* Pawel Frossengellet from ''Literature/FelsicCurrent'' is quite a bad-ass yet seems to be the target of repeated undeserved physical assaults. From serious incidents ([[spoiler:being shot in the head by sniper Fritri Waxkin]]) to minor ones (pratfalling when Fullian Fishk steals his sword, which Frossengellet was leaning on at the time).
* Any and every Creator/FranzKafka protagonist.
* Greg in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid''. Whenever he does something even mildly unethical, karma goes into overdrive and screws him over, while whenever he does something good or productive, he still gets screwed over anyway.
* Rincewind, in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'' novels. Other characters have pointed out how lucky he is to have survived everything he's been through (unknown to anyone, he's a favourite [[CosmicPlaything pawn of the Goddess of Luck]]). He, understandably, thinks it would have been luckier ''not'' to have been through it.
** Also from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, the Bursar. Accidents are constantly happening to him; if someone throws away something, you can bet that it's going to hit the Bursar. He does not, however, mind (or even notice) since he is on a steady diet of strong hallucinogens.[[note]]He needs them to hallucinate that he is sane. It's complicated, and just a bit silly.[[/note]]
* Dawlish the Auror from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. He tries to arrest several characters and is beaten every single time: Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ted Tonks, [[NeverMessWithGranny Neville's grandmother...]]
** It spans in the fandom: at least one fanwriter mentions Dawlish only to have him defeated, usually in a humiliating way (once he even had him beaten by Dudley Dursley with a single punch, leading to Dudley declaring him a SquishyWizard).
** Ron Weasley tends toward this as well, especially in the earlier books in the series. Being the youngest boy in a large, money-strapped family, he's frequently saddled with hideous hand-me-down clothes, broken wands (the latter causing him to start barfing slugs during an attempt to defend Hermione), and other hilariously embarrassing misfortunes. The trope is subverted as the series [[CerebusSyndrome becomes increasingly darker]], with Ron's inferiority complex becoming a source of major despair and resentment, eventually leading to his DarkestHour in book seven.
** He also has a SelfSacrificeScheme in the first book, Nasty broken leg in the third, what ever the hell happens to him in Book 5...
** Let's not even start on Neville who till the fifth book overshadowed Ron's victimisation and made it look tame in every possible way.
* Jackie Rodowski from ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'', an extremely clumsy and danger magnet kid.
* Marvin, from ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''.
** Agrajag, who is repeatedly reincarnated into the universe, and then always killed by Arthur Dent in some way. By ''accident''.
* Beginning with ''[[Literature/TheExploitsOfEbenezum A Malady of Magicks]]'' and apparently never quite ending, the universe picks upon Wuntvor of the Western Kingdoms. It starts with his wizardly master becoming allergic to magic. Wuntvor doesn't get a moment's respite after that. Love, luck, demons, and the Monster's Union all wittingly or unwittingly make life difficult for Wunt.
** By the end of the series, we've discovered that it's worse than that. Wuntvor is actually the current incarnation of the Eternal Apprentice. This means he has had and will ''always'' have this sort of luck, and he will ''never'' be truly competent at any profession, for all of eternity. On the other hand, he's maybe one of the greatest non-{{shonen|Demographic}} embodiments of ThePowerOfFriendship around.
* The dwarf Bombur in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. The poor fellow is constantly the first one on the menu by the enemies that capture them throughout the book, and often enough he's made to go last when put into pairs because of his weight. Not to mention he is the only one that falls into the Enchanted River...
* Adrian Hartworth, the main character in ''Literature/TheMidnightGround'', suffers from burns, beatings and severe psychic assault throughout the story.
* Joe Buckley is included in almost every Creator/{{Baen|Books}} book expressly so that he can be killed badly. In ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Mission of Honor]]'' there is the ''SLNS Joseph Buckley'', latest in a line of ships named after a scientist who came to a spectacularly bad end, and almost all of which have themselves been destroyed or vanished. The one that actually appears in story fares no better.
* ''Literature/StephaniePlum'' can't go a single book without being this. If she's not having a car blown up or landing in a pile of garbage, she's getting [[ItMakesSenseInContext dyed blue]].
* Job in ''Literature/TheBible''. Which makes this trope OlderThanDirt.
* Also, Sita in the ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}''. Exiled, kidnapped, accused of adultery and exiled again while pregnant with twins, the earth splits open for her when she pleads for an end to her miserable existence.
* ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': Ritchie does little else but get comical injuries. One time his fur fluffed up from Rana's lightning storm and another time he's covered in tar for no plot-based reason.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the people of the Riverlands get the worst end of the war, as their realm is reduced to a war torn wasteland filled with corpses. Things get even worse for them as they are now under the rule of the Lannister backed Freys.
* In ''Literature/WakingUpAsASpaceship'', the main character Abyssal is popular on both sides of the fourth wall because she's constantly getting shot at, her crew is snarky and backbites both her and each other, and even her split personality is full of sarcasm and sass. If not for any of that, her social contact is non-existent.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Percy in ''[=SkyClan's=] Destiny''. Most of Stick's group gets away with just wallowing in Dodge's incredibly vague OffstageVillainy, but Percy is singled out for both having [[EyeScream his eye ripped out]] and getting [[GroinAttack fixed]]. In fact, he doesn't have any role in the story other than having horrible things happen to him.
* In ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'' the main character Peter/Petra is this. In fact she is unofficially recognized as Fate's Chew Toy, by people in the know. The personification of Fate and Luck, decided one day to make Peter her new special project, having unnaturally bad luck, mixed with just enough good luck to survive and even get ahead sometimes, after a lot of humiliation and pain of course.
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