People who struggle with their own shortcomings in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia: Discussed in Size Matters. While Rattigan has been gone for years, Basil finds himself starting to suspect that he might be behind several recent crimes and is worried that he's letting fear cloud his better judgment. Dave reassures him, encouraging him to trust his instincts.
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: In many ways, the biggest obstacle in Goh's way is Goh himself:
- His single-minded obsession with Mew led him to neglect Chloe for years, to the point that they became The Friends Who Never Hang.
- After Tokio missed their promised meet-up, Goh decided this was proof that Pokémon are more reliable than people and stopped attempting to make friends... or maintain any kind of relationship with the one he did have.
- When Chloe finally blows up at him, he's more concerned about his phone, and angrily accuses her of not having any goals or dreams of her own. Afterwards, he fixates on this fight as though it's the sole cause of their falling out, rather than the moment where years of resentment and other issues boiled over.
- Goh is so focused on 'getting Chloe back' that he completely ignores her feelings on the matter. Even when she explicitly tells him that she has no intention of returning to Vermillion, he keeps insisting that she HAS to come home because he wants her back... which, naturally, only serves to drive her further away.
- In Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!, Izuku's massive guilt complex and inability to forgive himself for nearly killing Bakugou as a child keep him from moving forward with his life and harnessing his potential to achieve a dream that's very much within reach for him. All Might straight up tells him that Izuku's personal shortcomings are the only things keeping him from becoming a Hero. After coming to terms with his identity, Izuku acknowledges this, pledging to prove to everyone and himself that he deserves to be on Earth and become a Hero.All Might: Midoriya, my boy, I still think you can be a Hero, but whether or not you should be one? I honestly can't say, and it's not because you're an alien, it's because of a shortcoming you could've had, even if you were human.
- People Like Us: Both Arthur and Travis are so self-loathing that they aren't sure they even deserve to be loved, and worry that they'll only end up hurting their partner one way or another. Naturally, this heavily impedes their relationship.
- The Vigilante Boss and His Failed Retirement Plan has Futaba and Ojiro team up to ruin Bakugou's reputation through Flaw Exploitation: they spread the word of what a Barbaric Bully and utter Jerkass he is. Katsuki does nothing to help his case; when students from other departments meet him, they're astounded to learn that he's even worse than the rumors. Ojiro complains that their efforts feel unsatisfyingly redundant since Katsuki's effectively destroying his own reputation just by being himself.
- In Voyages of the Wild Sea Horse, Nabiki tells Ranma's three fiancées that it's their own fault Ranma pushes them away. Their constant efforts to make him choose one of them makes him uncomfortable and their constant infighting, which Ranma is often dragged into, irritates him. The girls agree to a truce so that Ranma can get to know them and choose one of them on his own, a decision that sees all of the relationships deepen.
- Phlogiston Theory: Lemongrab accuses Princess Bubblegum of ignoring him and wanting nothing to do with him. She reminds him that the last time she tried to visit Castle Lemongrab, he threw things at her until she finally left, only for him to declare that he "did not wish a visit at [that] time."
- The Cutting Edge: Laurel struggles to see her own value as a person. When Sara points out that her knowledge of the future will eventually become useless due to all the changes that she's made, Laurel takes this to mean that she won't be needed after that point; after all, she's convinced that she's never been good enough for others just by herself.
- Corpse Party D2: Depths of Despair: Ayumi Shinozaki feels so much guilt about what happened six years ago that she's barely holding herself together before ending up back in the cursed school again. What's more, it's eventually revealed that the evil spirits are effectively feeding off of her self-loathing — before she can get their forgiveness, she has to forgive herself.
- Danny Phantom: Stranded: Mistaken centers around how Poindexter has unintentionally trapped himself in a Self-Inflicted Hell due to his obsessive desire to make others pay for how he was bullied during his short life. After learning how much his old crush Stacy has grown and changed over the years, Poindexter starts to realize how he's been completely unable to do the same, leading him to wonder "Have I been bullying myself without even realizing it?"
- In Mortified, it's revealed that all of the other ghostly students in Poindexter's lair are actually Shadows he subconsciously created, who have been bullying him for the past fifty years, recreating and reinforcing his trauma and self-hatred.
- The Secret Biography of Donald Duck: During the Three Caballeros arc, one of the main conflicts is Donald struggling with the trauma of losing Kay K, which only gets worse when he discovers that she wasn't killed by her Heroic Sacrifice, sending him into a Heroic BSoD over the notion that he'd been wasting time that he could have spent searching for her mourning instead.
- Vow of Nudity: Fiora's manipulative nature and underhanded tendencies are often the ultimate cause of her schemes blowing up in her own face, and her tendency to seduce authority figures for self-advancement often leads to them abandoning her when she stops being of use to them. The author even comments on this,
mentioning that she sees Fiora as a foil to Spectra, a good-hearted character who is largely blameless for the many woes that befall her.
- Daphne Greengrass and the Boy Who Lived: Daphne observes that Snape's biggest issues are his own self-loathing and how he's unable to forgive himself for the part he played in causing Lily's death.
- For His Own Sake: All of the Hinata Girls have this problem to varying extents, which has only been heightened by how Granny Hina's policies enabled them to avoid having to address their issues firsthand. After Keitaro leaves, some of the girls, like Shinobu, recognize this about themselves and work to turn things around. Others continue their destructive habits even after their Karma Houdini Warranties run out.
- The Fractured Mirror: Lincoln almost ends up killing himself trying to become talented like his sisters. It isn't until later on that it's revealed he's been a talented artist this entire time. However, due to how critical he was of his art, he never considered it to be a genuine skill.
- The Karma of Lies: Adrien believes that simply being chosen to become Chat Noir makes him one of the "good guys", meaning that everything he does is automatically right by default and that his happy ending is already guaranteed without him having to actually do anything to earn it. No matter how many times he's warned that he needs to take his heroic duties more seriously, or that he needs to help do something about Lila rather than letting her continue conning his classmates, he continues insisting that everything will work out on its own and completely in his favor. By the time he's finally motivated to act, it's purely in his own self-interest, which only serves to make matters worse — yet he continues to insist to the bitter end that he was right all along, further sabotaging himself in the process.
- In the Recursive Fanfiction Karmic Backlash, Marinette deciding to stop caring about bringing Lila to justice or helping Adrien when he is enduring the original tale’s Karmic Overkill because he annoyed her so much with his idiocy is what causes her doom — Ayla obtains evidence of said apathy to help and everybody who talks to her after Adrien hits the Despair Event Horizon about his fatenote and is Driven to Suicide, a thing everyone agrees has pushed things too far, regardless of how much they don't like him about it becomes upset when the only defense Marinette can insist on is "he deserved it!", which leads to them cutting her off from their lives.
- In the LadyBugOut AU, Alya, Adrien, and Lila all effectively sabotage themselves:
- Alya refuses to admit that it was wrong to post the picture she took of Ladybug and Chat Noir Kissing Under the Influence of Oblivio's Laser-Guided Amnesia... despite the fact that she clearly knew otherwise, given how desperately she tried to hide the truth. But when Marinette and most of the class call her out on this, she insists she has every right to misrepresent Ladybug. She then doubles down and insists that Ladybug and Marinette betrayed her by starting their own blog and revealing the truth. Even after Lila tells a lie that even Alya can't deny, revealing that Marinette was right to warn her, she continues to insist that Marinette has to make amends with her instead, unable and unwilling to swallow her pride enough to admit her mistakes.
- Adrien is so singularly focused on wanting a Relationship Upgrade with Ladybug that he refuses to see how his entitled behavior keeps driving a wedge between them. Like Alya, he doubles down on his misbehavior when challenged, and not even being stripped of the Ring impresses upon him how far he's fallen.
- Lila is so used to manipulating others with all her lies that once she's exposed as one, she has no idea how to go about fixing the problem. Aside from continuing with the same tactics, refusing to accept that they're no longer effective.
- The Lament Series (ChaoticNeutral): In Chloé's Lament, Chloé proves to be her own worst enemy several times over:
- While she'd triumphed as Miracle Queen, having practically everyone in Paris under her power, she couldn't accept Adrien's rejection of her or how he called her out as a self-absorbed Spoiled Brat. This spurs her to make an impulsive and poorly thought-out Wish, trading away her victory to create a new reality — one that winds up working out nicely for just about everybody else.
- While swapping places with Marinette does give her the chance to become Ladybug, she immediately wastes it by failing the Secret Test of Character, something she never even considered as a possibility due to her entitlement and utter lack of understanding.
- The biggest thing holding Chloé back in the new reality is her inability to admit she was wrong. Instead, she reinforces its status as a Self-Inflicted Hell through her petty, resentful behavior.
- The Wolves in the Woods:
- Adrien clings to the notion that reality should conform to the fiction he's familiar with. This includes casting himself as a beneficiary of Protagonist-Centered Morality, believing that Ladybug WILL become his girlfriend regardless of how she feels about it. He's also irrationally jealous to the point of not wanting any other heroes around to help, purely because he feels that 'cheapens' his connection to Ladybug. Ultimately, all of his selfish behavior comes back to haunt him once the Iberian Heroes get involved, especially after they anonymously provide Nadja with ample evidence of how he's misbehaved as Chat Noir.
- Alya suffers from tunnel vision and Moral Myopia; once she's made up her mind about something, she flatly refuses to take any other information that doesn't support her conclusions into account as she barrels forward. This destroys her relationship not just with Marinette, but with the rest of her classmates:
- Firstly, she leads most of the class in bullying and belittling her 'bestie' as part of a plan to 'cut her down a few notches', afraid that Marinette will leave her behind if her self-esteem rises too high from her successes. Marinette ends up transferring away to escape the bullying, with Alya unable to admit that she's the one who drove her away.
- Her Moral Myopia and utter Lack of Empathy for anyone she labels her enemy subsequently isolates her from the rest of the class when she tries convincing them to cross a line nobody else wants to cross, causing them to recognize that she's a toxic 'friend' and cut her out of their lives.
- Cain: Katsuki is so self-centered and used to getting his way that he winds up constantly sabotaging himself without realizing it. For instance, he tries to sabotage Izuku by forcing him through a Shameful Strip at school, taking pictures and using them as 'evidence' that Toshinori is abusing him. He doesn't consider the chances of Inko investigating and learning the truth, much less that Toshinori — whom he wants to train HIM instead — might not appreciate being painted as a predator.
- Crimson and Emerald: While Katsuki is genuinely talented and possesses a powerful Quirk, his Barbaric Bullying and entitled behavior repeatedly costs him opportunities. The fact that he keeps throwing temper tantrums over not getting his way doesn't help — his blowup at the Sports Festival leaves many witnesses questioning his potential, and while Best Jeanist still offers him an internship, Katsuki gets upset because he wanted the same opportunities as Izuku and his friends... despite how Hawks and Mirko want nothing to do with him. His bratty behavior during his internship with Best Jeanist further sinks his reputation.
- In Daymare, Izuku is deeply ashamed and afraid of his own Quirk, regarding it as an Enemy Within. His self-esteem is so low that it borders on being outright self-destructive; as a result, he's assigned a therapist.
- Failure to Explode: Despite being repeatedly warned that he shouldn't take his acceptance into U.A. as a given and should apply to other schools as well, Katsuki arrogantly assumes that he'll easily make it into his dream school. But when he doesn't earn a single Rescue Point during the Entrance Exam, the staff are alarmed by him achieving something they thought impossible, and he doesn't make it in, leaving Katsuki at a complete loss and with nothing to fall back upon.
- Hero Class Civil Warfare: Bakugou and Izuku were chosen to lead their respective teams as Paragon and Kingpin in order to give them both a chance to address their biggest issues: Bakugou's self-obsessive attitude and Izuku's tendency to be avoidant and self-sabotaging. Izuku manages to confront his issues and work on ridding himself of them. Bakugou doesn't.
- The Revenant Tale: Shoto's refusal to use his fire side was considered petty and in many cases downright idiotic. However, without Izuku to help him break out of it, he later found himself permanently bedridden and on constant medical support due to the grudge against his father. In Part 2 of the series, Izuku was able to snap Shoto out of this grudge with multiple Armor-Piercing Questions.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- It's implied Rainbow Crash (Mirror Rainbow Dash) from The Dark Side of the Mirror Verse has this issue. It's implied she's genuinely talented, but too much of an emotional wreck to use it fully. When she's more focused on reaching and saving Twilight during the finale, she manages to perform a Sonic Rainboom to get back! Mirror Starlight even says afterwards she forgot she was 'supposed' to fail.
- The Enchanted Kingdom: Even after overcoming herself to escape the Library, Twilight can't help but feel bad thoughts asserting themselves every once in a while.
- Androgyninja's A Drop of Poison: As much as Ino desperately wants to fix her broken friendship with Sakura after it becomes clear that Sasuke is no longer an obstacle, her stubborn pride keeps working against her. When Shikamaru suggests she simply talk to her about what happened, she loudly denies having any interest in doing so and continues shunning and ignoring Sakura...while seething with envy over her befriending Hinata and Shino.
- Denounce the Evils: After Team Rocket disbands, Jessie, James, and Meowth find themselves having to deal with their respective traumas and inner demons, along with the consequences of the poor reputations they built up during their criminal career.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- In Remember Their Sins No More, Catra's immense guilt over everything she did in the Horde manifests itself as extreme self-loathing. It gets so bad that she initially rejects Adora's marriage proposal because she considers herself undeserving of Adora's love and happiness. Catra is regularly tormented by nightmares of the portal incident (which she considers her greatest mistake) and vows to save Queen Angella, hoping that will make her feel better.
- Purple Days: Following his Heel Realization, Joffrey decides across all of his lives, the only one who has hurt him more than Baelish is Joffrey himself.
- Tales of Sonic the Hedgehog: When Robotnik declares that Sonic is his greatest enemy, Hope retorts that he's his own worst enemy, and that the main reason he fails is due to his insistence upon being evil. Robotnik is actually stunned speechless by her response.
- Learning to Breathe Underwater: Garnet quickly decides that Peridot is ultimately her own worst enemy; as a result, she doesn't bother picking on her, remaining largely aloof towards her instead.
- Way too many fanworks focusing on Parsee Mizuhashi to list here has this as a theme. Parsee being a Green-Eyed Monster Youkai who feeds on jealousy and whose ability to instill envy in the hearts of others is directly derived from her own jealousy of them has everything in her life revolving around how she's incapable of being content with what she has and always envies others for what they have that she lacks. The fact that she's most often shipped with Yuugi Hoshiguma, one of the strongest and most beautiful women in the franchise, yet still somehow always finds ways to sour her own fortune underscores how Parsee herself is the biggest obstacle in her life that separates her from her own happiness.
- Just A Phase: Taylor has an aversion towards testing her powers. She later begins self-sabotaging herself by moonlighting as a vigilante.
- Rivals Series:
- While Yuuri considers Viktor to be his greatest rival, his deeply rooted anxieties and self-loathing blind him to his own worth. As a result, he's unable to see how much Viktor cares about him or identify his own feelings for Viktor.
- Viktor, meanwhile, is In Love with Love and utterly tactless. And when he figures out his issues, he winds up over-correcting and flipping to the other extreme, not expressing how he really feels at all, which only makes matters worse.
- In a Soulmate AU spin-off based off this 'verse, people have the name of their One True Love appear on one wrist while the other has the name of their worst enemy. Viktor has Yuuri's name on both of his wrists, while Yuuri has Viktor's name on one and his own on the other. Yuuri assumes this is a sign that he's a Narcissist and that Viktor is his enemy, but Viktor eventually realizes that it's the other way around; Yuuri's self-loathing and thoughtless actions nearly cost him his relationship with the love of his life.
