History Main / IronWoobie

** Not to mention ''Severus Snape,'' who willingly *chooses* his "sentence" as Harry's protector and Dumbledore's spy in order to honor his friend. He's a Woobie, but he's a HardassWoobie any soldier would want in his foxhole.

** Not to mention Sirus Black

A [[TheWoobie Woobie]] is a character who you like to feel sorry for. They don't need to deserve your pity and can in fact be [[JerkassWoobie quite nasty people]], even downright evil. Then there is the Iron Woobie. An Iron Woobie is a character who has something noble about his Woobie nature. Maybe they became a Woobie of their own free will from a HeroicSacrifice for the sake of {{The Power of Friendship}}. Maybe just their passive powers of endurance show a HeroicSpirit. But in any case there is something about their Woobie nature that you admire.

* The titular character of {{Kimba the White Lion}}. Look at him. He's a cute little white lion cub. Guess what? His parents both manage to die in the first episode. Guess what else? He's the hero, he's the only character other than Roger Ranger to freaking DO ANYTHING USEFUL MORE THAN ONCE, and, in the 1989 dub, he has [[DeathNote Light Yagami's]] [[ptitlews9vjxau4x1j voice actor]].

* The titular character of {{Kimba the White Lion}}. Look at him. He's a cute little white lion cub. Guess what? His parents both manage to die in the first episode. Guess what else? He's the hero, he's the only character other than Roger Ranger to freaking DO ANYTHING USEFUL MORE THAN ONCE, and, in the 1989 dub, he has [[DeathNote Light Yagami's]] [[Heyit'sthatvoice voice actor]].

[[quoteright:350:[[FullMetalAlchemist http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alphonse_elric_2350.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MostTriumphantExample Most Triumphant]] [[VisualPun Example?]]]]

[[FullMetalAlchemist http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alphonse_elric_2350.jpg]]
[[caption-width:476:[[MostTriumphantExample Most Triumphant]] [[VisualPun Example?]]]]

->"In the fell clutch of circumstance
-> I have not winced nor cried aloud.
-> Under the bludgeonings of chance
-> My head is bloody, but unbowed."\\

->''You've always thrown everything you could at me! Well I can take it! And now I can give it back!''
-->--'''Zuko''', ''[[AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''

* [[PokemonSpecial Blue and Silver]] have {{Woobie}} aspects of their own, but they make their own way in life well enough to qualify them for this. Both were abducted at a very young age by the Mask of Ice as part of his special program (Silver was ''2'' when Blue decided to make a break for it), and the two of them have literally been on their own in a world that doesn't understand them. Blue had to act as the big sister via SnakeOilSalesman so they could get by up until they met with Red and Gold, respectively - things would have ended worse for them otherwise. Blue was finally psyched to meet her parents after eleven years of being apart, only for them to get sucked into a spatial anomaly, mounting a rescue op from which they are forcibly parted to intercept Giovanni, and, to top it all off, [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] before the fateful encounter - Oak even told his assistant to not have them look her way for fear of trauma. Silver doesn't get off easy, either - in addition to being petrified alongside Blue, he is assailed by the Three Beasts of Team Rocket to make him a suitable heir to Giovanni, who turns out [[LukeIAmYourFather to be his real father]], and he breaks down before said petrification upon realizing that the [[MagnificentBastard Rocket Don]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming allowed himself to be burned to save Silver's life]]. While they may not need a hug at this stage in their lives, by all means they are entitled to one.

* Battler, from ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi''. Coming to grips with the fact that someone in his family is a murderer and learning upsetting details about everyone's pasts in what is frequently [[TraumaCongaLine an unpleasant fashion]] may lead him to [[HeroicBSOD break down mentally]], but he always comes back in true {{Determinator}} fashion.
** As of the seventh arc, [[spoiler:''[[RichBitch Eva]]'']], of all people, is this.

* Tekkaman Blade of... ''TekkamanBlade''.

** Pegasus Seiya is TheScrappy most of the time, but when he ''does'' show kindness and compassion instead of just going IdiotHero, even his detractors want to hug him. And when he ''cries'' (like [[spoiler: when he learns Shaina's true feelings for him [[TakingTheBullet in the worst way ever]], or in Cassios's AlasPoorVillain death]], it's hard to not cry ''with'' him.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from ''SonicTheHedgehog''. He was responsible for the loss of his best friend, manipulated by at least three different groups or entities to become a force of destruction, and died ([[NotQuiteDead except not really]]) trying to fulfill his promise to his aforementioned best friend. Did I mention that he stole chaos emeralds, beat giant robots, and eventually went super and halted an alien invasion? All the while trying to act hardcore and muttering "MARIA!" whenever he thinks no one is looking.

* {{MS Paint Adventures}}- specifically {{Homestuck}}- has [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003840 Jade]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003846 Harley.]]

** Don't forget Ange. Jesus christ, ''Ange''.

** Hell, ''Shepard'' can be this if s/he has been characterized properly. First off, s/he loses his/her parents to Batarian slavers at a young age. Next, s/he sees his/her entire squad get wiped out on Akuze, leaving him/her as the sole survivor. Following this, s/he [[spoiler: possibly lets his/her love interest die on Virmire so as to continue the mission.]] [[ItGotWorse It only gets worse]] in ''Mass Effect 2.'' Shepard starts the game off [[spoiler: by dying.]] Next, [[spoiler: after being rebuilt by Cerberus]], and forced to work with them, [[spoiler: despite the fact that they killed his/her squad on Akuze]] s/he learns that most of his/her squad has deserted from one another to follow their own paths, once again leaving Shepard alone. Later in the game, s/he is mercilessly chewed out by one of his former squadmates for working for Cerberus, [[spoiler: despite the fact that they essentially saved him/her]]. Finally, [[spoiler: s/he can see most of his squad die in the final mission, including his/her next love interest.]] And yet, s/he [[{{Determinator}} soldiers on.]]

** Alphonse is a ''literal'' Iron Woobie and is the poster boy for this trope. When you [[spoiler:have to choose between a proper but weak body (which he had chased ''for years'') and an unstable, but strong body that enables you to fight properly,]] do you have the balls to choose [[spoiler:the strong but unstable body]]? Al had those balls.

** You know what? Forget Ed. Forget ''anyone else''. Alphonse is poster boy for this trope. When you [[spoiler:have to choose between a proper but weak body (which he had chased ''for years'') and an unstable, but strong body that enables you to fight properly,]] do you have the balls to choose [[spoiler:the strong but unstable body]]? Al had those balls.
*** [[IncrediblyLamePun Literally]] an IronWoobie!

[[caption-width:476:MostTriumphantExample?]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alphonse_elric_2350.jpg

[[caption-width:476:Literally an IronWoobie]]

[[SoRaNoWoTo http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/79688_2721.jpg]]
[[caption-width:225:Don't let the cute smile and slinky gown fool you; all [[ShellShockedVeteran she]] wants is for her BadDreams to go away.]]