he's found begging for spare change in the slums of the Hub. And that's only his appearance in the first game...

* Touma from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is a character with a supernatural ability to negate all other magical or psychic power or influence (i.e. AntiMagic). It's speculated that this is also the reason that he's cursed with bad luck -- this being a magical universe, it also cancels out his "good fate". He encounters more trouble than the other protagonists combined and is the UnwittingPawn to too many people to count.

* Brutis Thornapple aka ''[[http://www.gocomics.com/the-born-loser?ref=comics The Born Loser]]''.
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Born_Loser His family crest]] is a straitjacket, a tax form, a broken eyeglass, and a Poker hand of four spades and a heart.

* Maggey Byrde from ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' has attested on more than one occasion that her life is nothing but disaster. She is accused of murder no less than three times and can't seem to hold down a job; she is called "Goddess of Misfortune" and "Lady Luckless" in-game. She's never even won or tied at a game of tic-tac-toe! But despite this, she's a {{Determinator}} who keeps her head up, no matter how many times her circumstances try to beat her down.

* WesternAnimation/Luck2022 has Sam Greenfield. She's had bad luck her entire life, and it's kept her from getting adopted so she aged out of foster care. Her bad luck also causes her to lose things, and even makes her a little [[CuteClumsyGirl clumsy]].

* WesternAnimation/Luck2022 has Sam Greenfield. She's had bad luck her entire life, and it's kept her from getting adopted so she aged out of foster care. Her bad luck also causes her lose things, and even makes her a little [[CuteClumsyGirl clumsy]].

* Sonja in ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' often gets unlucky and does less damage than she should, as a trade-off for enhanced FogOfWar vision. As enhanced vision is only situationally useful, and even then not very, she basically amounts to [[FakeBalance the worst character in the entire series]].

Contrast BornLucky and UnluckilyLucky. Compare TheKlutz, TheJinx. See also CosmicPlaything (destiny has fun messing with them), ButtMonkey (the butt of everyone's jokes), or TheChewToy (someone whose constant pain is intended to amuse). If the bad luck is meant to be funny, it's because of ComedicSociopathy.

** One-shot character, [[NoRespectGuy Frank Grimes]] is brought into the world as what would happen if someone in the real world met someone like Homer Simpson. Grimes was abandoned as a child, and when recruited for a high-end job, has it replaced by a dog and demoted to a grunt level. He also spent his whole life struggling to even make ends meet even as a child and nothing goes his way, while Homer gets by doing the bare minimum.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has the protagonist. It's pretty unlucky to run afoul of a violent sexual predator who turns out to be influential and spiteful enough to get you arrested for assault, get you expelled from your high school, and pretty much ruin your life. It takes a special kind of bad luck to move to Tokyo and, before even a week has passed, run afoul of ''another'' violent sexual predator who is influential and spiteful enough to get you expelled again (which would mean a one-way trip to juvenile hall). That's not even getting into the part where you fall into the cognitive world and nearly get killed by the living manifestation of said second predator's dark side.

* In ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'', Alpha tells Akira that he spent all the luck in his lifetime by meeting her. His troubled past as a slum orphan and track record of running into dangerous situations on routine assignments seem to corroborate this. Even when he specifically chooses missions and roles designed to run into the fewest and least dangerous enemies, he still manages to get hordes of monsters on his tail. He then becomes fixated on "earning [his] luck back" by performing good deeds while earning money after Sara and Elena save him and inadvertently give him a guilty conscience.
** This is later {{Deconstructed}} in the Web Novels. This is the result of two specific factors: [[spoiler:The first factor, is that due to a byproduct of him being a DifferentlyPoweredIndividual known as an Old World Connector, he unconsciously sends his emotions into other people telepathically, which inevitably results in him being taken advantage of in an environment as harsh as the slums. The second factor, is that being one attracts monsters to him like a beacon.]]

When you're Born Unlucky, it's like the world is out to get you. You, personally. Lucky pennies crumble in your hands; rabbits' feet run away in terror. Black cats won't cross ''your'' path, and mirrors shatter preemptively when you walk into the room. When you walk outside, it starts raining; when you walk inside, your house collapses. The only time you attract good luck is [[YankTheDogsChain as a set up for even worse luck]]: You find a winning lottery ticket, but the wind picks up and blows it out of your hands... and into your rival's. You are really unlucky-- [[IronicEcho so mind-bogglingly unlucky it defies all chance]]. However, you will never die before your time -- because the universe would like to torture you some more.

** Arthur from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' takes this to an extreme. Gameplay wise, he has the worst maximum luck penalty and luck growth out of any character, and his personal skill makes him and any nearby enemies more prone to taking critical hits. His supports mostly focus on all misfortune that befalls him (and those who hang around with him), though he somehow manages to take it all in stride and tries to make himself look heroically when facing off against it. Amusingly, many times when his misfortune affects others, they end up getting something very nice out of it. Then there is his son Percy who ends up being [[BornLucky the polar opposite]] with no negatives.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Oingo is a [[{{Humanshifter}} flawless shapeshifter]] and a man of many talents (necessary to convincingly impersonate people). Unfortunately for him, any time he's assigned to assassinate someone, he's constantly put into situations in which his shapeshifting won't help, such as being forced to swallow lit cigarettes, attempting to poison someone's drink and finding out it's an unopened can of cola, or, the act that ultimately convinces him to retire from assassination, encountering his own concealed bomb and accidentally setting it off.

* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': The lot of poor Ataru Moroboshi is to deal with all of the crazy (but fortunately attractive) aliens of the galaxy, but that's what you'd expect from someone whose [[MeaningfulName name means]] "hit by a falling star". The AllThereInTheManual additional material twists the knife further, stating that he was born on Friday the 13th, in the middle of an earthquake, on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar#Rokuy.C5.8D Butsumetsu]] (the day Buddha died), considered the unluckiest day in the Japanese calendar.

* Just about everybody in ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is a pitiful victim, one way or another. That said, some characters definitely get the short end of the stick more than others. The likes of Splendid, Cro-Marmot, and Flippy rarely die or are ever seriously injured. To a lesser extent Pop, The Mole, and Lumpy die slightly less often than most other characters. Meanwhile, the likes of Petunia, Sniffles, Lifty, Shifty, and Cub suffer more than their fair share of the series' most cringe-inducing, sadistic deaths.

* Just about everybody in ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is a pitiful victim, one way or another. That said, some characters definitely get the short end of the stick more than others. The likes of Splendid, Cro-Marmot, and Flippy rarely die or are even seriously injured. To a lesser extent Pop, The Mole, and Lumpy die slightly less often than most other characters. Meanwhile, the likes of Petunia, Sniffles, Lifty, Shifty, and Cub suffer more than their fair share of the series' most cringe-inducing, sadistic deaths.