History WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds / Film

%%Good Evening Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1
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%%If you see a character listed as a Complete Monster, they don't belong here.
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* Oswald Cobblepot in ''Film/BatmanReturns'': disfigured since birth, his aristocratic parents attempted to drown him in the sewers. He was found by a traveling circus, and was raised in the freak show as "The Penguin". While the public views him with sympathy, he has become a warped sociopath, plotting to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge murder all the first born sons of Gotham City]]. When Batman foils him, he straps rockets to his hundreds (thousands?) of pet penguins, intending to use them in a suicide bombing to kill all of Gotham, which, as the only setting we see, is extremely {{omnicidal|Maniac}} in context. And yet, you still can't help but [[AlasPoorVillain pity him at his death]].
* In ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'', Andrew is bullied and made fun of constantly through the movie, in addition to a sick mother and an abusive father. [[spoiler: After he gets his superpowers, he begins to snap, and starts to get involved in crime to save his mother's life, stealing money for her medicine and such. By the end of the movie, during the climax, [[UnstoppableRage he nearly destroys the city.]]]]
* ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' introduces us to the concept of an Obscurus, which is a rare and powerful magical parasite that is the end result of a powerful magical child being abused and forced to repress their abilities until they can’t be contained anymore. At which point the resulting PersonOfMassDestruction goes on a rampage destroying everything in its path, scared and angry after a lifetime of pain. A specific example would be [[spoiler: Credence Barebone: He’s abused and controlled by his {{Fantastic Racis|m}}t of an adoptive mother (along with his adoptive sisters, though he gets the worst of it), which has left him shy, deeply insecure and emotionally stunted. He has no friends besides his youngest sister Modesty and is mocked by the Shaws (particularly Henry Shaw Jr, who has no qualms about calling him a freak). This leaves him open to manipulation by Percival Graves/Gellert Grindlewald, who baits him with affection and the promise of teaching him magic so that the older man can use him for his own selfish reasons. And once Grindle!Graves gets what he wants, he has no issue throwing the poor guy away or calling him worthless. This leads to Credence hitting the RageBreakingPoint and willingly unleashing his Obscurus on New York City, which is as tragic as it is terrifying]].
* J.D. (Creator/ChristianSlater) in ''Film/{{Heathers}}''. For starters, his father is [[AbusiveParents a sociopathic bastard who doesn't care for him]] (when asked if he even likes his father, he responds that he "[hasn't] given the matter much thought"), and his mother killed herself in front of his eyes to get away from her husband. His entire life was spent moving around from town to town and school to school wherever his father's demolition job took him, where, it is implied, he saw the same scenario of clique groups bullying other students at every high school he's attended. He starts out by murdering {{Jerk Jock}}s and {{Alpha Bitch}}es and making their deaths appear as suicides (also implied as something he's done before), but he ultimately resorts [[spoiler:to trying to blow up the entire school. He explains his intentions are such because he believes that nobody loves him, and that "the only place different social types can genuinely get along with each other is in heaven", somehow seeing the school as a representation of society itself.]]
* ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'': As part of the film's AdaptationExpansion, the Grinch is given this treatment. He was adopted by two elderly Whos as a baby, and bullied for his appearance, particularly by Augustus May Who, the current Mayor of Whoville. During one Christmas season, he made a gift for his crush, Martha May Whovier, but after being made fun of for having a "beard" at his age, tried to shave his face, cutting himself in the process. When his classmates ridiculed him yet again for his shaving cuts the next morning, that was the last straw: he went berserk and went on a rampage, destroying the gift he made and throwing a Christmas tree across the classroom before fleeing to the top of Mount Crumpit, declaring his hatred of Christmas.
* The BigBad dogs in ''The Pack'' (a 1977 SurvivalHorror) are former pets whose {{Jerkass}} ex-owners abandoned them in the wilderness, eventually driving them feral with hunger. Their TokenGoodTeammate newest member is especially huggable, remaining friendly and timid instead of becoming AxCrazy like them... [[spoiler:and not only ending up their SoleSurvivor, but even getting adopted by the main protagonist's family -- in a surprisingly heartwarming EarnYourHappyEnding]].
* Davy Jones from ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' doesn't seem to want to destroy ''everything'' - just everything that crosses his path. He's like this because his one true love, [[spoiler:the goddess Calypso]], betrayed him (presumably for another man, though it's never elaborated on) centuries ago. Jones' agony was unbearable, so he cut out his own heart to end it. When that failed, he adopted a different tactic—finding relief by sharing his pain with everyone he meets.
* In a perfect example of BreakTheCutie, Alessa Gillespie from ''Film/SilentHill'' was burned alive by the cult she was a member of, but survived by her own power and remained wrapped in bandages for 30 years, unable to move anything but her eyes (and her lips, but only enough to kind of smile, but not enough to form words). She does the only logical thing and splits her soul into 3 parts so she can kill everyone in the cult (excluding [[spoiler:Rose, her good half, Sharon, and her mother]]).
* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': John Harrison/[[spoiler: Khan]], while [[spoiler:an EvilOverlord]] back in the day, just wants to save his crew from [[spoiler: Admiral Marcus, who forced him into making weapons for the Federation at the risk of having them killed.]] Harrison even calls them his family and starts [[ManlyTears tearing up]] about how he couldn't save them.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** Loki in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. He wanted to [[TheUnfavorite to show his father that his brother wasn't perfect]], and then found out that he [[spoiler:was a Frost Giant, after being raised by Asgardians to hate the Frost Giants as monsters. He's the natural son of his adopted father's greatest enemy. Convinced his family has never loved him and Odin only kept him alive for some ulterior purpose, he sets out to prove himself as an heir. [[ParentalFavoritism He was passed over in favor of Thor]] [[TheResenter a lot]] during their childhood.]] He becomes a literal example in the film's climax when he [[spoiler:tries to use the power of the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim.]]
** Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', whose story began with him finding his father dead in their apartment. [[spoiler: His father was an undercover Wakandan prince who'd grown disillusioned with his country's isolationism, and helped Klaue steal vibranium weapons with the goal of starting a revolution in America. Erik, aka Prince N'Jadaka, spent the rest of his life gaining the skills he needed to find and take over Wakanda, while only growing *more* furious with their refusal to help the rest of the world.]] During the movie's climax, when T'Challa tells him that the war he's trying to start could just easily destroy the whole world, he retorts that the world already took everything he ever loved from him.
* [[TroubledButCute Sonny]] from the independent, ComingOfAgeStory ''Film/{{Trash}}''. He starts off the movie as a well-intentioned, if slightly [[HairTriggerTemper gruff]] young man i.e. he fights his peers to a bloody pulp as a hobby but loves looking after small [[FriendToAllLivingThings animals]] and [[FriendToAllChildren children]], which include his [[MoralityPet infant niece]] and the [[ChildrenAreInnocent adorable]] [[DisabledMeansHelpless down syndrome afflicted little brother]] of his best friends LoveInterest (whom he also seems to have a thing for). Over the course of the movie however he goes on to kill three people and a [[AndYourLittleDogToo little dog]], without seemingly any real reason to. Even after he rightly gets arrested for this, you can’t help but feel bad for him. To sum his life up; he’s the breadwinner for a family that consists of a [[AbusiveParents violently drunk dad who regularly beats the crap out of him and a crack addict mother]] who only stops her husband by stating that their son ''ain’t worth it'' (dear old dad follows this up with a straight forward IHaveNoSon tirade)! It’s no wonder that at the end his [[spoiler: SuicideByCop actually feels like a ''blessing'']]!
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* ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' introduces us to the concept of an Obscurus, which is a rare and powerful magical parasite that is the end result of a powerful magical child being abused and forced to repress their abilities until they can’t be contained anymore. At which point the resulting PersonOfMassDestruction goes on a rampage destroying everything in its path, scared and angry after a lifetime of pain. A specific example would be [[spoiler: Credence Barebone: He’s abused and controlled by his FantasticRacist of an adoptive mother (along with his adoptive sisters, though he gets the worst of it), which has left him shy, deeply insecure and emotionally stunted. He has no friends besides his youngest sister Modesty and is mocked by the Shaws (particularly Henry Shaw Jr, who has no qualms about calling him a freak). This leaves him open to manipulation by Percival Graves/Gellert Grindlewald, who baits him with affection and the promise of teaching him magic so that the older man can use him for his own selfish reasons. And once Grindle!Graves gets what he wants, he has no issue throwing the poor guy away or calling him worthless. This leads to Credence hitting the RageBreakingPoint and willingly unleashing his Obscurus on New York City, which is as tragic as it is terrifying]].

* ''Film/EveOfDestruction'': EVE III is somewhat of a tragic villain in that she's mostly just confused and kills people who she thinks have either wronged or upset her while believing that she's the real Dr. Eve Simmons. It's not even clear if the robot itself is aware that the nuclear device inside it has been triggered at all.

* From ''Film/KillBill'': O-Ren Ishii. At age seven, she saw her parents die horribly. At age eleven, she was a bitter {{Little Miss Badass}} skilled enough to kill the {{Yakuza}} lord who orphaned her. At age twenty, she was among the top female assassins in the world. Now, she's the [[FromNobodyToNightmare most powerful Yakuza leader]].
* Milton (Creator/StephenRoot) in ''Film/OfficeSpace''. After enduring bureaucratic neglect, managerial indifference, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking stapler deprivation]], he [[spoiler:walks into the Initech office complex, finds and steals an envelope full of embezzled cash, and burns the place down]].

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'': Dr. Tolian Soran's homeworld is destroyed by the Borg, causing him to lose his family. He then ends up in a LotusEaterMachine where (presumably) he's reunited with them, only to be torn away by people trying to rescue him. No wonder he gets obsessed with getting back what he lost.
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Nero was a Romulan miner who tried saving his homeworld from being destroyed by a supernova, only for the galactic bureaucrats to dismiss him and becoming driven insane with grief and a thirst for vengeance against Spock, the man who promised to save his world.
** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': John Harrison/[[spoiler: Khan]], while [[spoiler:an EvilOverlord]] back in the day, just wants to save his crew from [[spoiler: Admiral Marcus, who forced him into making weapons for the Federation at the risk of having them killed.]] Harrison even calls them his family and starts [[ManlyTears tearing up]] about how he couldn't save them.

* [[spoiler:Elijah Price]] in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' is [[spoiler:afflicted with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which creates a brittleness in his bones that make them very susceptible to fracture. He can't do things other kids can do in his childhood, is constantly in casts, and only has comicbooks to bring him joy.]] Then he decides that his purpose in life is to be a supervillain...

%%* Gurdy the Clown / [[spoiler:Luther Edward Baxter]] from ''100 Tears''.
%%* The Ymir from ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth''.
* Ramon from ''Film/{{Alligator}}'' counts as this to an extent. Flushed down the toilet and abandoned in a sewer all his life before he grows into a ''big'' friggin' gator with an appetite for humans.
* ''Film/AssaultOnWallStreet'': The whole reason Jim eventually goes on a killing spree in the NYC financial district is because his life savings were wiped out by crooked financial advisors, causing him to lose his job, his home, and [[spoiler:even his wife Rosie after she kills herself.]]
* Asami in ''Film/{{Audition}}''. She endured a horrific childhood.

%%* [[spoiler:Brahms]] from ''Film/TheBoy'', [[spoiler: during the climax.]]
* ''Film/{{Candyman}}'': Candyman became an undead monster after he was murdered by a lynch mob because he was a cultured black man who fell in love with a white woman in the 19th century.
* The eponymous character of ''Film/{{Carrie 1976}}'' is certainly a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, even if she doesn't quite want to destroy ''worlds''... just most of her high school. Her rampage luckily ends before she gets the chance to do anything more.
** But only in the 1976 film. In [[Literature/{{Carrie}} the book]] and the remakes, she wants to kill everyone at her school, everyone in her town, and everybody else. Fortunately, she dies before she can commit anything more than demolishing her school, giving her mom a heart attack that kills her, killing two horrible bullies in a car crash, electrocuting several people, and setting her town on fire.
** Spoofed in the zany teen comedy ''Zapped!'', in which science nerd Barney Springboro is similarly degraded at a prom when the AlphaBitch throws a watermelon at his head, almost knocking him out and causing almost everyone in attendance to laugh at him. Barney avenges himself by using his telekinetic powers to blow open the gymnasium doors and summon a hurricane-like wind that strips everyone except Barney's prom date and his best friend down to their underwear. Woobie, [[TheNudifier Nudifier]] of Worlds, perhaps?
%%* [[spoiler: Jack Brennan]] in ''Film/{{Calvary}}''

%%* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''
%%** Harvey Dent/Two-Face in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.
%%** Both Bane and [[spoiler:Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul]] from ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.
* Bartleby in ''Film/{{Dogma}}'': he eventually snaps, realizing that God always favored man above angels like himself, gives up hope that "He" will never forgive him and Loki for their menial transgressions, and so decides to kill everything.
-->'''Loki:''' My God. I've heard [[RageAgainstTheHeavens a rant like this]] before.
-->'''Bartleby:''' What did you say?
-->'''Loki:''' I've heard a rant like this ''before''.
-->'''Bartleby:''' Don't you fucking do that to me.
-->'''Loki:''' You sound like the [[FallenAngel Morning Star!]]
-->'''Bartleby:''' You shut your fucking mouth!
-->'''Loki:''' You sound like [[{{Satan}} LUCIFER]], man! You've fucking lost it! You're not talking about going home, Bartleby, You're talking about fucking war on God! Well ''fuck that!'' I have seen what happens to the proud when they decide to [[CurbStompBattle take on the throne!]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere I'm goin' back to Wisconsin. ]]
-->'''Bartleby:''' We're going home, Loki! And no one, not you, not even the Almighty himself is going to make that otherwise!
* Grace in ''Film/{{Dogville}}''. Made all the more ambiguous by the discussion just before the ending, where it suddenly becomes very clear that she's only a child.

* Bill Foster in ''Film/FallingDown'' goes on a rampage of terror after his wife left him and would not allow him to see their daughter. He is fired from his job in the defense industry due to post-Cold War budget cuts and is generally just pissed off with the state of the world and takes his anger out on every issue, whether minor (foreign shopkeepers, high prices, poor fast-food service) or major (racism, social class, unemployment). While he is overly violent, he is representative of the everyday man pushed too far by the world.
** Also a Decontruction of the trope, as his police officer counterpart, Prendergast, is experiencing similar bad fortunes, with co-workers who don't respect him and can't wait to usher him off to retirement, a wife who walks all over him, and a general sense of fatigue for most of the film. However, he doesn't break, and in fact, delivers a beautiful TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Foster.

* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''
** [[Film/{{Gojira}} The original film]] shows Godzilla as a TragicVillain, just as much a victim of nuclear weaponry as anyone else. This is especially evident in the Heisei films, where he's portrayed as more of a "force of nature" rather than an outright villain.
** In ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' this is taken to its most literal extreme when [[spoiler:Junior's death]] causes him to go into a grief-stricken meltdown [[HeroicRROD (As it causes him to go into a nuclear meltdown)]].
* Oddly enough, Michael Myers is one of these in the ''Film/{{Halloween 2007}}'' remake. Director Rob Zombie tried to portray him in a much more sympathetic light.

* The infant(s) of ''Film/ItsAlive'', whose homicidal rampage turns out to be birth trauma and separation anxiety, and who longs only to be reunited with his family.
* Big Daddy from ''Film/KickAss'' is a rare heroic version when you find out what Frank D'Amico did to his life.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'' has ''the Joker'', of all people. The movie opens with Batman foiling his attempt to take over Gotham City, as ever...but when Joker tries waxing lyrical about how Batman's his ArchEnemy, Batman flatly denies there's anything special about Joker and outright states the villain means nothing to him, [[https://i2.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/batman-lego-trailer.jpg?fit=740%2C%209999&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C309px reducing him to tears.]] Joker then decides the best way to make Batman hate him is [[spoiler:siccing a [[LegionOfDoom legion]] of [[BigBad Big Bads from across the multiverse on Gotham,]]]] which nearly wipes out the whole city. By the end of the movie, [[DespairEventHorizon Joker's fine with destroying everything in Gotham, himself included,]] as long as it proves he was Batman's Greatest Enemy.
* Eli in ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'', a vampire who is trapped not just physically in a 12 year old body but apparently emotionally as well, forced to kill to survive, whose only friend is an equally screwed up boy.
* Francis Dolarhyde from ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'' (1986) and ''Film/RedDragon'' (2002): actually lampshaded by Will Graham; he says that he feels a lot of sympathy for the child he once was, but thinks someone should put a bullet in the adult Francis' brain.
* ''Film/{{May}}'' is a particularly heartbreaking-cum-vicious example.

* Seymour Parrish (Creator/RobinWilliams) in ''Film/OneHourPhoto''. He starts out sympathetic, if a little deranged, then you find out [[ParentalIncest what]] [[AbusiveParents made]] [[FreudianExcuse him]] [[BrainBleach crazy]].
* '''The Moorwen'''!!! In ''Film/{{Outlander}}'', its species is destroyed for being less intelligent than man, and its only offspring is killed off brutally. You should give it a hug...if you believe you won't get torn apart.

* Norman Bates in the ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' series is practically the TropeCodifier.
* Sadako in ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' and her counterpart, Samara, in the US remake, ''Film/TheRing'', considering that both were mistreated and murdered.
* As we learn more of Darryl Revok's backstory in ''Film/{{Scanners}}'', it becomes increasingly apparent that he became a psychic supremacist with ambitions of world conquest due to all the abuse he suffered because of his supernatural abilities. He tranformed his inferiority complex into a superiority complex to cope with being called a freak and locked up in a mental asylum for years, as pointed out by Dr. Paul Ruth:
-->'''Dr. Ruth:''' At the age of 22 he was extremely self-destructive; now at the age of 35 he is ''simply'' destructive.
* [[TokenGoodTeammate Glen Ray]] from ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' briefly fell into this when [[DespairEventHorizon he saw his father, Chucky, murdering his mother, Tiffany]]. Despite being the kindest living doll that had the [[FaceOfAThug face of a demon, but the mind of an angel]], seeing his father murdering his mother hit him hard because of his love of life. It's no wonder why he snapped and killed Chucky for doing this. He's not like his sister, Glenda (who's just like Chucky); his love for his mother broke him down and seeing his father do such a thing eventually made him turn against him. He slices off Chucky's arms and legs and as he's doing this [[WellDoneSonGuy he asks his father if he's proud of who he is]] and then decapitates and kills him.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Film/TheShining'' (1997), Jack Torrance is portrayed sympathetically. His turn to {{Ax Craz|y}}iness is tragic AND terrifying.
* In ''{{Film/Sicario}}'', Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) was once a criminal prosecutor, until the murder of his wife and daughter by a drug lord pushed him into becoming a relentless, revenge-seeking assassin on the payroll of the CIA [[spoiler:and a rival US-backed cartel]].

* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Anakin Skywalker's final transformation into Darth Vader is shown to be caused by losing everything and everyone he cares for, albeit due to his own actions.
* ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': Also see the theatre page.
* Kim Jong Il from ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice''. He's plotting the destruction of society as we know it, but deep down, he's just "a rittre ronery" (read: little lonely).

* The [[spoiler:female]] BigBad in ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough''. Being [[spoiler:abandoned to be repeatedly raped by terrorists ''by your own father'', and at the advice of ''the BigGood'' no less]], certainly won't do wonders for your sanity.
%%** Likewise, Silva in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}.''

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** Magneto. Holocaust survivor. Extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
*** Intensified in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', to the point where it matches the image on the main page.
%%** Jean Grey in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''.

* ''Film/TheFly1986'' has a MinimalistCast version of this trope. Seth Brundle is fully aware that as his mutation into an insect-human hybrid progresses, his humanity is fading and being replaced by the instincts of an insect, and finally tells his lover Veronica -- the only person he has in his life, after years of [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation self-imposed isolation as he focused on his work]] -- that she should never see him again because "I'll hurt you if you stay." Unfortunately, he then clandestinely learns that she is pregnant with his child and intends to get an abortion; moreover, the person helping arrange this is her editor and ''ex-lover'' Stathis, whose attempts to interfere with Seth and Veronica's relationship indirectly led to the TeleporterAccident that doomed Seth (Seth misread her leaving him to confront Stathis, got drunk, and decided to teleport himself, not realizing there was a fly in the telepod with him). Seth's sanity cracks upon learning all this, and from there he [[spoiler: kidnaps Veronica before the abortion can be seen through. When Stathis, armed with a shotgun, arrives at Seth's loft/lab to save her, Seth attempts to murder him ''using his own corrosive vomit'' -- and ''slowly'', too, dissolving a hand and foot in turn before Veronica begs him not to finish the job. THEN Seth reveals he's going to use the telepods to merge himself with Veronica and her unborn child]]! During this mayhem, Seth's mutation reaches its "Brundlefly" endpoint, underlining how dangerous he has become. In the end, [[spoiler: Stathis rescues Veronica while Brundlefly ends up merged with part of his telepod. In one last moment of humanity, the creature voicelessly convinces her to end his suffering]].

** Also, Abby in ''Let Me In'', the remake of ''Let the Right One In''.

* In ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' we have Koba, who wants to KillAllHumans because of the [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil horrific abuse he suffered through]] when he was a test subject of them, until he subverts the excuse.