History Main / StartOfDarkness

** Season 15 has the ''Desert Gulch Chronicles'' flashbacks, which detail the time when the [[PsychoPrototypes Blues and Reds]] were in the same situation as the Reds and Blues -- playing CaptureTheFlag in a box canyon in the middle of nowhere. One member of the Blue Team, Mark Temple, was childhood friends with Biff, a member of the Red Team. They were even about to try to get Biff medically discharged so he could return to his girlfriend, but before they could do that, Agents Carolina and Texas were sent down for a battle. In the battle, Tex accidentally killed Biff. She and Carolina left the gulch and never thought of it again... but Temple had just lost his best friend, and the revelation that Biff had died for nothing more than a training exercise (and the UNSC had voluntarily given them up for it) broke him. He eventually started tracking down and killing Freelancers ([[MisplacedRetribution even ones who had nothing to do with what happened]]) with the rest of the Blues and Reds, and plotted to destroy the UNSC.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain ComicBook/{{Magneto}} provides the trope image, and has a truly long and harrowing SOD that was revealed in snippets throughout the years following his debut. It would be truly over-the-top if everything about it wasn't mostly [[TruthInTelevision grounded in reality]]. It's also far too long to fully recount here, but let's just say that it isn't too surprising that someone who witnessed first hand the evils of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, the Holocaust, [[GloriousMotherRussia the Soviet Union]], and RedScare-stricken America while losing his whole family, a girlfriend, a wife, and a daughter along the way as well as finding out he's a [[FantasticRacism mutant]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse would end up a WellIntentionedExtremist.

** Madelyne Pryor was originally a pilot who ran into Scott Summers after the death of Jean Grey, and caught his attention because she looked exactly like Jean. After a fairly long run with the X-Men and a stable relationship with Scott that resulted in the birth of Nathan Summers (a.k.a. Cable), Madelyne discovered two things in rapid succession that had a major effect on her; first, that she was a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister to bear Scott's child so that he (Sinister) could have a weapon to defeat his nemesis Apocalypse, and second, that Jean was still alive and that Scott had left her to go find her and return to the X-Men. This was combined with her house being invaded by Sinister, her son being kidnapped, her being shot, and a dream that involved Scott ''stealing'' all of her facial features to create Jean, then leave with their baby, and leaving a faceless, mouthless, Madelyne to walk through a desert until she ran into a demon that offered her a DealWithTheDevil. Thinking (or hoping) that it was AllJustADream, Madelyn agreed... and was promptly subjected to DemonicPossession, leading to the events of ComicBook/{{Inferno}}. Oh, and afterwards her son was sent into the future, and came back as an adult, meaning she missed most of his life. She... never really recovered. Being resurrected by as a psychic vampire by an alternate counterpart of said son, [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]], did not help.

* The DC Comics storyline ''ComicBook/{{Armageddon 2001}}'' had Matthew Ryder become the hero Waverider to go back to the past to hunt down the superhero who would turn evil, wipe out the heroes and take over the world. We later learn, in something of a StableTimeLoop, that Hank Hall, Hawk of ComicBook/HawkAndDove, becomes Monarch after killing the original when he kills Dove.
* The Franchise/{{Batman}} Graphic Novel ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'' has a Start of Darkness story for ComicBook/TheJoker. Just [[MultipleChoicePast one of several]], in fact. Even in this story, he says that he remembers different versions of his "one bad day", but just one is presented in the flashbacks: he used to be an unsuccessful stand-up comedian struggling to support his pregnant wife. To get money for her sake, he agreed to take part in just one robbery, at a chemical factory he used to work at. His wife died suddenly in a freak accident, but his criminal accomplices wouldn't let him back out on the deal. Once they got to the factory, they found there were security guards that hadn't been there before, and the others got shot. Then Batman showed up and chased the future Joker, who fled by jumping into water that turned out to be chemically contaminated. When he got out and found he had been disfigured (or dis''colored''), he finally snapped and went LaughingMad.

** The issue "MadLove" of ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' is also partially a Start of Darkness story, this time for Harley Quinn. It explains who she was and how she ended up with the Joker.

* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': ComicBook/BlackAdam's turn to darkness was explored in a trip to the past. He used to be a champion to his people called Mighty Adam and was every bit the hero. Then a supervillain killed his family. He hasn't been the same since. [[spoiler:History repeated itself in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''.]]

* ''[[Franchise/FridayThe13th Friday the 13th: Pamela's Tale]]'' by Wildstorm, as the name implies, is the story of Pamela Voorhees and how she came to become the first killer of the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise.

* ''Comicbook/MyFriendDahmer'' is about Jeffery Dahmer's high school years as recounted by a former classmate of his and deals with Dahmer's troubled home life as well as him struggling with being a gay necrophiliac, both of which would be contributing factors into him becoming the infamous cannibal serial killer that terrorized Milwaukee.

-->'''Queen Chrysalis''': There is no story. I was born this way.

* ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Reverse Flash: Rebirth]]'' tells the origin story of Professor Zoom, UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} EvilCounterpart of the Flash. The story manages to showcase, via time travel, both what a nutter he ''was'', and what a ''nutter'' he became. Long story short -- he was a child of the BadFuture where [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed The Earth Is]] ''[[AvertedTrope Never]]'' [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed Doomed]], so he kind of started... acting out.

** A series of flashbacks taking place prior to the events of ''Manga/StoneOcean'' act as this for Enrico Pucci [[spoiler:and Weather Report]]. Specifically, [[spoiler:the death of Perla Pucci]] is this was this, [[spoiler: as her death caused the former to become the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned]] KnightTemplar he is now, while the latter gained his hatred for humanity from the event]].

** While the story goes with the idea that [[BigBad Dio Brando]] was [[EnfantTerrible born evil]], Dio himself sees the death of his mother as this, as it was [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth her being worked to an early grave despite her kindness]] that led Dio to the conclusion that VirtueIsWeakness. Had she lived, Dio most likely wouldn't have become the vicious monster he is now.
** [[spoiler:The death of Perla Pucci]] prior to the events of ''Manga/StoneOcean'' is this for both [[spoiler:Weather Report and Enrico Pucci. Had she not died, the former wouldn't have gained his hatred for humanity, while the latter wouldn't have become the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned]] KnightTemplar he is now]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Character Trailer for Volume 6 shows the trajectory of Adam, from his earliest days as a violent pro-faunus activist to his actions during the show, being a villainous anti-human that partakes in genocides.

* ''Anime/RahXephon'': One episode presents the back-story of Makoto Isshiki, an EvilAlbino who is a cold-hearted seducer and major jerk to everyone else. It shows him as a cute and kind boy who just wanted to find his parents. Then, one day he admitted to himself [[CloningBlues what he really was]], and his flashback ends with him getting an ImportantHaircut and taking on his nasty personality.

** Chapter 0, a special tie-in to the tenth movie. In it, we see Shiki and Gold Roger's rivalry, as well as the Flying Pirate's escape from Impel Down and his preparing for the movie's plot. Interspersed are scenes of people throughout the world, reacting to both Roger's death and Shiki's escape.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' sees the lovable {{Adorkable}} companion ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Wheatley}}'', who had been helping you escape Aperture, go [[spoiler:completely nuts once he is put inside GLaDOS' mainframe. He betrays Chell and sends her and GLaDOS, now trapped in a potato battery, down to the sealed test chambers while he takes over Aperture. Being told you were built to be a moron, combined with a corrupting AI mainframe, does that to you]].

* ''Portal 2'' sees the lovable [[Adorkable]] companion ''Wheatley'' go [[spoiler:completely nuts once he is put inside GLaDOS' mainframe. He betrays Chell and sends her and GLaDOS, now trapped in a potato battery, down to the sealed test chambers while he takes over Aperture]].

* ''VideoGame/Portal 2'' sees the lovable [[Adorkable]] companion ''SelfDemonstrating/Wheatley'' go [[spoiler:completely nuts once he is put inside GLaDOS' mainframe. He betrays Chell and sends her and GLaDOS, now trapped in a potato battery, down to the sealed test chambers while he takes over Aperture]].

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Maria's death at the hands of G.U.N. was this to Shadow and was his main motivation for wanting to destroy the Earth.

* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', there was once a character named Turbo, protagonist of the racing game ''[=TurboTime=]'', who '''loved''' the attention he got from gamers when they played his game. When a newer racing game, ''[=RoadBlasters=]'', came to the arcade and took the gamers' attention away from him, he [[BerserkButton didn't take it well]]. He took it '''so''' poorly, in fact, that he left his own game and entered ''[=RoadBlasters=]'' in an attempt to sabotage it. He succeeded, at a price: both ''[=TurboTime=]'' and ''[=RoadBlasters=]'' were deemed permanently out-of-order, unplugged and removed from the arcade. Turbo's reckless actions were so shocking that a phrase was created to describe them: "going Turbo". It's actually through an explanation of the meaning of the phrase that the aforementioned events are shown in a {{flashback}}. It turns out that [[spoiler:Turbo actually survived and went on to invade an even newer racing game by the name of ''Sugar Rush'', forcing himself into the game with a disguise and a new name: "King Candy". Unfortunately, the game already had a playable royal by the name of Vanellope von Schweetz, but he soon [[DummiedOut fixed that little issue]]. ...So, yeah, he's definitely the BigBad.]]

* The ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novel ''Literature/TheThran'' is this for Yawgmoth, showing him rise from an exiled doctor into becoming first dictator of Halcyon, and then the BigBad GodOfEvil he's mostly known as.

** The mobile app Magia Record reveals how Nagisa Momoe turned into the witch Charlotte, who famously and memeticially bit Mami's head off. [[spoiler: Her magical girl idol and her mother were both murdered by a serial killer, and the resulting trauma caused her to witch out.]]

--->'''Janus''': We're both orphans, James. But where your parents had the luxury of dying in a climbing accident, mine survived the British betrayal and Stalin's execution squads... but my father couldn't let himself or my mother live with the shame of it. MI6 figured I was too young to remember... and in one of life's little ironies, the son went to work for the government whose betrayal caused the father to kill himself and his wife.

* Speaking of Darkwing Duck, ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' does this for Negaduck in the episode "The Duck Knight Returns!" [[spoiler:Jim Starling was the actor for the Darkwing Duck TV series in-series. However, when a movie was being made, the decision was made to replace him with a new actor. [[ItsAllAboutMe Being a tad egotistical]], he went crazy and attempted to take over the movie and kill his replacement. The end result lead to set exploding and Jim, believing that it was all the replacement's fault, embraced his evil side. Oh, and the replacement? [[CanonCharacterAllAlong A young Drake Mallard]], who is convinced by Launchpad to be the ''real'' Darkwing Duck.]]

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': A multi part flashback details why, [[spoiler: Temple]] the BigBad of season fifteen is so hell bent on destroying the UNSC and [[TheRemnant surviving agents of Project Freelancer]], rather [[CruelAndUnusualDeath sadistically]] in the latter's case; Back when [[spoiler: Temple]] was just a regular sim trooper, he and his best friend Biff were trying to get the latter injured enough, so he can go back home to his wife and child to be, only for Freelancer Agents Carolina and her [[TheRival rival Tex]], to accidentally kill Biff while fighting each other and when [[spoiler: Temple]] begged her for help, Carolina [[KickTheDog brushed him aside]] to go back to her fight with Tex. Oh, and that's not even getting into the fact that [[spoiler: Temple]] and his comrades were being used as glorified guinea pigs and target practice for Project Freelancer and their agents with ''permission'' from UNSC.

** Fits this trope because at the bottom of the scale the player becomes so irrationally self-centered and evil that they cannot be played and become an NPC. What kind of monster depends on the game: for mortals, you become a SerialKiller, werewolves become a movie-style wolf-man that hunts humans for fun, changelings become completely unable to tell imagination from reality, vampires become ravening blood-crazed beasts, and mages turn everything in their area of effect into a Franchise/CthulhuMythos story.

* ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'': ComicBook/BlackAdam's turn to darkness was explored in a trip to the past. He used to be a champion to his people called Mighty Adam and was every bit the hero. Then a supervillain killed his family. He hasn't been the same since. [[spoiler:History repeated itself in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''.]]

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain ComicBook/{{Magneto}} has a truly long and harrowing SOD that was revealed in snippets throughout the years following his debut and would be truly over-the-top if everything about it wasn't mostly [[TruthInTelevision grounded in reality]]. It's far too long to fully recount here, but let's just say that it isn't too surprising that someone who witnessed first hand the evils of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, the Holocaust, [[GloriousMotherRussia the Soviet Union]], and RedScare-stricken America while losing his whole family, a girlfriend, a wife, and a daughter along the way as well as finding out he's a [[FantasticRacism mutant]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse would end up a WellIntentionedExtremist.
** After decades of speculation, ''First X-Men'' showed readers Sabretooth's start of darkness. While [[AntiHero Victor Creed was never that nice a guy]], what finally pushed him over the edge into full-blown villain territory was the death of his girlfriend Holo. Holo was a member of a ragtag rebel band of mutants that Wolverine and Creed had put together, and after a while, Creed wanted the two to throw a ScrewThisImOuttaHere before the final fight to keep Holo safe, but she would not have it. Sure enough, she dies. What probably made it worse is that, while she was dying, she used her powers to show Creed the life they could've had, with the two growing old and happy together, before cutting the illusion to reveal that she was in fact mortally wounded. Creed ends up blaming Logan, and to this day, makes it a tradition to kill any woman Logan is involved with.
** Madelyn Pryor was originally a pilot who ran into Scott Summers after the death of Jean Grey, and caught his attention because she looked exactly like Jean. After a fairly long run with the X-Men and a stable relationship with Scott that resulted in the birth of Nate Grey (AKA Cable), Madelyn discovered two things in rapid succession that had a major effect on her - that she was a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister to bear Scott's child so that he (Sinister) could have a weapon to defeat his nemesis Apocalypse, and that Jean was still alive and that Scott had left her to go find her and return to the X-Men. This was combined with her house being invaded by Sinister, her son being kidnapped, her being shot, and a dream that involved Scott ''stealing'' all of her facial features to create Jean, and leaving a faceless, mouthless, Madelyn to walk through a desert until she ran into a demon that offered her a DealWithTheDevil. Thinking (or hoping) that it was AllJustADream, Madelyn agreed... and was promptly subjected to DemonicPossession, leading to the events of ComicBook/{{Inferno}}. Oh, and afterwards her son was sent into the future, and came back as an adult, meaning she missed most of his life. She... never really recovered.

* ''Videogame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' deals with Handsome Jack's rise to power and how he went from someone with legitimately heroic aspirations to the power-hungry and delusional villain of ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}''.
** However, ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'' reveals in a side-mission the true start. [[spoiler: After learning his daughter Angel manifested Siren powers and fearing she would be a target for anyone who would want her for themselves, she was eventually kidnapped in front of him and his wife by a bandit named Grogmouth. A scared Angel accidentally activated her abilities and took control of Grogmouth's turrets, firing wildly at everything. Not only does the bandit get killed, but so does Jack's wife/Angel's mother accidentally. This drives Jack clear over the DespairEventHorizon and JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in the process. He locks Angel (a child no less!) in a solitary chamber "for her own good", only to later decide to use her powers to his own benefit, starts the events of the first Borderlands in the process and rises up the ranks of Hyperion as seen in the Pre-Sequel where ItGetsWorse.]]

** However, ''[[VideoGame/Borderlands3]]'' reveals in a side-mission the true start. [[spoiler: After learning his daughter Angel manifested Siren powers and fearing she would be a target for anyone who would want her for themselves, she was eventually kidnapped in front of him and his wife by a bandit named Grogmouth. A scared Angel accidentally activated her abilities and took control of Grogmouth's turrets, firing wildly at everything. Not only does the bandit get killed, but so does Jack's wife/Angel's mother accidentally. This drives Jack clear over the DespairEventHorizon and JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in the process. He locks Angel (a child no less!) in a solitary chamber "for her own good", only to later decide to use her powers to his own benefit, starts the events of the first Borderlands in the process and rises up the ranks of Hyperion as seen in the Pre-Sequel where ItGetsWorse.]]