History TragicVillain / WesternAnimation

* [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Mr. Burns]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. He was a CheerfulChild, but his grandfather, a cruel and insensitive man, was the reason why he is the man we know today. He lured him away from his loving parents and forcibly adopted Burns. There's also the loss of his teddy bear, Bobo, but that may or may not have actually contributed to it.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': [[Characters/AmphibiaKingAndrias King Andrias]] has committed ''a lot'' of unspeakable atrocities and shockingly violent actions against both the people he's meant to rule over and his enemies, but TheReveal of his past in "The Core & The King" makes it clear that he's the way he is because he was raised to be. The 'king' of Amphibia is merely a PuppetKing for the Core's commands and orders, with each successive generation being raised to follow its commands and plans for their society without question before the previous king is [[YouWillBeAssimilated merged]] into the ''true'' ruler upon their passing. Andrias was supposed to inherit the duty of invading other worlds to [[MetalPoorPlanet sustain their way of life]], being ignorant of the fact he would be required to enslave or exterminate the native populations until the day before he left, but Leif received a vague prophecy that [[PlanetLooters their actions]] would eventually destroy Amphibia after coming into contact with the music box. [[CassandraTruth Unable to convince anybody]] of the truth of her words thanks to the Core's [[ItsAllAboutMe lack of care]] for anything beyond itself, Leif [[IDidWhatIHadToDo reluctantly]] stole the key to the music box from Andrias in a moment of emotional vulnerability and sent the Box to earth to stop their people's self-destructive way of life. Andrias was devastated by her betrayal and his father's [[DisappointedInYou condemnation]] of him for his 'mistake' in trusting others, making it clear that Andrias could never make up for such a colossal error. Andrias then spent 1,000 years mentally connected to the Core after becoming king, which actively encouraged his [[MustMakeAmends guilt]] and regrets to make him [[BlindObedience absolutely loyal to it]] despite his emotional misgivings about some of its actions. By the present day, it's greatly implied that whilst Andrias might take some amusement from the small-scale acts of evil he commits, [[BeingEvilSucks he's not truly happy about betraying Marcy]] and using her as a vessel for the Core, and isn't ''really'' interested in becoming a MultiversalConqueror, but he's so determined to [[WellDoneSonGuy live up to his ancestor's legacy]] that he refuses to allow any emotional misgivings to dissuade him from his path. This forms a [[EvilCounterpart dark parallel]] to Anne's own positive CharacterDevelopment born from wanting to make her biological parents proud of her, showing how Andrias honestly ''could'' have been [[TheGoodKing a good and noble ally]] to the heroes, but has [[FallenHero become twisted over time]] into 'the worst version of himself' due to the type of family legacy he was born into. When he receives Leif's final letter through Sprig, he laments that he's come too far to stop, and in order to keep the Core from performing any more {{Villain Override}}s on him, he lowers his defenses and lets Anne strike him down so he's no longer ''able'' to continue the invasion, because he sees no other option.

* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': The BigBad Dracula sets off to destroy humanity upon finding his, human, wife burnt at the stake because her interest in medicine was mistaken for witchcraft. Though he acted in anger, the sadness of the loss far outweighs that and his offensive becomes directionless. The raw hatred he had for humanity dulls considerably and he's only left a lonely and broken man going through the motions. Even his affection for other Vampires simply fades away and he tries to snuff out their food-source, uncaring if his own species dies along with the humans. In the FinalBattle of season 2 [[spoiler:he ultimately stops his fight with Alucard when the revelation that his anger and sadness have caused him to nearly kill his own son, one of the only other people he still loves]]. This ends up finally breaking him and ending his aggression.

** Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter, wanted the woman he fancied but he used mind control to do it. He is shamed by Batman during their first encounter.

** Harevy Dent was an honorable, justice-driven man who is simply enslaved to a ball of repressed anger he's held back for years until the tragedy that malformed his face forced turned him into the villain Two-Face and allowed his dark side to come to the surface.

** Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter, wanted the woman he fancied but he used mind control to do it. He is shamed by Batman during their first encounter.

** Kasef is this because Viren attacked the human kingdoms to convince humans to attack Xadia, but he doesn't know that Viren is the one who did it and that Viren doesn't care for collateral damage for his goals
** Karim wants to start a new war against humans to get revenge that Viren turned Lux aurea into a rotting wasteland and half of their people died in his dark magic radiation, including his sister Khessa and his best friend Osato, also he wants to overthrow his sister Janai for wanting to marry a human and he feels she wants to get rid of their culture by embracing humans

** Claudia was helping her dad Viren conquer the continent because they both believed at the time that it was best to protect humanity, but after Viren died and Claudia resurrected him, Viren came to reflect that he was wrong about everything he believed of the war between humans and xadians, he just wanted excuses to kill and exploit xadians and wildlife and deny is his fault things got worse, and he realized too late the damage he did to Claudia's psyche of not caring for morality and consequences of their actions, as she still wants to believe Viren is always right and she doesn't understand everyone turned against Viren because he is a greedy and selfish oportunist and traitor, she lost a foot fighting her former friends to release Aaravos whom she believes will help her revive Viren, but everyone else knows he likes to do death and destruction just for fun

* ''WesternAnimation/{{TheDragonPrince}}'':

** The Ice King assumes this role when it is revealed in a WhamEpisode that [[spoiler:he used to be a normal human with a fiancé, whom he called his "princess". His ArtifactOfDoom ice crown made him go insane ''and'' made his fiancé leave him when he just tried it on for a laugh, turning him into a hermit who constantly kidnaps princesses, subconsciously trying to get Betty back]]. A later episode reveals that [[spoiler:Betty actually didn't abandon him, as she was running from him in fear of his insanity. In the future, the Ice King temporarily turns back to normal and opens a portal through time to say one last goodbye. Though [[ActionGirl Betty]] basically says "Screw that" and jumps through the portal into the present day, Ooo determined to find a way to permanently cure him]].

** Megatron himself used to be an idealist freedom fighter who could see the injustice and corruption of the society he lived in. But his lack of understanding of things like kindness and tolerance made him walk down a dark path that eventually led to the death of his own planet.

* Count Dooku from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTalesOfTheJedi'' gets revealed as one, after the loss of Qui-Gon Jinn. Prior to the Clone Wars, Dooku was a very conflicted individual. The pain of his dead apprentice, struck him harder than even Obi-Wan, resulting in a bitter, broken-hearted betrayal. Sidious used Dooku's resentment of the Jedi Order, to corrupt him and as a result turned Dooku, into the Sith he would become.

* Mr. Burns from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. He was a CheerfulChild, but his grandfather, a cruel and insensitive man, was the reason why he is the man we know today. He lured him away from his loving parents and forcibly adopted Burns. There's also the loss of his teddy bear, Bobo, but that may or may not have actually contributed to it.
* Roger Smith from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. It is revealed that he is so evil because his species releases a bile that kills them if they don't "let their bitchiness out". Made worse when it is revealed the reason he is trapped on Earth is that the others of his species wanted to get rid of him.

** Prince Zuko. The snarling, angry, ruthless teenager turns out to be a WellDoneSonGuy who just wants to return home and be loved by his [[AbusiveParents father]]. Who mutilated him and then exiled him from the kingdom on a lifelong SnipeHunt over his speaking out against a plan to use a squad of raw recruits as cannon fodder to bait a trap for an enemy regiment.

** Azula falls ''hard'' into this trope. We start off knowing that Zuko's even ''more'' villainous sister Azula was their father's favorite, and that she remained in his good graces. What we learn later implies that she struggles every bit as hard as Zuko to ''keep'' his favor. Unfortunately, her teachings and beliefs are shattered when [[spoiler:Zuko defects, as well as when Mai and Ty Lee betray her at the Boiling Rock]]. When she realizes that, in reality, her father cares no more about her than he did about Zuko, it ends up being the straw that broke the camel's back, and she [[VillainousBreakdown breaks]] rather than bends. It turns the episode "The Beach" into a CerebusRetcon for her; all of her cruelty and her inability to socialize normally becomes less funny and paints the image of a woman who ''literally cannot fathom any way to be loved or respected for who she is''. Thus, she [[ThenLetMeBeEvil clings to her daddy, right down to his ideas and philosophies]] just for a chance at some affection.
** From ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[spoiler:both Tarrlok and Amon/Noatak. The sons of the very evil Yakone who trained them to bloodbend seeing them as nothing more than possible tools of vengeance against the Avatar and Republic City. Yakone's abuse of both him and his brother caused Noatak to run away and conclude that bending was the ultimate evil, becoming a self-loathing KnightTemplar and taking on the identity of Amon. Tarrlok eventually becomes a ruthless politician in Republic City and only at the end does he realize that he's become the very tool of vengeance that his father wanted him to be, just as Amon also did, having torn Republic City apart socially and politically. With this realization he decides to end both his life and Amon's in a MurderSuicide.]]

** The final season gives us [[spoiler:Kuvira and Bataar Jr.]] [[spoiler:Kuvira [[UsedToBeASweetKid was an honorable member of the Metal Clan]] until the destabilization of the Earth Kingdom, coupled with abandonment issues, drove her to become a cold, ruthless tyrant. As for Bataar, he joined Kuvira because he believed she cared about him, only to discover the hard way that [[TheUnfettered she cared about her empire more]].]]

** Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, from his parents not being there for him during his birth to being disowned by said parents with the ocelots raising him. Also his love life didn't go very well, which eventually led to him trying to gain dominion over the Tri-State Area. Ironically, despite the schemes he comes up with, he ''genuinely'' tries to be a great father to his daughter Vanessa. Despite their strained relationship due to his villainy, it shows that he wanted to be there as a parent, and Vanessa does like spending time with her dad (when he isn't trying to kill Perry or enact another scheme).

* Nightmare Moon from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. Once, she was Princess Luna, one of the two royal sisters who saved Equestria from [[GodOfChaos Discord]], freed the Crystal Empire from [[EvilOverlord King Sombra]] and ruled over Equestria with her sister, Princess Celestia. She felt that no one appreciated her night because they slept through it, which led to her becoming resentful toward her sister and attempting to bring about eternal night. She is returned to the side of good early on from the main protagonists' intervention.

** The most prominent and iconic example in the entire series is Catra, whose bad deeds (from mistreating her subordinates and betraying others to even attempting to wipe out reality) are mostly the result of horrific childhood abuse and the meritocratic military society she was raised in. She's very codependent with her one and only childhood friend Adora and perceives her leaving as a betrayal, and she is also unwilling to join her due to various factors. In addition, Catra clearly wants validation and approval, but is often so self-destructive or impulsive that she ruins her opportunities for it, not helped by her self-focus blinding her to what she really wants or the fact that Shadow Weaver and to a lesser extent Hordak mistreat her even as the conflict goes on, driving her to only fear for her safety and become worse and worse in attempts to secure her position. With all the suffering she goes through, Catra is clearly a tragic figure no matter how bad she becomes.
** Hordak is a lesser, but still notable example. He is a ruthless conqueror who has caused suffering on a great scale, but he's also a clone of the evil Horde Prime who was raised in a toxic cult-like environment, only to be cast out and lost on Etheria due to either his degenerative disorders or his free will, a rejection that led him to believe himself to be a failure. After finally finding a friend, Hordak is convinced she has betrayed him. By the time he achieves his goal of getting Horde Prime to Etheria so as to gain his approval, Hordak instead finds all his work gone to waste, losing everything. BeingEvilSucks indeed.

** Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, from his parents not being there for him during his birth to being disowned by said parents with the ocelots raising him. Also his love life didn't go very well, which eventually led to him trying to gain dominion over the Tri-State Area.

TragicVillain in WesternAnimation.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has [[spoiler:The Delightful Children from Down the Lane. While they are completely evil, they are also the BrainwashedAndCrazy Sector Z, meaning that they're still essentially five children that have been all but abducted and brainwashed into a new life. To make things worst, any way of changing them back is only temporary.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': [[Characters/SouthParkEricCartman Eric Cartman]] could be considered this. Sure, he's one of the most notorious cases of an EnfantTerrible in all of western animation, but it is heavily implied that his lack of a moral compass is a result of his mother spoiling him and enabling his bad behavior so she wouldn't feel lonely. They're even times where Cartman himself tries to and actually succeeds in becoming a better person but circumstances would always cause Cartman to revert back to his horrible self. The tragedy of this is really highlighted in the "Post-Covid" two-parter where Cartman genuinely becomes a kind person with a wife and children in the BadFuture who starts reverting back to his evil ways out of fear of losing his family, only to be convinced to give them up to ensure a better future for everyone else, resulting in Cartman continuing to be a hateful and bitter person whose now homeless and miserable in the new future.

** Adding to the list, there's [[spoiler: Jason Burr, who starts off as a straight up good guy, and still wants to be one, but suffers from residual effects of Cipher's mind control that force him to betray his friends and try to kill his love interest.]]
** In the most recent episode, we find out that [[spoiler: Katana's father, a well-intentioned guy for the most part, was blackmailed into betraying his best friend Alfred, making him one of these. And, again, because it's this show [[CrapsackWorld he dies for it.]]]]

** Marceline is more of a jerk than a villain in the earlier seasons, but her backstory is quite tragic, yet not being as evil as other examples. Her mother died when she was young after a nuclear war that wiped out most of humanity, while her father did not have much presence in her life and inadvertably ended up hurting her. Furthermore, [[spoiler: Simon aka Ice King was her parental figure during the early years of Ooo and she had to watch his descent into madness due to the crown, hence her initial reasons for avoiding him.]]

** Azula falls ''hard'' into this trope. We start off knowing that Zuko's even ''more'' villainous sister Azula was their father's favorite, and that she remained in his good graces. What we learn later implies that she struggles every bit as hard as Zuko to ''keep'' his favor. Unfortunately, her teachings and beliefs are shattered when [[spoiler: Zuko defects, as well as when Mai and Ty Lee betray her at the Boiling Rock]]. When she realizes that, in reality, her father cares no more about her than he did about Zuko, it ends up being the straw that broke the camel's back, and she [[VillainousBreakdown breaks]] rather than bends. It turns the episode "The Beach" into a CerebusRetcon for her; all of her cruelty and her inability to socialize normally becomes less funny and paints the image of a woman who ''literally cannot fathom any way to be loved or respected for who she is''. Thus, she [[ThenLetMeBeEvil clings to her daddy, right down to his ideas and philosophies]] just for a chance at some affection.

** Two-Face is an honorable, justice-driven man who is simply enslaved to a ball of repressed anger he's held back for years until the tragedy that malformed his face forced it to supplant his good nature.

* Nox, the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', is obsessed with building a time machine and going back to prevent the death of his family. To do this, he has been draining the life force of anything and everything in his path, without apology and maybe even some glee. He's perfectly okay with committing wanton atrocities because he thinks that if he stops the disaster that drove him to villainy, that will also undo all of the deaths he has caused. [[spoiler: When he activates his machine and it only goes back ''twenty minutes'', he has a VillainousBreakdown.]]

** The Perennial Child: [[spoiler: The Conductor is revealed to be a passenger named Amelia who boarded the titular train after losing her husband Alrick. In her grief, she took control of the train from the previous Conductor and spent 33 years trying to build a car where she could relive her life with Alrick, with no success. To make matters worse, since this is actively going against the purpose of the train (which was designed to help people overcome their personal issues), the number indicative of her progress has stretched ''all the way up her neck'', meaning she'll likely die before she ever gets to leave.]]
** Cult of the Conductor: [[spoiler: Simon Laurent was kidnapped by the train when he was ten-years old for his own personal problems. Receiving little guidance from his denizen companion, the Cat, she accidentally left him to die at the hands of a life sucking Ghom, only for him to be saved by a fellow passenger his age, Grace Monroe. Over the course of seven years, Grace's ToxicFriendInfluence molded Simon into TheDragon of the titular book's cult, fueling his narcissistic hatred for every inhabitant of the train and ransacking the cars for amusement. Throughout this season, Simon's issues progressively get much worse as he murders Tuba out of misplaced fear, and when the above-mentioned Conductor reveals that everything the cult believed in was a lie they told themselves, Simon becomes more unhinged, trying to reject the fact that they wasted a majority of their lives over nothing. As he betrays Grace for playing a big part in his descent to villainy, his number covers his ''entire body'' and he eventually dies a horrible death by the same creature that majorly contributed to his tragedy.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': Professor Venomous, CardCarryingVillain status aside, garners a fair bit of sympathy with his backstory. [[spoiler: Despite being part of a top-class hero team and having a loving and supporting girlfriend, he struggled with his insecurities over whether or not he could measure up to the rest of his team. Eventually, he turned to genetics in an attempt to become stronger, only to accidentally DePower himself permanently, and shortly after the incident, he overheard his lover say something that made it seem like none of her emotional support was genuine, which made his insecurities even worse. He tried for years to regain his abilities but could never get it right and eventually turned to villainy in an attempt to find closure. And to top it all off, he gained a second personality along the way in his pursuit of power. At his core, Venomous is a man who obsessed over his perceived shortcomings, was unable to move past them and only ever found peace after he turned to the dark side.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

* Lord Garmadon from Lego's ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}''. Bitten by the Great Devourer and infected with his evil, he cannot fight that side of him. He struggles to be a good father to his son Lloyd and lets him make his own choices and follow his own destiny, even if it means that the two are destined to battle in the future
* Dr. Doofenshmirtz from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, from his parents not being there for him during his birth to being disowned by said parents with the ocelots raising him. Parodied in the movie when Doofenshmirtz-2 tells Doof that "[[DrivenToVillainy true evil is born through pain and loss]]" before explaining that the only reason he became evil was the tragic event [[spoiler:of losing his toy train as a child]].

* Dr. Doofenshmirtz from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. Parodied in the movie when Doofenshmirtz-2 tells Doof that "[[DrivenToVillainy true evil is born through pain and loss]]" before explaining that the only reason he became evil was the tragic event [[spoiler:of losing his toy train as a child]].