History Main / TheOphelia

[[caption-width:572:I see a leg of mutton.]]

Maybe this particular cutie was just [[BreakTheCutie broken particularly hard]], maybe it was [[IllGirl an illness]] or maybe she was born that way, but the result is the same, a tragically beautiful, ethereal waif who's mad as a box of frogs. Her beauty is an important point here, underlining her fragility and the sadness of her fate. Her mind may be so far gone that she's likely to murder people, but she'll always have clear skin while doing it. Sometimes, too, she has [[WaifProphet important knowledge]] the sane may lack, in which case she'll often have [[CassandraTruth terrible trouble]] getting anyone to listen (a classical example of MadOracle). The original [[TheCassandra Cassandra]] from ''TheIliad'' was often depicted as a bit of an Ophelia.

* Lilian in ''LauraBow''

* Quinn from ''{{Daria}}'' babbles nonsense and rubs mud on her face after she eats the glitterberries.

* YoshikiHayashi in both stage persona and RealLife, though somewhat less, both as he's gotten older and as therapy for the conditions from which he has suffered has improved from what it was. Arguably, from Yoshiki's autobiography, Yoshiki's father was a RealLife [[TheOphelia male Ophelia]], one whose life sadly ended from suicide at 33.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Jeff Palmer, a sexy porn star, and speaker of rather... wacky conspiracies that the government is trying to give you AIDS. After being informed he has HIV he continued to take part in incredibly dangerous unprotected sex with multiple people.

* [[TheAddamsFamily Morticia Addams]]' twin sister (also played by Caroline Jones in the series; seen for about two seconds in the movies) fits much of this trope. She wears flowers in her hair (if you try to pluck one, her leg lifts up); she's vague at least, though not babbly; and [[WaifFu she's very good at karate]], not noticing that it hurts when she flips men to the ground. Oh, did I mention her name is Ophelia?

In RealLife, of course, mental illness is rarely pretty. But in fiction, there's just something about a lovely young woman, often with [[MessyHair long, disheveled hair]], running around [[TalkativeLoon babbling lyrically]] about the strange visions flashing through her deranged mind, singing creepy little rhymes, scattering flowers and occasionally [[AxCrazy bashing people's heads in.]]

* Brittany Murphy's character in ''Girl, Interrupted''
* [[RunningGag Brittany Murphy?]]
** This troper thinks she was more scary than ethereally beautiful in ''Girl, Interrupted''. Probably the most disturbed patient in the mental hospital, which made her an easy victim for the resident sociopath.

* In ''[[EighthDoctorAdventures The Blue Angel]]'', [[DoctorWho the Doctor]] is basically like this. Since he's [[TheNthDoctor the Eighth Doctor]][[hottip:*:who is undeniably somewhere in the top three of the Doctor's prettiest incarnations]], the prettiness and long, unkempt hair are a given, and he's rather sickly and delicate, he wanders barefoot through his garden (in the snow, even!), and it's implied that all of ''DoctorWho'' may be [[CuckooNest actually just his psychotic delusions]]. [[spoiler:And, [[http://www.google.com/search?q=ophelia+pregnant like Ophelia]], [[MisterSeahorse he's pregnant]]. [[MagicalRealism Sort of]].]]

* ''JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'': Lady Pole ''looks'' like an Ophelia to the casual observer. In fact, she's under an enchantment that forces her to spend every night dancing to exhaustion in [[TheFairFolk Faerie]] and causes her to [[TalkativeLoons speak nonsense]] [[CassandraTruth whenever she tries to tell anyone about it]].
** Adding to it, [[spoiler:once one of her friends is taken away to Faerie to join the dances she attempts revenge on the man responsible with a pistol, thankfully she fails]].

* Ophelia in BrutalLegend.

*** Would [[spoiler: Neville's mother, Alice Longbottom,]] count as an adult version?
*** There ''are'' no adult versions of this trope unless they [[OlderThanTheyLook don't look]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld old.]]

* YoshikiHayashi in both stage persona and RealLife, though somewhat less, both as he's gotten older and as therapy for the conditions from which he has suffered has improved from what it was. Arguably, from his biography, Yoshiki's father was a RealLife [[TheOphelia male Ophelia]], one whose life sadly ended from suicide at 33.

* In ''[[DoctorWhoEighthDoctorAdventures The Blue Angel]]'', [[DoctorWho the Doctor]] is basically like this. Since he's [[TheNthDoctor the Eighth Doctor]][[hottip:*:who is undeniably somewhere in the top three of the Doctor's prettiest incarnations]], the prettiness and long, unkempt hair are a given, and he's rather sickly and delicate, he wanders barefoot through his garden (in the snow, even!), and it's implied that all of ''DoctorWho'' may be [[CuckooNest actually just his psychotic delusions]]. [[spoiler:And, [[http://www.google.com/search?q=ophelia+pregnant like Ophelia]], [[MisterSeahorse he's pregnant]]. [[MagicalRealism Sort of]].]]

*** Well, Devlin and Seth seem fine. Although they are [[DismissedGender male]]].

* Nina from ''{{Monster}}'', when we first meet her. Overlaps with CreepyChild.

* The ''ErgoProxy'' episode aptly named ''Ophelia'' contains liberal amounts of symbolism referencing the titular Shakespearian character. This includes the lead female character's [[spoiler:doppelgänger]] floating in a lake and pulling the famous pose.

Maybe this particular cutie was just [[BreakTheCutie broken particularly hard]], maybe it was [[IllGirl an illness]] or maybe she was born that way, but the result is the same, a tragically beautiful, ethereal waif who's mad as a box of frogs. Her beauty is an important point here, underlining her fragility and the sadness of her fate. Her mind may be so far gone that she's likely to murder people, but she'll always have clear skin while doing it. Sometimes, too, she has [[WaifProphet important knowledge]] the sane may lack, in which case she'll often have [[CassandraTruth terrible trouble]] getting anyone to listen (a classical example of MadOracle). The original Cassandra from ''TheIliad'' was often depicted as a bit of an Ophelia.

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

* Kagami Mikage's mother in AyashiNoCeres. Kagami himself is a cruel MagnificentBastard, but his interaction with his mom is pretty much the only PetTheDog side we see of him.
* Diva from BloodPlus, who also happens to be the BigBad.

* Rachel Weisz plays twin sisters in {{Constantine}}, one of whom is a sort of peripheral Ophelia - confined to a mental hospital, she commits suicide by leaping from a building, plunging through a ''roof'' and into a ''swimming pool'' (a ''cross-shaped'' one to boot) where, naturally, she can float all flowing-haired and dead. The other twin begins to manifest aspects of the trope - visions and immersion in water - without actually losing her mind.

* Sorcha, TheHighQueen of [[TheFairFolk faerie]] in WickedLovely seemed to become one temporarily in the fourth book, due to missing her son, Seth.

* In an episode of XenaWarriorPrincess, Xena is driven mad by the Furies. Oh, she can still kick butt(in a Three Stooges style) but she suddenly wants to weave daisies in her hair.
* CSI:NY has a suspected murderer, who seems dazed and begins babbling about law procedings. As it turns out, she's just a sleepwalker that only just woke up. Bonus points for her name actually being Ophelia.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* Quinn from ''{{Daria}}'' babbles nonsense and rubs mud on her face after she eats the glitterberries.

* Shakespeare himself parodied this type with the Jailer's Daughter in ''The Two Noble Kinsmen''.
* Mary Tyrone in the final scene of [[LongDaysJourneyIntoNight Long Day's Journey into Night]], when she wanders into the room so intoxicated by morphine that she thinks she's a young convent girl again and rambles accordingly. Her acerbic son James even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this: "The mad scene. Enter Ophelia!"

* Yeesha from [[{{Myst}} Uru]] has a touch of this- her speeches have her dancing about the room, using odd phrases, and describing the flow of water.

* Tira from the SoulCalibur games, who leans towards the "AxCrazy" variety.

[[AC:Art]]
* "Crazy Jane" by Richard Dadd fits this trope to the T. So much so that she was inspiration for the character's name in Grant Morrison's "Doom Patrol" (While that other Crazy Jane does NOT fit this trope).

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* Alice, the first major villain in ''{{Batwoman}}'', has many hallmarks of an Ophelia, dressing in bizaree Victorian-esque clothes, speaking almost entirely in quotes from ''AliceInWonderland'', carrying a poisoned razor blade in her mouth and frequently having her makeup run down her face. She also turns out to be [[spoiler:Beth, Kate's long-lost twin sister, and there's a heavy implication that she underwent serious MindRape after she was captured in the shootout that killed their mother when they were 12]].

There's often a surprisingly artistic bent to TheOphelia's madness, she may sing, dance wildly, or try to paint her delusions. She is often [[CloserToEarth tied to nature]] (including [[DoesNotLikeShoes walking around barefoot]], wearing flowers, etc.), particularly water, probably as a nod to the original Ophelia (in {{Shakespeare}}'s ''Hamlet'') who winds flowers in her hair before drowning herself.