Line #39 JerkassWoobie/Webcomics


1	%%
2	%%
3	%%If you see a character listed as a Complete Monster, they don't belong here.
4	%%
5	%%
6	* The eponymous Kev from ''Webcomic/AliceAndKev'' is a selfish, sexually aggressive bully and abusive father. He's also literally, factually insane and [[IJustWantToBeLoved doesn't really seem to understand why nobody can stand to be around him]].
7	* Hui, the titular monster from ''Webcomic/TheArtOfMonsters'' may not be the easiest being to get along with, but she genuinely cares for her master and it’s hard not to feel sorry for her in the end.
8	* Benni from ''Webcomic/ForestHill'' is a school bully who gets into a fight with Tanya after she refuses to kiss him and when Kaleb came to try to save her, he gave Kaleb a serious head injury that put him in the hospital for days and causes him to start having seizures. Then it turns out that Benni has an extremely [[AbusiveParents abusive]] and neglectful father who forces him to have sex with men for money (which seems to be the only reason he cares for Benni at all), and poor Benni doesn't even realize that this isn't normal.
9	* ''Webcomic/CheckPlease'': revelations made by Jack in Year 3 make Kent's character look like this [[HarsherInHindsight looking back]]. While his original actions on the Epikegster made him look like a BitchInSheepsClothing, when Jack states that [[spoiler: his relationship with Kent was, from his eyes, merely physical, and doomed to end while Kent is still very much in love with him]], that besides the fact that Kent is a [[spoiler:closeted professional player]] who his only and biggest friend cut relationships with after an overdose with no explanation, really makes his actions seem to come from sadness and loneliness.
10	** Jack himself was this on the start. He was a jerk to Bitty for seemingly no good reason to the point where even Bitty disliked him, but he is also a RecoveredAddict with severe self-esteem issues and that the media and popular rumors insist on [[MaliciousSlander picking on]]. He does though, grows out of his jerkiness after he starts befriending Bitty, by the time they [[spoiler:start dating]], Jack is a completely NiceGuy.
11	* Nin Wah from ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty''. She can often be quite an abrasive [[DeadpanSnarker snarker]] to anyone other than the Velvet Knight crew. But she goes through hell during the early parts of the comic [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/06/12/the-tagged/ as she loses her entire crew]] and [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/09/19/no-doug-llewellyn/ winds up put through a]] KangarooCourt after being framed for their disappearance. And then [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/05/03/lefty/ there's her insecurities over her]] [[ArtificialLimbs cyborg arm]]...
12	** And in a rather odd example, there's the BigBad [[MixAndMatchCritter Zenith]] herself. She's a BadBoss who inflicts copious amounts of BodyHorror on her victims [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2010/04/25/plot/ in the name of creating her own perfect mate]]...[[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/08/07/enemy-among-us/ except she also apparently has no idea she's actually a robot]], [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/08/28/process-of-elimination/ and that all her plans for galactic conquest are pretty much a pipe dream]]. And shortly after her FaceHeelTurn...[[spoiler: [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/09/09/she-dun-goofed/ she suffers a catastrophic breakdown]].]]
13	* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'': Abel. He is strongly implied to have driven all of his previous roommates to insanity, feeds off of [[BadPowersBadPeople misery]], and never leaves SarcasmMode. On the other hand, he has a lot of bad luck and [[DeusAngstMachina his backstory]] is tragic even for a CrapsaccharineWorld.
14	* ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' seems to like this one, half the cast seems to suffer symptoms of this. Perhaps most notably:
15	** [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=67 Syphile]], Ariel's abusive older sister and premier BabysitterFromHell.
16	** [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=0 Sil'lice]], who suffers from acute FantasticRacism.
17	** Her mother, the Val'Sharess Diva'ratrika, is, by most counts, not an especially nice person, but very few people think that [[spoiler:she deserved to be betrayed by three of her own daughters and left to die in her throne room]].
18	** [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=1646 Shinae]], Chrys' "[[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=1326 protector twin"]].
19	** Given that this is a CrapsackWorld where even small children are expected to know how to fight to the death if need be...
20	* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' offers Ruth “Ruthless” Lessick, best known for her constant empty threats, which for some reason means the freshmen under her supposed charge regard her with fear. Ruth is beset with psychological problems, heavily implied to stem from her abusive grandfather (her legal guardian) and the stress of absorbing said abuse, lest he turn his ire towards her younger brother.
21	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
22	** Magus was forced into the astral plane of the main character's dimension against his will by sabotage of a magical tool, where if immortals weren't trying to outright kill him they were using him to entertain themselves for a sociopathic game of chance. However, he also the responsible for creating Ellen for no other reason than to have a magical version of Tedd's technological body-changing beam with little regard to the life he created (until later), and partnered with an Aberration to body snatch Ellen, so that he could in turn body snatch Elliot, while kidnapping Ashley, just so he could use a magical artifact to get his physical body back. His status as a Jerkass Woobie even gets brought up in-universe by both Elliot and Arthur, where they understand that Magus was given a real bum deal and really was given no other chance to survive, but still can't really be forgiven for purposely hurting so many people along the way and then just running away to avoid all consequence of his actions.
23	** Lucy is snappy, grumpy and not afraid to talk down to or insult, well, anyone, really causing her to come off as thoroughly unpleasant. Then "The Legend of Diane" happens which shines an entirely new light on her: she had been insecure because of her height and breast development but Diane's intervention and support led to Lucy developing a crush on her. But over the years she watched Diane date boys and turn into a naive gold digger, dragging Lucy and Rhoda along with her while being blissfully ignorant of the reputation that all of them were developing because of it. Worse yet, she has to stand by and watch Diane openly gush about Nanase while her own crush remains unrequited. The entire experience has seemingly left her angry and bitter while [[BrokenPedestal Diane's pedestal has been thoroughly broken]]. Like her or not it becomes hard not to feel bad for her.
24	** Also, Pandora, an Immortal who has deliberately lived far beyond her time and gone insane over it, with an innate love to mess with people's lives and a tendency to be either completely callous regarding the troubles she causes, or outright murderous when something sets her off, not to speak of being intrusive to people's minds. [[spoiler:Her husband was murdered, and she decided to stay alive instead of resetting herself so she would always remember him and be able to be there for their son (of whom her actions estranged her meanwhile). Also, turns out she's fiercely protective of her god-grandson and everyone she regards belonging to him... which also means there are crazy lengths she's willing to go for them.]]
25	* Flask in ''Webcomic/{{Endtown}}''. Her DarkAndTroubledPast almost excuses her nasty treatment of everyone. Almost.
26	* Candy from ''Webcomic/GirlsWithSlingshots'': a petty, nasty little (un)professional dominatrix, who was (is?) the closest thing the strip had to a villain...until Jameson (her best and only friend) tells her off due to the increasingly mean pranks she was playing on Jameson's fiancée, Maureen (up to and including [[http://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws786/ replacing their wedding rings]] with baby seal leather cock rings ''at the ceremony''). You can't help but feel sorry for her when Jameson tells her to go pound sand. And doubly so when guest star [[Webcomic/SomethingPositive Davan]] - possibly the king of this trope among webcomic characters - [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09292009.shtml calmly but brutally]] {{lampshade}}s her stupidity.
27	* Black from ''Webcomic/GreyIs'' definitely fits the bill--however, the comic plays its cards very close to the chest in the beginning, so before readers know anything about him, he just looks like a {{Jerkass}}.
28	* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'':
29	** Zimmy, who acts quite hostile and viciously lashes out at random people. But then, she's constantly under strain, [[TheInsomniac never sleeps]], and stuck with an [[PowerIncontinence uncontrollable]] ability she expects to last until she dies, causing her to randomly hallucinate a nightmarish BlackBugRoom at times. Later chapters reveal that she [[TorturedMonster believes that she deserves it.]] Gamma seems to be the only person who lets her hang on to any amount of sanity.
30	--->'''[[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2418 Gamma:]]''' Zimmy's reliving something that happened to her and she pushed me away.\
31	'''Reynard:''' This happened before?\
32	'''Gamma:''' Yes, before I met her. Some teenagers chased her and beat her up. But now she's living it again with elements from the Court. She always does this. She's always beating herself up.\
33	'''Reynard:''' Why?\
34	'''Gamma:''' Because she believes she deserves it.
35	** Ysengrin, of all forest people, was moved close to it.
36	--->'''[[http://gunnerkrigg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display=843=1#32975 Fan]]:''' God, I just want to pet the poor murderous bastard. It's nice to see him evoke an emotion other than fear or anger.
37	** Jeanne. She's separated from her lover and turned into a human sacrifice [[spoiler:by her friends]], meets her lover again only for [[spoiler:him to be murdered right in front of her]], lies at the bottom of a river alone until [[spoiler:she dies]], and is forced to guard the river as a ghost until [[spoiler:her ''soul'' rots away]]. Her reaction to seeing a genuinely happy teenage girl is to assume she's mocking her and try to kill her.
38	** Anthony Carver has been a largely absent parent, is regarded by just about everyone as cold and emotionless, and the one time he contacted Antimony in-story it was primarily to relay a message to Kat's father, Donald. When he arrives in the flesh, it's as one of Annie's teachers, during which he quickly dismantles much of her character development, takes Reynardine, and forbids her from the forest. He starts to fall into the Woobie side of this trope in the chapter "Annie and the Fire", where it's revealed that much of his time away was trying to find a way to [[spoiler:bring Annie's mother Surma back from the dead]]. He was so desperate that he let [[spoiler:otherworldly beings trick him into sacrificing his right hand to bring back Surma's soul]], remembering too late and to his horror that, [[spoiler:due to their etheric ancestry, Surma's soul is ''Annie's'' soul]]. He's grateful that [[spoiler:Zimmy's appearance]] stopped him. After that pushed him past the DespairEventHorizon, he only came back because [[spoiler:Annie was threatened with expulsion]]. But seeing Annie, and her resemblance to Surma, pushed him over the edge, causing much of the bad treatment.
39	* Veser from ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName''. Conrad also sometimes counts, but he volleys between JerkassWoobie and TheChewToy.
40	* Most of [[OurTrollsAreDifferent the trolls]] in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' have some degree of this, considering what they went through during their game session and the consequences of it, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Karkat]] definitely takes the cake out of all of them. He's unfailingly [[TheNapoleon violent and egotistical]], but tends to [[ItsAllMyFault beat himself up just as much]], especially when [[spoiler: [[MyGreatestFailure he fails to get Sollux into the Medium]] before the [[BrownNote Vast Glub]] hits.]]
41	** Then he sees [[spoiler: an AlternateUniverse version of his mentor destroy Prospit right after he finally wakes up, watches his team [[AHouseDivided fall apart]], eventually culminating in Eridan killing two of Karkat's friends and blinding another, and the nicest troll of them all goes insane and decides to kill everybody.]] The poor guy really needs to be cut a break. (His comments about certain elements of troll romance make it clear that he thinks no one will ever be able to hate him as much as he hates himself.)
42	** [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Vriska]] is another big one. When she's introduced, she's the TokenEvilTeammate, a sociopathic SmugSnake who [[KickTheDog does horrible things]] and seems to have few to no redeeming qualities. Then we find out [[AbusiveParents how she got]] [[TraumaCongaLine that way]]. Even her obnoxious demeanour can be traced back to [[spoiler:repressed guilt and self-loathing]].
43	* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': Tiger Arbelt. Despite being mainly portrayed as a secondary comic relief character, he has some serious psychological issues to work through. He's been a victim of bullying and is basically a social outcast among the dogs simply because he has a catlike name. This in turn has made him irritable, aggressive, and temperamental to the point of being borderline AxCrazy at times while at the same time, struggling with binge eating and depression. Tiger may have a short fuse and a big mouth but he could also really use a big hug and a shoulder to cry on. As one forum member put it: "Tiger is an emotional wreck and responds to his problems by being a jerk."
44	** When you factor in the fact that King used to belong to PETA, he stops being TheWoobie and starts being this.
45	* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob''
46	** [[BigBad Fructose Rioflavin]], when his [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/486 origin is revealed.]] Even prior to that, he could inspire some sympathy for his [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/130/ pitiful desperation over his continual failures.]] His status as Jerkass Woobie is [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/517 Lampshaded here]]
47	** And Galatea certainly [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/267 has her moments.]]
48	* Jamie in ''Webcomic/KhaosKomix'' is homophobic, a bully, and just all-around mean. It's hinted at in some of the earlier stories, but it's not until his chapter (the last one) that the reader finds out that [[spoiler: he was sexually abused by a neighbor when he was a child and physically and emotionally abused by his mother.]] He doesn't think of this as a FreudianExcuse, though, insisting in his internal narration that he's just a jerk.
49	* Brian in ''WebComic/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''. He's a ManipulativeBastard who regularly cheats, backstabs, and swindles his friends to get ahead. He's also a deeply insecure man who lost both his parents, has an unrequited crush on Sara, and tells people he has a 'beloved uncle' who takes him away on Thanksgiving when, in reality, he just goes down to the game store and plays in tournaments to pass the time.
50	* The Old God of ''Webcomic/LadyOfTheShard'' [[GodIsEvil is a possessive and abusive god]], who destroyed the templefolk's homeworld and enslaved them in her [[CrapsaccharineWorld Paradise]], and cruelly spells it out to the Radiant Goddess that [[spoiler:[[DeityOfHumanOrigin she'll never have anything that didn't come from her]].]] However, [[spoiler:she's also a lonesome soul who created and peopled the galaxy just to have somebody to share her existence with, and her desire to connect with (if not rule) her creations stems from this.]]
51	* Luka of ''Webcomic/TheMeek'' is a vengeful badass dictator who comes from an extremely misogynistic and warlike culture and has a tumultuous relationship with his wife and children. At the same time, his life has been one long string of BreakTheCutie that's left him physically mutilated, and despite the above, he does seem to genuinely love his family.\
52	And unfortunately, as if to prove that [[FromBadToWorse things really CAN get worse]], [[spoiler: his beloved wife dies a horrific death right before his eyes]]. This not only sent his Woobie points through the roof, but also seems to have finally broke him, and he seems well on the way to [[spoiler: taking the step to being a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.]]
53	* ''Webcomic/MonsterLands'' has a few.
54	** Eren Lorry is the evil queen of the Monster Lands, but her backstory shows she was born into poverty and was raised to think violence is the only way to enforce her rules as the new ruler.
55	** Exris is Eren's second-in-command who raised her to be the violent ruler she is today. He's a cruel enforcer of her will. However, he was the abused slave of the previous ruler and it's shown that violence is the only way he knows to solve a problem, he pretty much had no choice but to be evil.
56	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has a number of these:
57	** Vaarsuvius, [[spoiler: especially after using some very nasty black magic to save hir family, and all they do is look at V in utter disgust.]]
58	** TheScrappy, Miko Miyazaki, however, takes the cake. She's a fanatical LawfulGood paladin who takes many morally questionable actions ([[spoiler:but doesn't lose her Paladin status until she kills Lord Shojo]]) and has a holier-than-thou attitude that causes her to be almost universally disliked even by her own allies. It's not until [[spoiler: her HeelRealization / HeelFaceDoorSlam / AlasPoorScrappy moment]] that she becomes TheWoobie, but [[spoiler: she doesn't even get a DiedHappilyEverAfter end. "Redemption isn't for everyone"? Ouch!]]
59	** Redcloak. Though it doesn't come across as much in the online strips, Start of Darkness reveals that he has some pretty sympathetic motivations, but has made some absolutely ''horrible'' choices.
60	** Gannji and Enor are amoral bounty hunters who attacked the main characters, but get a TearJerker[=/=]AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther moment during the GladiatorGames, when they're scheduled to fight each other and try desperately to get out of it. To quote Roy:
61	-->"Geez. That LizardFolk is a jackass, but he doesn't deserve this. It's like watching someone duel their own puppy."
62	** Tsukiko has no patience for living beings, only the Undead, and positively bullies Redcloak. But the Monster in the Dark knows that at least half the reason for this is that she's always been treated badly by the living, and she can trust the Undead. As he comments after [[spoiler: Redcloak has her killed and eaten by her "children"]] Tsukiko just wants to be loved.
63	** In the end, Nale only wanted to be his own man.
64	* Faye Whittaker, in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' is this; rude, abrasive, constantly threatening violence without ever actually committing it (apart from occasionally punching Marten’s arm), but also a fragile alcoholic-in-remission haunted by her father’s suicide. Faye has lately formed a relationship with Bubbles, a genuine combat veteran with genuine PTSD (or its AI equivalent) which seems to have introduced a degree of perspective into Faye’s worldview.
65	* ''Webcomic/{{Sakana}}'': Yuudai is a jerk that often makes his life to make the work of the main characters as awful as humanly possible, and it's not up until way later that we learn that he's actually [[SourOutsideSadInside very lonely and sad]], has a hard relationship with his family and [[spoiler:up until recently, was in an abusive relationship]]. He starts growing out of his jerkiness after meeting Taisei.
66	* Ferret from ''Webcomic/ScooterAndFerret'' has shades of this. He's TheCynic but you have to feel for him at times.
67	* Speaking of ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'', the fact that Mike holding this status can be considered CharacterDevelopment tells you what an utter asshole he used to be.
68	* ''Webcomic/StringTheory2009'' has Dr. Schtein, who is an absolute {{Jerkass}}. The revelation that his mother abused him, his emotional failings, and the fact that he spends the majority of chapters 2 and 3 either ill or beaten up launch him into JerkassWoobie territory.
69	* Gwynn in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. She's ill-tempered, [[PlayedForLaughs humorously]] violently abusive, petty, and selfish, and usually has a kind of love-hate relationship with even those who are the closest to her. But as time passes, we also get to see her uncertainties, weak moments, and regrets over being so selfish as well as so aggressive towards others when she was really being defensive because she knew she was in the wrong. She has some really rough times, too, as the story goes on; there was a time when she may have had it harder than the other characters, though by now, almost everyone's gone through enough hell to surpass even that.\
70	\
71	In 2014, the picture next to the comic title at the top of the page was even changed to a sad Gwynn after years of it being of the evil rabbit Bun-bun.
72	* ''Webcomic/{{Tamberlane}}'': Cur is a bullying malnourished street rat who was basically abandoned by his own family and bounced from foster home to foster home. Sure, he's obnoxious, irritable, responsible for making Piper cry and [[spoiler: shoving Tamberlane into a frozen lake]] but he's quick to break down into HumanizingTears when [[spoiler: she falls through as well as his friend Jonas who gets severely injured trying to rescue her]]. Then there's also the side story "Tainted" where he opens up about his problems with his adoptive family to Lizette and Vessie.
73	* Wayne from ''Webcomic/TwoGuysAndGuy'' is a PlayedForLaughs example. As the comic's ButtMonkey he is often on the receiving end of the two other protagonists' ComedicSociopathy, but whenever we see him interact with people outside the group, we are reminded that he, too, [[http://www.twogag.com/archives/1278 is a]] [[http://www.twogag.com/archives/3576 horrible]] [[http://www.twogag.com/archives/3693 person]].
74	* When we first meet Kieth from ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'', he is kind of a jerk to everybody. The [[AmnesiacHero 'Hero']] is justified, since he has a reputation for being evil, but [[CatGirl Flora]] seems to be a target of FantasticRacism. Turns out he [[spoiler: Was bullied and looked down on by his father for being weak. Was framed for killing his mother and father when he was a child, which had him exiled from his homeland. After that, he met up with the Catfolk, fell in love with one of them, only to be stood up on his wedding day.]] All of this is revealed to the audience and resolved in the course of two days. Suddenly, his Jerkass behavior seems a lot less mean-spirited than it did three hundred comics ago. Did we mention that in those two days he had to watch two people he cared about die (one of whom he killed), and tried to kill his new love interest? Guy has had a really bad day.

Context JerkassWoobie / Webcomics