Some of the examples that follow also fall under one or more Death Tropes. Most spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.
Cynicism Catalysts in Anime and Manga.
- Angel Beats!: Yurippe. In her case, the catalyst were two dead little sisters and one little brother. The murder of her younger siblings led to her creating the Afterlife Battlefront in the first place.
- Happens to Guts twice in Berserk. Guts' first traumatizing experience was at the age of 6 or 7 when he was raped by a male soldier at the convenience of his adoptive father Gambino, who he later had to kill when he got drunk and tried to murder him. After this, Guts had almost lost all of his trust in people. In his teen years, he joins the Band of the Hawk and over the course of the Golden Age storyline, Guts' trust in people starts to build up as the themes of camaraderie, friendship, and love prevail. Tragically, an even greater and more horrifying event happened during the Eclipse, where all of his friends were sacrificed and eaten by hordes of demons, and his lover was horrifically raped to insanity in front of him at the convenience of his former best friend Griffith, who did it all to become a demon god. This event all but utterly crushed Guts' spirit, to the point of becoming a ruthless Anti-Hero on the verge of losing his humanity to his undying hatred for Griffith and the demons. The Conviction Arc has him realizing that he fucked up big-time in leaving Casca alone to fight his demons and going through hell and high water to rescue her, picking up a new circle of True Companions along the way. He then goes on a quest to find a way to cure Casca of her Eclipse-induced madness, but the monster that Guts had to become through years of battle with the demons has never fully left him, and now takes the form of a monstrous Enemy Within.
- Black★Rock Shooter: (Original only.) The music video is about the chain of events that led to the eponymous character's cynicism. The song is about Hatsune Miku trying to heal the character's heart.
- The main character of Blade of the Immortal puts down his sword after his Bounty Hunter lifestyle led him to accidentally kill his sister's husband (he'd never met him before), causing said sister to mentally revert to a child-like state to cope. He picks it back up after his refusal to fight later resulted in his sister being graphically sliced to pieces. The story deals with his need to balance the two extremes; of course, the whole thing leans more towards violence, but generally it's for a good cause.
- In Blast of Tempest, Mahiro doesn't care about saving the world and just wants to kill his sister's killer - not to get revenge or because she'd want him to or anything, but because it wasn't fair. He doesn't seem to care much that his parents were also killed, though. Interestingly, it turns out the sister was also protagonist Yoshino's girlfriend, which is the reason he ends up joining Mahiro.
- Turkish Percia, Juliet's father and the final Knight of Cerebus of Boarding School Juliet became bitter and closed his heart to the world after his Secret Relationship became public and he and his lover got ostracized by both of their countries. However, his real regret isn't what happened to him (disowned by his own family, getting inflicted with Riches to Rags and forced to work from the ground up to regain his noble status) but rather that he never learned anything of what happened to Chiwa, the girl who he fell in love with in the first place. As far as Turkish knew, she might have suffered worse treatment than he did from her countrymen all because of him. Learning from both Romio and Juliet (the former happens to be Chiwa's son) that Chiwa cherished their short time together and that she still found happiness later in life allowed Turkish to move on from his guilt.
- All the Claymores share more or less the same Dark and Troubled Past: family murdered by Youma, exiled from their village, and then are forced to become Half-Human Hybrid. That means that each Claymore has her complex and Cynicism Catalyst. A significant part of the story is about the various way each of them react with that, such as starting a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, feeling guilty of being the only survivor, or going Knight Templar.
- In Code Geass:
- Lelouch Lamperouge despises his home country after his father failed to explain his mother's assassination and sent him and Nunnally to Japan which he invaded later on. But when he received the power of Geass, he wanted to make a peaceful world for his sister despite his morally questionable methods. Then, it goes straight to the point when his actions got several of his friends in danger and the death of Shirley broke him up which caused him to go on a Disproportionate Retribution Roaring Rampage of Revenge on the Britannian research facility that experimented on the Geass users and attempt to get Rolo killed for murdering Shirley.
- Suzaku Kururugi changed when Euphemia died in the hands of Zero. When he found out that Zero is his best friend Lelouch, he felt betrayed and had him captured and delivered to the Emperor where he earned a promotion as a Knight of Rounds and had his best friend's memories of his mother, his sister, and his Zero identity temporarily erased.
- Cornelia li Britannia hated the Japanese because she believed that her half-siblings, Lelouch and Nunually, were reportedly dead while exiled in Japan. Then, her sister, Euphemia, was killed by Zero, who turned out to be her supposedly dead half-brother, much to her despair. A similar level of cynicism and bitterness in other royals, such as Clovis, can also be attributed to the believed deaths of Lelouch and Nunnally.
- More or less the cause of all of Bird's Nest's angst in Copernicus Breathing, although it is up in the air as to whether or not Bird's Nest just feels guilty about and is having trouble moving past his little brother's death or if he actually killed Michel.
- In Darker than Black, Hei's little sister Bai disappeared during whatever the hell happened in South America. She actually somehow got fused with her brother as a Soul Fragment, but he doesn't know that. Anyone he thinks might know anything about what happened to her tends to be in for a great deal of pain thanks to his status as a Knight Templar Big Brother.
- Halle Lidner from Death Note. She wishes to take down the Kira organization by joining the police force. Why? One of her relatives was killed by none other than Kyosuke Higuchi at the time when he acted as Kira.
- Ken Ichijouji of Digimon Adventure 02 has a big brother who dies, and it certainly tears him apart.
- Neo Saiba's digital world takeover in the manga Digimon V-Tamer 01 is motivated by his little sister who is in a wheelchair.
- In Dragon Ball Super, the Tournament of Power becomes this towards Universe 11's Toppo and the Pride Troopers. Their entire universe ran on the ideals of justice, which their counterparts on Universe 2, the Magical Girl trio Kamikaze Fireballs and their friends, used The Power of Love. However, while Love helped them and others out, justice didn't — the Pride Troopers were knocked down to just three of their number due to the power of the Saiyans, especially the meek Saiyan Kale of Universe 6. The final straw was when their attempt to defeat the assassin Hit lead to their number dropping to three, especially when Goku, whom Toppo called a villain for giving Zen-Oh the reminder for the Tournament of Power, dropped in to help Hit. After this, Toppo told remaining members Jiren and Dyspo that there was no justice or evil, only survival and erasure.
- In Dr Koto, a journalist comes to ruin Koto's life again, full of bitterness after his little sister died from Koto's lack of care.
- Elfen Lied: Lucy's Kill All Humans mentality began because of the loss of her puppy at the hands of some very cruel kids. Her Start of Darkness was a lethal Unstoppable Rage you could almost root for.
- In Et Cetera, Baskerville's younger sister was Delicate and Sickly. He joins the Syndicate in order to get access to medicine for her, but it turns out the medicine was a narcotic that quickened her heart rate and worsened her condition, eventually killing her.
- Mikagami from Flame of Recca, whose older sister died early. At some point before his Heel–Face Turn, he kidnaps Princess Yanagi and forcibly cuts her hair since she looks a lot like his sister.
- Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist has two major Cynicism Catalyst events: the failed attempt to revive his mother through human transmutation that resulted in him losing an arm and a leg and his younger brother Alphonse being reduced to a soul attached to a walking suit of armor, and the horrible fate of Nina Tucker.
- The Ishbalan genocide prior to the main timeline of the story had this effect on a lot of characters. Hawkeye in particular became cynical enough to ask Colonel Mustang to burn and scar her back so she could never share the secret of her father's research again lest it be used in war again.
- In Fushigi Yuugi, Nuriko's dead sister Kourin inspires appearance. And Tamahome receives a power-up once Suboshi kills his family, ending with Tamahome's youngest sister. And for worse, Suboshi killed them because he blamed Tamahome for the apparent death of his older twin brother, Amiboshi. We later learn that Nuriko became a Cynicism Catalyst (in the form of a dead little brother) for his surviving sibling, Chou Rokou.
- Himiko Kudo from Get Backers. Backstory is that Ban killed her brother, Yamato, while they were all thieves together.
- In Gunslinger Girl the brothers Guiseppe and Jean are both seeking revenge for the death of their sister Enrica at the hands of terrorists. The names of their chosen weapons, the cyborgs 'Henrietta' and 'Rico', reflect this. The difference is that Jean is cold-blooded towards Rico (deliberately behaving like a jerk), whereas Guiseppe has created a surrogate in Henrietta, even (in the manga chapter "Fantasma") making her wear one of Enrica's dresses. Though Jean is visibly shocked by this act, he is unable to find the strength to reprimand his brother.
- In Haikyuu!! Tsukishima Kei used to look up to his older brother Akiteru who had a passion for volleyball and told him that he was Karasuno's ace. When Tsukishima went to one of his matches (against his brother's will) it turns out that Akiteru wasn't even on the bench and had been lying all the time to not disappoint him. That was the moment when Tsukishima came to the conclusion that being passionate about volleyball (or anything really) only means that you will suffer later because there's always someone better out there.
- Leon Oswald from Kaleido Star has a dead little sister. Her name was Sophie, she was his partner as well, and was killed in a car accident before a big competition in front of Leon himself. He still blames himself, and is always looking for someone like Sophie to a pretty destructive extreme), which leads him to main girl Sora Naegino.
- The Legend of Koizumi uses the real-life example of Robin and George W. Bush.
- Kassim from Magi: Labyrinth of Magic has an example in his little sister. When she died from a sickness, he became bitter and changed from being a kind young boy to a cold young man who would gladly backstab his best friend for power.
- In March Comes in Like a Lion, the deaths of his parents and sister are a large part of what sets up the foundation for Rei's negative outlook on life, and forcing him to consider things no kid would normally do, such as lying about his own interests in order to avoid being institutionalized by his surviving family.
- In Martian Successor Nadesico, a young girl named Ai whom Akito meets in an underground shelter shortly before it's attacked by enemy Mecha-Mooks serves as a kind of Cynicism Catalyst to him. Eventually it turns out that she didn't die, but instead was sent first forward, then backward in time, and grew up to be one of the major characters, the scientist, Inez Fressange.
- Char Aznable of Mobile Suit Gundam wanted revenge on the Zabis for allegedly poisoning his father which forced him and his sister into exile. The Origin manga gave him a bigger Cynicism Catalyst where the death of his mother hammered it to the point of becoming violent much to his sister's horror.
- In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Lockon Stratos's younger sister Amy and their parents were killed in a terrorist attack when he was a child. He's normally the cheery big brother of the team, but give him a chance for revenge...
- Subverted by Lockon's younger brother Lyle. He does mourn for the deaths of Amy, their parents and Lockon himself, but decided not to specifically seek revenge over them. In fact, at the end of the series Lyle shoots Lockon's murderer Ali Al-Saachez to death, but it's less to avenge his brother and more because he does offer Ali a Last-Second Chance, Ali doesn't take it, and so he simply sticks to his word and his guns.
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny:
- The main character Shinn Asuka has his life changed forever when his little sister Mayu is accidentally blown up alongside their parents when they got caught in the crossfire of a major battle. To the point where Shinn carries around her cell phone and listens to her "leave a message after the beep" recording when he gets down.
- It is lampshaded upon in Super Robot Wars Z, after being taken out of his berserker streak by Stella Louissier if they saved her earlier. When back at base, Shinn's girlfriend Lunamaria Hawke is concerned that Stella is going to be a contender for Shinn's heart, but Shinn tells her that he sees Stella as a platonic brother-sister relationship. Making up for your mistake there, huh, Shinn?
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury: The Vanadis Incident, which led to the deaths of her mentor and her husband, drove Elinora Samaya to become Lady Prospera Mercury who plots to destroy the Benerit Group and commit several questionable acts for her revenge such as manipulating her daughter into marrying the daughter of the man responsible for the massacre.
- Moriarty the Patriot: Albert stopped trusting people who wanted to befriend him after he discovered a boy who he thought was his friend and only hung out with him to take advantage of his status.
- Naruto:
- Inari's adoptive father Kaiza was brutally beaten and executed by a corrupt businessman's thugs when he tried to stop them from taking over their village. Inari then angrily declared heroes don't exist and nothing can stop bad guys.
- Konan and Nagato/Pain became villains after the death of their best friend Yahiko when their faction was betrayed.
- The death of his beloved Rin is what sent Obito off the deep end and what directly motivated him into becoming Tobi.
- Specifically, it was sacrificing himself to save both Rin and Kakashi, going through a physically and psychologically difficult rehabilitation upon being rescued by Madara, then seeing Rin force Kakashi to kill her that first convinced Obito that the constantly-warring world wasn't worth considering "reality", thus setting his sights on making a new one.
- Sasuke became obsessed with getting power at any cost following the massacre of his family, the Uchiha clan, at the hands of his elder brother Itachi. After discovering that Itachi was actually acting under orders from a Hidden Leaf Village to exterminate the Uchiha clan and prevent them from becoming a threat to the village, Sasuke redirects his desire for revenge against the Hidden Leaf Village.
- Gaara was pushed over the edge when his uncle tried to kill him when he was little, claiming that he hated him for causing the death of his mother (his uncle's sister), who also hated his very existence.
- Neji's father died when he was little in order to placate Kumogakure and avoid another war; his uncle Hiashi, the head of the main family, had killed a Kumogakure dignitary who tried to kidnap his three-year-old daughter Hinata to steal her Byakugan, but then Kumogakure demanded the body of the killer, most likely to get the Byakugan, and Neji's father ended up substituting for Hiashi, his twin brother. As a result, Neji hated every main family member, especially Hinata, for nine years.
- Kakashi became obsessed with the shinobi code and began placing the mission above his teammates after his father committed suicide, having become ostracized and falling into despair for failing a mission to save his comrades.
- Izuna was his brother Madara's entire world. Madara is the man he is today because of Izuna's death.
- Both Orochimaru and Sasori were ultimately messed up when they lost their parents (individually, they're not brothers, but the circumstances of loss are basically the same, and they were, to an extent, initially motivated by a desire to get them back).
- Tsunade lost both her brother and her lover, who had sought to protect the village as Hokage, and she turned her back on the village and began to view the title with disdain as a result.
- In the pilot, Kuroda was friends with Saburo, a fellow artist, but Kuroda got stabbed by Saburo when he was chosen for the Council on Cultural Advancement, in the hopes of getting his job back. Kuroda survived, but became bitter and refused to trust others. Saburo was also deeply affected, painted "Symbol" to symbolize his hopes of reconciliation with Kuroda, and then was Driven to Suicide.
- In Noein the pseudo-villain/anti-hero Atori watched his little sister step on a land mine. Atori's attachment to Miho is most likely due to her resemblance to his dead sister.
- One Piece: The death of Bell-mère at the hands of Arlong caused Nami to hate pirates with a passion. She ultimately gets over it after Luffy defeats Arlong.
- In PandoraHearts numerous characters become cynical or even villainous after losing people they care about and serve as a motivation for what they do.
- Xerxes Break became a murderer after his family was killed by assassins and killed endlessly to bring them back to life.
- Oswald became hardened after killing his little sister Lacie and is determined to do the same thing again by killing her once more.
- Leo broke down completely when his best friend Elliot dies from committing suicide after learning the truth about his family and taking down the chain that forced him to kill them.
- Zai Vessalius, whose cold, and arrogant demeanor and his rejection of Oz can be better explained by him having his son be stillborn and Jack switching his son with him, and then his wife dying in a carriage accident. Then his brother's wife and child died as well, leaving Zai alone to wallow in his misery and blame Oz the B-rabbit for something he did not do.
- And perhaps the ultimate example is of Jack Vessalius, whose Start of Darkness began when he met Lacie, Oswald's sister, who gave him a reason to exist. He both fell in love with her and yet hated her, but he could only feel alive when she was with him. It is when she dies and Oswald informs Jack of it that Jack becomes a villain and starts falling down the slippery slope to insanityville, eventually trying to destroy the entire world for her, by using his chain the B-rabbit to do so.
- In Paranoia Agent, Lil' Slugger comes about and ends up destroying Tokyo because Tsukiko felt guilty about her puppy dying when she was a child.
- Pokémon: The First Movie's backstory. Mewtwo wasn't the only thing being cloned; a little girl who died in a car crash and three other Pokemon were as well. The four became friends via Mewtwo's psychic link, but the experiment went wrong and all but Mewtwo died. To really drive the nail home, the scientists unintentionally induced Laser-Guided Amnesia on him when they stabilized him, leaving him only with a subconscious memory of a friend who died for nothing. This did not end well when he was finally released and was told they're gonna experiment with him.
- In Princess Tutu, Rue's transformation into Princess Kraehe was spurred by one of these. Mytho was the only person who ever cared about her, so when he starts falling in love with another girl, one she couldn't possibly surpass, she cracks.
- In the manga and anime Project ARMS, Ryo Takatsuki goes on a brief downward spiral after believing he caused the death of his childhood friend and girl he loved Katsumi. When it turns out she was really alive, he spends most of the series traveling from Japan to America with his friends to rescue her, only to watch her be killed by his own hands by accident (the bad guy threw her in front of himself as Ryo attacked), which causes Ryo to nearly bring about the end of the world out of his guilt and sadness. Then, when it turns out she's not dead again but is implanted with ARMS of her own and kidnapped by the evil organization Ryo's been fighting, he must again battle his sadness while setting off to rescue her. Wow.
- Psycho-Pass:
- Shinya Kougami's descent to a latent criminal is brought by the brutal death of his Enforcer and close friend, Mitsuru Sasayama. When he found out that Makishima is one of the two people responsible for his death and the Sibyl System ordered the bureau to capture him alive instead of executing him, Kougami ended up leaving the bureau to take matters into his own hands.
- Inverted for Akane who realized how flawed the Sibyl System was after she learned that they couldn't do anything to judge Makishima for killing her best friend. This experience made her into a realist, knowing that she cannot always rely on the system.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Kyouko's Cynicism Catalyst was the death of her little sister. And her mother. And her father. The last of whom killed the first two. Which was caused by revelation of Kyouko turning to magic. Because Kyouko wanted to bring people to that man's church. Is it a wonder that she's callous with her Magical Girl power?
- Homura has a drawn-out Cynicism Catalyst with her third timeline - this is the timeline when she first saw Sayaka turn into a Witch and Mami Go Mad from the Revelation about the fate of Magical Girls. Starting with her next timeline reset, she gets rid of her glasses and Takes A Level In Badass, acting much colder towards the others.
- According to Puella Magi Oriko Magica spinoff Noisy Citrine, Kirika's downward spiral into antisocial depression and madness began when she caught a closely trusted childhood friend shoplifting at the mall... and said friend literally left her holding the bag, to be caught by security in her place.
- In Record of Lodoss War, Orson's berserker tendencies come from his older sister sacrificing herself to save him during a bandit attack on his home village which left him the Sole Survivor, which is why he flips his shit when he sees a woman, especially his companion Shiris, in danger.
- In Saiyuki, Hakkai's sister and lover Kanan was kidnapped and raped by youkai, and not wanting to give birth to a youkai child, killed herself right in front of him. This event left him hurt and with feelings of rage that he tries to put away.
- In Saki, flashbacks show that Teru Miyanaga, the eponymous main character's older sister, was once cheerful and kind to her younger sister, but in the present day, after their parents have separated, she is aloof, refuses to speak with Saki, and even denies having a sister. The exact cause has not been revealed yet, but this montage
◊ implies the reason, by introducing a third girl who most likely died in a past incident. - Samurai Gun: Ichimatsu watched his sister get raped and murdered; leading to his quest to find whether his mysterious employers were responsible, and his Celibate Hero relationship with Hooker with a Heart of Gold Ohana.
- In Sands of Destruction, Morte apparently Used to Be a Sweet Kid, but lost her parents to fighting with beastmen. The final straw comes when her younger brother Reve joins the Golden Lions and is killed; this sets her off on the path of world destruction and ultimately sets up the entire plot. This is not the case of the manga or original videogame, though; in them, her reason for wanting to end the world isn't stated aside from her just being Ax-Crazy, making those versions an aversion.
- Shadow Star has Shiina Tamai's older sister Mishou, who died after Shiina's birth. Her death tore the family apart and it'd take more than a decade and another death to patch things up.
- Chōji Suitengu from Speed Grapher only maintained sanity throughout his years of hellish service in the military by thinking of finding his little sister Yui again after he got out. When he finally does, Yui is so utterly broken by her ordeal that the only thing he can do for her is end her suffering, turning him into a callous bastard and the Big Bad of the series.
- Dias's motivation in Star Ocean EX was his dead sister.
- Str.A.In.: Strategic Armored Infantry gives Lottie a dead older brother. Sara's dead schoolmates also fit the "failed to protect" mold, giving her post-traumatic stress syndrome for a long time afterward.
- Chester, the archer in the anime adaptation of Tales of Phantasia, is driven incessantly by his need for revenge after Mars kills his little sister (his only family) while he is out hunting with the main character. He is so driven that he appears to give up sleep entirely, instead using the night to practice his bowmanship.
- Tokyo Babylon and X/1999:
- Following the events of Tokyo Babylon, Hokuto serves as this for Subaru during X/1999.
- Kotori as a dead little sister becomes Kamui's cynicism catalyst midway through X/1999. Her older brother, Fuuma, was the one who killed her.
- Actually, Kamui and Kotori's case is an inversion of sorts. Before her death, Kamui is apathetic, at most, to his role in the End of the World. While he does take a side before her death, it's the event itself that makes him determined to protect his loved ones that are left, and, thus, to embrace his role as a Dragon of Heaven.
- In the first Tokyo Babylon OAV, Broken Bird Kazumi Asou has a dead older brother, murdered by his co-worker Shinji Nagumo in an attempt to remove him from competition in their high-class work. In the second, the Serial Killer's Start of Darkness happens when he accidentally kills his little sister as a child, strangling her to death while they were playing and only being discovered when their mother returned home from buying groceries.
- Voltes V: Invoked with Nakamura. Belgan deliberately sends him the corpses of his parents to stir up hatred against the Go brothers for being Boazanian. It works, and Nakamura undergoes a BSoD, before crying and hugging his father's corpse.
- Kousei from Your Lie in April stopped playing the piano and became a very cynical boy since his mother died; at least until he met Kaori and slowly reignited his passion for music.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Alister/Amelda joined doom to get revenge on Kaiba for the death of his little brother, later revealed to have been killed on Dartz's orders as part of a massive Gambit Roulette. In fact, Dartz did something like this to nearly all his henchmen, covertly ruining their lives and then swooping in as a Dark Messiah. Mai's Marik-related PTSD was the only part he wasn't responsible for.
