The world of Black Clover is quite an unforgiving one. Plenty of characters face this harsh world on a daily basis and some are even worse off than others.
Iron Woobie
- Asta. He grew up an orphan in the boonies and as the only person in the kingdom without magic, leading him to be mocked by many. In spite of this, he continues to be enthusiastic and determined. When nobles mock him for being a peasant without magic, he takes it in stride, saying that he's used to others insulting him.
Jerkass Woobie
- Gauche. An unpleasant ex-convict who often insults others, his noble parents were killed for their wealth, which led to him and his little sister being cast out onto the streets. As a result, he became a rude criminal who extorted money from others until he was jailed. His past caused him to believe others only care about themselves, and devote himself solely to his younger sister.
- Zora. He's rude and tends to use his traps to violently beat foes. His father was killed by his squadmates for being a peasant. This, on top of the rampant corruption of Magic Knights, caused him to have a low opinion of the position and dedicate himself to taking down corrupt members.
- Licht/Patry. As young boy, his entire tribe was killed by humans after they were seemingly betrayed. As a result, he tries to kill all the humans of the present-day Clover Kingdom and reincarnate his fallen people. The truth is much, much worse; he is actually tricked by word devil Zagred, who engineered the whole monstrosity with his absolutely underhanded tricks for the sake of power. Despite all the trouble he's caused for the Clover Kingdom's magic knights, up to seemingly killing Julius with his own underhanded gambit and turning a huge chunk of them into murderous elves, it's not hard to feel sorry for him when it's revealed that his mission to avenge his own kind ends up being a petty scheme instigated by a higher evil force and he unwittingly became everything Licht went against...just because of that one. bad. day.
- Liebe. After being abused all his life in the underworld by other devils for having no magic, he found a happy life with his adoptive mother Licita in the living world. Then she's killed by Lucifero when he tries to take over his body, with Licita sealing him inside the five-leaf clover grimoire before she dies to protect him. Now, he desires to kill all devils and wants to take over Asta's body to do so.
- Nacht. Back in his youth, due to his carelessness and irresponsability as a delinquent, his dear twin brother had to sacrifice himself to save Nacht from a devil he summoned. After that incident, he became utterly convinced that he shouldn't ever receive praise, be on the spotlight like his brother or even be forgiven, because he can't forgive himself for starters. It became so serious that he changed his personality and now his looks are very similar of his brother's. All the rude comments he makes towards Yami and the other Black Bulls? They are all projections of the hatred he has for himself.
- Suprisingly, Zenon of the Dark Triad ends up as this. He used to be an aspiring young man who only wanted to defend the Spade Kingdom as a Mage Defense Force member in spite of being pushed down by other kids, including his fellow siblings over his weird magic. However, when on a mission with his friend Allen, young Zenon was forced to kill him in order to kill a devil they couldn't otherwise beat, something that broke him so hard that he turned to the eldest Zogratis sibling and asked him to make him a devil host, turning him into the cynical, machiavellian man he is now. In spite of getting half of the Golden Dawn decimated and capturing Yami and Vangeance to unleash devils into the mortal realm all by himself, unlike the thoroughly monstrous Dante and Vanica, it's not hard to feel bad over how he stooped to that level of low.
The Woobie
- Noelle. Her mother died in childbirth, with her family blaming her for her death. To make matters worse, she grew up having poor control of her magic, subjecting her to the bullying and mocking of her siblings.
- Finral. His mother died when he was very young and he was subjected to mistreatment by his stepmother. His younger brother was superior to him in magic, athletics, and academics, causing him to have low self-esteem. Eventually, he was disowned as the heir of his house and had his engagement with the woman he loved broken off.
- Henry. He was born with an illness that saps others' magic power, causing his nobleman father to disown him and abandon him in a secluded mansion. For years, he is bedridden and near death until Yami makes the mansion the Black Bulls' hideout. Even after, he's had to keep his distance so as to not harm his squadmates.
- Grey. Growing up she was subjected to mistreatment by her stepmother and stepsisters, forced to do all the house chores and mocked as ugly. When she used her magic to look like them, they threatened her and kicked her out. Since then, she has had a low opinion about her true appearance.
Woobie Species
- The elves. They were a peaceful race attuned to nature who desired peace with their human neighbors. Despite this, they were all massacred on what should have been a happy day at their leader Licht's wedding, by a devil who just wanted to be evil for the sake of, nonetheless, who then reincarnated them and imbued them with hate. It's no wonder that the reincarnated elves — Patry, Vetto, Fana, and Rhya — hate humans and are desperate to reincarnate their fallen tribe, with Patry just breaking down upon knowing the Awful Truth that what they were trying to do was a misguided farce.
