A woobie (named for a child's security blanket) is that character you want to give a big hug, wrap in a blanket and feed soup to when he or she suffers so very beautifully. Woobification of a character is a curious, audience-driven phenomenon, divorced almost entirely from the character's canonical morality.
The Woobie's appeal lies in how it allows the audience to experience
catharsis. The Greek philosopher
Aristotle proposed that tragedy is popular because it allows people to experience and let out their negative emotions,
"cleansing"
themselves.
The Woobie is popular for this same reason. A story with
The Woobie allows the audience to vicariously experience relief from some pain by fantasizing about relieving
The Woobie's pain. (No, not
that way! Well, okay,
sometimes.) Woobification can also tie into a disturbing hurt/comfort dynamic, in which fans enjoy seeing the Woobie tortured, if only for the chance to wish the hurt away. This is often made manifest in the curious form of the
Hurt/Comfort Fic.
An important aspect of
The Woobie is that their suffering must have its genesis in external sources: a character, however sympathetically portrayed, who suffers as the result of their own actions is a
Tragic Hero and does not qualify.
A properly executed Woobie inspires deep fannish devotion. A poorly executed Woobie earns scoffing and mockery, perhaps at the same time. The difference between the Woobie and such
Sickeningly Sweet characters as the
Littlest Cancer Patient is that the audience actually finds the Woobie compelling rather than pathetic. Where you draw the line is
sometimes a matter of opinion.
Sometimes a Woobie goes
Omnicidal Maniac and seeks to destroy the world in a bid to make the pain stop, in which case you're dealing with a
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. Sometimes it's possible to bring such a woobie back from the edge, but other times, only his or her destruction in a
Shoot the Dog moment will stop things, and is usually a
Tear Jerker when done well.
In
Lighter and Fluffier fiction,
The Woobie can sometimes
earn his/her happy ending.
In many versions there is also something about the Woobie's suffering that is notably heroic or noble. In this case the character is an
Iron Woobie. Sometimes,
The Woobie is not so outwardly emotional about their hurts (Or anything else, for that matter), making them a
Stoic Woobie.
See
Distressed Damsel and
Troubled, but Cute. In
anime,
The Woobie makes up a large part of
Moe characters. Part of their appeal can come from them constantly striving against
their chains. Can be taken to the point of
Break the Cutie, and if the amount of misfortune seems too great it may result in
Deus Angst Machina.
And the entire setting can even be like this. Yes,
the world can be that cruel.
Please note that
The Woobie is a specific type of character that is supposed to draw the audience's sympathy. If the character is the
Chew Toy,
Butt Monkey, or is a
Jerkass he is not
The Woobie (
unless the character is also meant to be sympathetic). If the character doesn't let bad events faze him, he is not
The Woobie. Also note that when adding an example, it should be kept concise. We don't need every bad thing that happened to them, and we don't need a summary of the entire series.
Contrast the
Chew Toy. If in your opinion the character desperately needs to die, that's likely
Damsel Scrappy. Should
not ever be confused with
Butt Monkey. A
Butt Monkey is essentially
The Pollyanna that is constantly abused. A
woobie is a character who gets tortured badly and sometimes even cries and complains about their situation. However, there is a lot of overlap; a Butt Monkey can often become a Woobie if abused too often and too mercilessly.
Subtropes include
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds,
Iron Woobie,
Stoic Woobie,
Jerkass Woobie,
Monster Sob Story,
World Of Woobie, and
Wheelchair Woobie.
Not to be confused with a species of
hairy bipedal humanoids that inhabit the planet Kashyyyk. (though the most famous one
is a woobie, see the "Star Wars" subsection), or
a Linux installer.
No Real Life Examples, Please!
Examples:
