History Main / HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'': Downplayed. Gru's mother was more neglectful than abusive, but her constant "eh" reaction to young Gru's moon interests, even when he '''builds an actual rocket by himself''', achieve the same effect as most examples of this trope.

* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' is a prime example of this. Even the fact that his parents sold him to [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily the "very nice people"]] for organ harvesting is played for laughs. InUniverse, when he talks about his childhood, most of the listeners burst into tears.

** The song "When I Was Your Age" features horrible incidents from the narrator's childhood. However, given how outrageously over the top (i.e. physically impossible) all of them are, it's not likely there's any truth in them: "Then he'd chop me into pieces and play Frisbee with my brain/ And let me tell you, Junior, you never heard me complain!"
** "Albuquerque" fits, too, given the bizarre conditions of the narrator's childhood, though that's not the only subject of the song. His mother made him live in a box under the stairs in the basement and force-fed him nothing but sauerkraut until he was 26. (And a half.) He didn't get out of there until he won a plane ticket to the eponymous city in a radio contest. It kind of explains why he's [[ComedicSociopathy so]] [[SarcasmBlind messed]] [[LaughingMad up]].

** The series isn't above playing Denji's horridly impoverished childhood for laugh. One omake is about him enjoying and carefully rationing "cake", which is just uncooked flour and water.

* In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', ButtMonkey Kobeni's parents financially & emotionally abused her by pressuring her to enter workforces that are either life-threatening or straight-up abusive, including the DemonSlaying Public Safety Devil Hunters Bureau with an absurdly HighTurnoverRate. [[spoiler:She even considers being on the run and in hiding from [[TheAntichrist Makima]] to be a blessing because it means she has the perfect excuse to finally cut ties with them. Unfortunately, this just meant her [[HereWeGoAgain younger brother had to take her place]].]]

** Scootaloo is [[spoiler:Dash's]] daughter who she [[ParentalNeglect pays no attention to]].

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichigo has grown up being constantly attacked by his father, usually by being ambushed, especially when entering or leaving a house or being woken up in the morning by an ambush attack. It's always PlayedForLaughs and tends to degenerate into a silly catfighting between the two. On one occasion, however, it's played for drama. Isshin is shocked when his ambush succeeds, flooring Ichigo who doesn't fight back. It's designed to emphasise how depressed and unhappy Ichigo is at the time. Isshin seems to have a more serious reason for having raised Ichigo this way, as implied when he and Ryuuken discuss what terrible fathers they both are.
* ''Webcomic/ChaosAttack'': After Doah Lee lost his parents at the age of ten, his overprotective, violent older sisters decided to take care of him, and he'd often wind up caught in the crossfire of his sisters' assaults on his bullies. To the point that he ''warns'' a pair of bullies taking his money and says to get away as soon as possible before she comes and beats the ever-loving daylights out of them. [[spoiler: He was too late.]]

* Played with: Ed and Al's [[TrainingFromHell training]] with [[BadassTeacher Izumi]] in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is shown like this, to the point that hearing her name is enough to turn them into pathetic wrecks. But then they ''asked'' her to train them. They even ''insisted'', because they were desperate for power, and Izumi actually ''went easy on them'' and what they were put through was child's play compared to the training Izumi went through herself. Of course, her idea of going easy on them during their training was to strand them on a deserted island for a month, then get her store assistant to dress up as a monster, steal their food, and beat the crap out of them every day until they toughened up. At least he was around to make sure they didn't die, which was more than she got (she was supposed to train under a skilled alchemist, but instead under his martial arts twin brother. During the harsh lessons, she did form her alchemy philosophy from it.)

** Kafuka Fuura. Though she doesn't [[BewareTheNiceOnes seem]] like she notices it. To list some of the things that has happened to her: Her mother was possessed by the devil, and in order to cure her, she was forced to repeatedly strike her with a cross, her father became redundant, and repeatedly tried to kill himself, even if he was described as a caring and loving father, the teacher who she's in love with is also trying to kill himself all the time. And to top it off, [[spoiler: She died at a young age, and is really just a mirage or some kind of body hopper, that the main characters are seeing.]] And yet she's the class's {{genki|Girl}}, [[ThePollyanna optimist]], [[TheDitz lovable idiot]], and local alien enthusiast.

*** She constantly criticized, mocked, and looked down on her elder daughter Kazue's choices and deemed everything she did not good enough. For example, she criticize her for getting married to Minegishi, for divorcing him, and she mocks her again when she [[spoiler: get back together with him]].

* In ''Website/TheOnion'', this article: [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/abusive-father-cant-wait-to-see-the-art-hes-inspir,27192/ "Abusive Father Can't Wait To See The Art He's Inspiring His Kids To Create"]], is this trope embodied:

* In ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'', Draco harbor an unhealthy need to get his father's approval, which is usually played for laughs. Lucius abuses the boy verbally and sometimes even physically. It turns out that the reason for this is [[spoiler: Draco is not truly his son, but rather the product of an affair between his wife Narcissa and ''Dobby'' (seriously).]]

** Behold, [[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91093.0 the finest in Dwarven childcare]]. It's like normal childcare, except with more dogs and less care.

* Tycho from ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', shown [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/01/13/ here]], [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/01/17/ here]], [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/06/30/ here]], [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/06/23/ here]], [[OverlyLongGag and]] [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/07/04/ here]]. Yikes.

** Monette discussing her DisappearedDad: "He spent the first six months of my life battling my mother for custody of all of us, and when he got it, he took my sisters and dumped me on my grandma's doorstep. And she wasn't even there! She was on vacation. And she raised pitbulls at her house [...] He had tied raw, bloody steaks to my head." Her grandmother wasn't much better, [[https://somethingpositive.net/comic/christmas-memories/ as we see in her recounting of childhood Christmases]]. Meanwhile, Jason's father is a psychiatrist who "used his field of study to bully children" and abandoned the family when he got bored with them. Before that, he was emotionally abusive towards them in a number of ways, including "giving me invoices for how much love I owed him per week. That wasn't so bad, but the man did the audits suck." Davan's father was usually fine, but had his interesting moments;

* While playing "Patently Stupid" from ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack'', LetsPlay/{{Technoblade}} is given a prompt to somehow teach a baby to understand theoretical physics. His solution is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV35TwX_xps threatening the baby with a gun]], because according to him, "Fear is the greatest motivator."

** And there's, of course, Marik's father, Hank Ishtar, who did things like beat up Odion for killing the snake that attacked Marik (it was his pet cobra, Cornelious) or making Marik a tombkeeper with the peinful ritual of carving symbols in his back with a red-hot knife... and then forcing him to watch ''Film/BeverlyHillsChihuahua''. (Marik is more horrified by the second part). He also bought a Playstation and an Xbox for his kids, but he not only forbids them from going outside to buy games, he also keeps pouring beer on them.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Ultimate}}'': Ultimate gives one to [[KidSidekick Lance]] by using heavy weights, shooting him, and dropping a car on him. Matilda calls him out on it and [[spoiler: he eventually stops when he realizes it.]]

-->'''Techno:''' That baby better learn! He better learn ''right this instance'' or I don't know what I'm gonna do to that baby! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO TO THAT BABY IF HE DOESN'T [...] COMPREHEND THEORETICAL PHYSICS '''''RIGHT THIS INSTANT! I SWEAR TO GOD! YOU BETTER LEARN THOSE EQUATIONS!''''' That is all.

-->'''Barbie:''' ''Mom'', [[HypocriticalHumor you can't just throw babies!]]
-->'''Margaret:''' Yes, you can! I used to throw you all the time, and you turned out fine-OnSecondThought, perhaps you're right.

--> '''Janeway''': This is where you, armed with a gun, hunt defenseless lil' ol' me down throughout the ship. Y'know what we called this growing up? Father's Day.

--->'''Gozaburo''': [[Series/Roots1977 Whip him until his name is Toby]]!

--->'''Gozaburo''': Ah, Good. You must be the new man servant I ordered.\\
'''Noah''': No, father, it's me! Your biological son!\\
'''Gozaburo''': IHaveNoSon! Oh wait, yes I do! ''[shows a picture of Seto]'' Look! I just adopted him. Isn't he adorable?\\
'''Noah''': But I'm your real son. You've raised me for ten years!\\
'''Gozaburo''': I'm pretty sure I'd remember something like that. Now get back to swabbing the floors.\\
'''Noah''': But I--\\
'''Gozaburo''': SWABBING, I SAY!

*** She forces her IllGirl second daughter Izumi (who is weak enough to get exhausted from a kitten standing in her head) to push herself physically.

* The eighth issue of the ''ComicBook/{{Madballs}}'' comic book by Star Comics (a now-defunct subsidiary of Creator/MarvelComics) had Dr. Frankenbeans' assistant Snivelitch warmly reminisce on how his father used to give him the pet name of "Get lost".

* From ''Roleplay/YukariIsFree'', [[EmbarrassingNickname Tardboy]] was apparently locked in a cage by his mother and led around on a leash.

* In ''Website/TheOnion'', this article: [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/abusive-father-cant-wait-to-see-the-art-hes-inspir,27192/ "Abusive Father Can't Wait To See The Art He's Inspiring His Kids To Create"]], is this trope embodied and taken UpToEleven:

** The Christmas 2007 event had users fostering adorable shabby orphans, who would hang out by the user's avatar. Their lives at the orphanage were a clear Dickens parody turned up to eleven -- "imitation" gruel for food, ''whiskey'' to keep warm, scraps of carpet for toys... many users [[VideoGameCaringPotential tried to keep their orphans]], which led to a later Chance Item being adoption forms.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Piccolo's training of Gohan summed up in one word: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6npO-NoOPOg "DODGE!"]] nd yet everyone, including Piccolo, Gohan and Goku, considers Piccolo a better dad than Goku.

In [[RealLife the real world]], child abuse is a traumatic event that can warp a child's psyche, causing them extensive physical and psychological problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as they develop into adults. Sometimes, [[TheChainOfHarm abused children will go on]] to [[TroubledAbuser abuse children themselves]]. It's a horror that takes years of intensive therapy and anger management to recover from, and, worst-case scenario, it can stay with you for life. Another possible [[FateWorseThanDeath unfortunate outcome]] is the abused child [[DrivenToSuicide putting an end to their own life.]] Therefore, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''

* Banjo and Medium Dave from ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''. They fondly remember their mother as "tough but fair." By the end, the comedy is cut away and the real effect of Ma Lilywhite on Dave in particular is shown... and [[FunnyAneurysmMoment it's not funny anymore]].

** The book features a hysterical extended sequence where the author, Gary Larson, "explains" the bizarre and often extremely dark nature of his humor with a series of supposed drawings from his childhood, where it's revealed, among other things, that his mother tried to murder him by hiding his cookies in the middle of the highway, his father liked to amuse other children by holding him over an alligator pit, his brother once tied him to a tree and set it on fire, and that he was forced to ride in the trunk of the car. A substantial part of the humor comes from the fact that while the ''reader'' realizes how grotesque this is, the ''author'' himself does not, and reminisces fondly of his family life as a kid.

** The Demoman was given up for adoption at birth, accidentally killed his adoptive parents, sent to an orphanage, and only contacted by his real parents when his bitterness and lack of depth perception had honed his demolition skills. If similar things aren't confirmed for at least half of the cast, I'll eat my shirt.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Piccolo's training of Gohan summed up in one word: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6npO-NoOPOg "DODGE!"]]

* Played with: Ed and Al's training with [[BadassTeacher Izumi]] in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is shown like this, to the point that hearing her name is enough to turn them into pathetic wrecks. But then they ''asked'' her to train them. They even ''insisted'', because they were desperate for power, and Izumi actually ''went easy on them'' and what they were put through was child's play compared to the training Izumi went through herself. Of course, her idea of going easy on them during their training was to strand them on a deserted island for a month, then get her store assistant to dress up as a monster, steal their food, and beat the crap out of them every day until they toughened up. At least he was around to make sure they didn't die, which was more than she got (she was supposed to train under a skilled alchemist, but instead under his martial arts twin brother. During the harsh lessons, she did form her alchemy philosophy from it.)

* ''Literature/GideonTheNinth'': Gideon did ''not'' have a good time growing up in the Ninth House as a universally reviled indentured servant. She's mostly blase about it, treating instances like having the heat turned off in her cell until she's so cold she's left screaming in a hallway as comically mundane, but it gets PlayedForDrama later, especially when it comes to her twisted and entangled history with Harrow.

* ''Manga/{{Working}}'' have two examples: