History BrokenBird / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/Aquaman'': Mera pre-Flashpoint suffers [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of her son Aquababy]] progressively leading to a falling out between her and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the destruction of Atlantis followed by the death of Arthur, eventually leading to her being too despondent to pick up the pieces and holding vigil at Arthur's old home. And that's when ComicBook/BlackestNight happens, when the reanimated corpses of Arthur along with the rest of the deceased Aquafamily attack her and Aqualad/Tempest, killing the latter. She holds it together for as long as she can, [[TheStoic keeping her emotions in check]] in order to evade detection from Black Lanterns. That is, until a beatdown by a Black Lantern Ring controlled Wonder Woman triggers her rage, which gets her chosen as a Red Lantern, [[BlessedWithSuck triggering]] [[UnstoppableRage an uncontrollable fury]]. When Wonder Woman confronts her again, this time as [[ThePowerOfLove a Star Sapphire]], and uses her Lasso of Truth on her, she realizes how empty and full of regret and self-loathing her ally is over her failure to be there for Arthur and all the lies and things left unsaid[[note]]A possible allusion to how she was originally sent to kill Arthur as would be revealed in Brightest Day, and her own past with Black Manta, killer of Aquababy.[[/note]]. Mera, while a bit closer to sanity, has one last heartbreaking moment when Black Lantern Aquaman shows up again, this time tempting her [[TogetherInDeath to join him]] with the now [[UndeadChild undead Aquababy]]. She angrily retorts "I never wanted children." before blasting them both with red plasma. Thankfully, she does get better after Arthur revives via the White Lantern Ring, as does their relationship with Brightest Day.

* ComicBook/JessicaJones from ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'' ([[Series/{{Alias}} no relation to the Jennifer Garner series]].) She lost her parents in the accident that gave her superpowers, and her initial career as a superheroine ended with her being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Purple Man. And the worst part was, even though she had friends in the superhero community at the time, it was months before any of them even noticed that she was missing.
* Hazmat of ComicBook/AvengersAcademy lost everything because of her powers. Mettle, similarly, lost almost all tactile sensation and is now unable to do what he loves: surf. They find some solace in each other.
* The cast of ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' is filled with these, including X-23, Hazmat, Mettle, and Nico, as well as space-farer Cammi. Cammi lives in the shadow of Drax the Destroyer and desperately does not want to be "normal" again. The series then proceeds to put them through hell.

* Katchoo from ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' is outwardly tough but a frightened little girl inside, probably because of her terrible childhood and all the years she spent running from her MafiaPrincess [[PsychoLesbian ex-girlfriend]]. She's very dependent on Francine and David (and later Casey), but can be very abusive of them as well, and she tends to [[DrowningMySorrows hit the bottle]] after every serious fight with them.
* Franchise/GreenLantern Jessica Cruz big time. She had a normal life until she and her friends accidentally discovered some Mafia members burying a body while they were hunting. The Mafia attacked to get rid of witnesses, killing her friends and wounding Jessica. She developed PTSD and severe ''agoraphobia'' by this, locking herself in her apartment for three years. Then, she finds herself possessed by the demon Volthoom and turned into the Earth-0 version of Power Ring, only saved because Batman understood her grief and pain. When Volthoom is killed and she becomes a Green Lantern, she still struggles with her self-worth and will break down into panic attacks.

* ComicBook/{{Mera}} pre-Flashpoint suffers [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of her son Aquababy]] progressively leading to a falling out between her and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the destruction of Atlantis followed by the death of Arthur, eventually leading to her being too despondent to pick up the pieces and holding vigil at Arthur's old home. And that's when ComicBook/BlackestNight happens, when the reanimated corpses of Arthur along with the rest of the deceased Aquafamily attack her and Aqualad/Tempest, killing the latter. She holds it together for as long as she can, [[TheStoic keeping her emotions in check]] in order to evade detection from Black Lanterns. That is, until a beatdown by a Black Lantern Ring controlled Wonder Woman triggers her rage, which gets her chosen as a Red Lantern, [[BlessedWithSuck triggering]] [[UnstoppableRage an uncontrollable fury]]. When Wonder Woman confronts her again, this time as [[ThePowerOfLove a Star Sapphire]], and uses her Lasso of Truth on her, she realizes how empty and full of regret and self-loathing her ally is over her failure to be there for Arthur and all the lies and things left unsaid[[note]]A possible allusion to how she was originally sent to kill Arthur as would be revealed in Brightest Day, and her own past with Black Manta, killer of Aquababy.[[/note]]. Mera, while a bit closer to sanity, has one last heartbreaking moment when Black Lantern Aquaman shows up again, this time tempting her [[TogetherInDeath to join him]] with the now [[UndeadChild undead Aquababy]]. She angrily retorts "I never wanted children." before blasting them both with red plasma. Thankfully, she does get better after Arthur revives via the White Lantern Ring, as does their relationship with Brightest Day.
* Sharon Ventura, the second ComicBook/MsMarvel, had a miserable childhood, then got gang-raped early into her superhero career, and then, just when she was starting to get over that and develop a healthy relationship with Ben Grimm, she was mutated into a horrible rock-monster form. And then, just as she was finally getting over ''that'', Grimm dumped her. And then Doctor Doom mutated her into an even ''more'' horrible form. She eventually had her form stabilized, but it required her to make deals with the Wizard, which cost her many of her friendships in the superhero community.
* Mélisande from ''Mélusine''. She's the cousin of the titular character and is the shame of the family for choosing to be [[OurFairiesAreDifferent a fairy]] while everyone else is [[WitchClassic a witch]]. Despite her usual joyful demeanor, Mélisande one day breaks down crying because she has no friends, no boyfriend, [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway her power to conjure pastries is pathetic]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Santa Claus never visits her]].
* How many readers of ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' see Starfire. It's not certain at this point if this was Lobdell's intention. She gets really snippy and hostile whenever anyone tries to talk to her about her past, and we eventually find out that her most precious memory is [[spoiler:killing the only Citadel member who showed her sympathy in all her time as a slave. It's even lampshaded how screwed up the team must be.]]
* All of the kids in Marvel Comics' ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' but special mention goes to Karolina, Nico and Chase who deal with issues of identity, love and the loss of it.
* Sally Sonic of the Bulleeteer's miniseries from ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' is gradually revealed to be this. Sally was blessed with super strength and eternal youth, but this turned out to be BlessedWithSuck when the people she loved kept dying. Sally was put into a cruel orphanage because no one believed she was in her 20s, and when she escaped she fell into the clutches of Vitaman. Sally didn't remember him, but he'd been one of the crooks Sally and her judge father put in jail, and he wanted revenge because his brother, who was in jail as well, died before he got out. So Vitaman sleeps with Sally, takes lurid photos of her, tries selling her to England's criminal underworld, and exposes her to PsychoSerum. The end result? A bitter, ruthless seductress trapped in a teenage body, working for the erotic organization called Eternal Superteens, and manipulating married men into leaving their wives and following their self-destructive power fantasies.

* ComicBook/SpiderWoman[=/=]Jessica Drew. On top of her already broken and screwed up past, she gets caught by the Skrull and impersonated, and when she's rescued, almost everyone ''hates'' her, which makes her grow even more cynical than she was in the past.

** In any universe and timeline, Franchise/{{Superman}}'s cousin Kara Zor-El has endured tragedy: She always loses her parents -usually twice-, her home is destroyed -at least thrice-, she's used and manipulated... and she always tries to overcome her pain, make herself stronger and become a real hero.

* Franchise/{{Superman}} story arc ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'' tells the story of Karsta Wor-Ul, who ran away from her home and spent centuries being hunted all across the galaxy, losing her husband and all of her friends in the process.
* Following the reboot, Solstice in ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' is this. Despite seemingly taking her shift in appearance (she now looks like she's made of charcoal and has deep black smoke for hair) graciously then most would, Kiran has stated that she was forced to do horrible things in order to survive after N.O.W.H.E.R.E. kidnapped her. She also broke down and started crying when she realized Red Robin already knew well beforehand about what the organization was doing to teen metahumans but waited to make a move because he needed more tangible evidence.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}}'s life is loaded with things that any one of which would make her a broken bird, including horrific medical experimentation, a stint as a child assassin, and a stint as a teenaged prostitute. And after finally making her way to the Xavier School, which should have been a safe haven, she was quickly pushed into the black ops division.

* ''ComicBook/WhiteTiger'': {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecutor questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.

* Zoe has shades of it in ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse''. Wash’s death hit her hard and more got piled on in the time since then. Mal is gone, she’s struggling to keep a ship flying when it’s probably better off scrapped, jobs aren’t the easiest to get, and her daughter Emma argues with her a lot. She’s hard and cynical though Zoe rarely gets emotional to start with. It gets a little better when she is wounded and captured and sees how far her friends and crew will go to save her.

** Zoe has shades of it in ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse''. Wash’s death hit her hard and more got piled on in the time since then. Mal is gone, she’s struggling to keep a ship flying when it’s probably better off scrapped, jobs aren’t the easiest to get, and her daughter Emma argues with her a lot. She’s hard and cynical though Zoe rarely gets emotional to start with. It gets a little better when she is wounded and captured and sees how far her friends and crew will go to save her.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsJessicaJones Jessica Jones]] from ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'' ([[Series/{{Alias}} no relation to the Jennifer Garner series]].) She lost her parents in the accident that gave her superpowers, and her initial career as a superheroine ended with her being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Purple Man. And the worst part was, even though she had friends in the superhero community at the time, it was months before any of them even noticed that she was missing.

[[quoteright:350:[[Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supergirl_volume6_issue33_page08.jpg]]]]

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsJessicaJones Jessica Jones]] from ''Comicbook/{{Alias}}'' ([[Series/{{Alias}} no relation to the Jennifer Garner series]].) She lost her parents in the accident that gave her superpowers, and her initial career as a superheroine ended with her being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Purple Man. And the worst part was, even though she had friends in the superhero community at the time, it was months before any of them even noticed that she was missing.

* ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'':
** Barbara Gordon, the ''second'' ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'', after her spinal injury at the hands of the Joker. Complete with hypercompetence, mentoring of other heroes (though Huntress and Black Canary were really Broken Birds themselves, rather than cheery optimists), the requisite explosive teary breakdown early in her story when her partner learns a bit about her horrible past, and a slow evolution into a happier, less bitter, and more open person culminating in undergoing a procedure to regain the use of her legs and subsequently [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 becoming an active crime-fighter again]].

** Expect a second boilerplate [[DefrostingIceQueen Broken-Bird-evolves]] storyline, with the ''fourth'' [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Batgirl -Stephanie Brown-]] in the 'cheerful mentee' role, over the course of the new volume of that series.
* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'':

* Katchoo from ''Comicbook/StrangersInParadise'' is outwardly tough but a frightened little girl inside, probably because of her terrible childhood and all the years she spent running from her MafiaPrincess [[PsychoLesbian ex-girlfriend]]. She's very dependent on Francine and David (and later Casey), but can be very abusive of them as well, and she tends to [[DrowningMySorrows hit the bottle]] after every serious fight with them.

** ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac'': Kara's cousin and [[Comicbook/LoisLane Lois]] talk about her, pointint out that Kara is only fifteen and she has already lived through genocide and her family’s loss.

* Following the reboot, Solstice in ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' is this. Despite seemingly taking her shift in appearance (she now looks like she's made of charcoal and has deep black smoke for hair) graciously then most would, Kiran has stated that she was forced to do horrible things in order to survive after N.O.W.H.E.R.E. kidnapped her. She also broke down and started crying when she realized Red Robin already knew well beforehand about what the organization was doing to teen metahumans but waited to make a move because he needed more tangible evidence.

* ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsWhiteTiger White Tiger]]'': {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecutor questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.

* ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'':
** Barbara Gordon, the ''second'' ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'', after her spinal injury at the hands of the Joker. Complete with hypercompetence, mentoring of other heroes (though Huntress and Black Canary were really Broken Birds themselves, rather than cheery optimists), the requisite explosive teary breakdown early in her story when her partner learns a bit about her horrible past, and a slow evolution into a happier, less bitter, and more open person culminating in undergoing a procedure to regain the use of her legs and subsequently [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 becoming an active crime-fighter again]].
** In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', Barbara's parents were murdered when she was a child. After being adopted by the Waynes she began preparing and became Batgirl.
--->'''Batgirl:''' And Kara? ... You'll survive this. He just knocked you off your cloud, that's all.
** Expect a second boilerplate [[DefrostingIceQueen Broken-Bird-evolves]] storyline, with the ''fourth'' [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Batgirl -Stephanie Brown-]] in the 'cheerful mentee' role, over the course of the new volume of that series.

* ComicBook/{{Mera}} pre-Flashpoint suffers [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of her son Aquababy]] progressively leading to a falling out between her and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the destruction of Atlantis followed by the death of Arthur, eventually leading to her being too despondent to pick up the pieces and holding vigil at Arthur's old home. And that's when ComicBook/BlackestNight happens, when the reanimated corpses of Arthur along with the rest of the deceased Aquafamily attack her and Aqualad/Tempest, killing the latter. She holds it together for as long as she can, [[TheStoic keeping her emotions in check]] in order to evade detection from Black Lanterns. That is, until a beatdown by a Black Lantern Ring controlled Wonder Woman triggers her rage, which gets her chosen as a Red Lantern, [[BlessedWithSuck triggering]] [[UnstoppableRage an uncontrollable fury]]. When Wonder Woman confronts her again, this time as [[ThePowerOfLove a Star Sapphire]], and uses her Lasso of Truth on her, she realizes how empty and full of regret and self-loathing her ally is over her failure to be there for Arthur and all the lies and things left unsaid[[note]]A possible allusion to how she was originally sent to kill Arthur as would be revealed in Brightest Day, and her own past with Black Manta, killer of Aquababy.[[/note]]. Mera, while a bit closer to sanity, has one last heartbreaking moment when Black Lantern Aquaman shows up again, this time tempting her [[TogetherInDeath to join him]] with the now [[UndeadChild undead Aquababy]]. She angrily retorts "I never wanted children." before blasting them both with red plasma. Thankfully, she does get better after Arthur revives via the White Lantern Ring, as does their relationship with Brightest Day.

* ComicBook/SpiderWoman[=/=]Jessica Drew. On top of her already broken and screwed up past, she gets caught by the Skrull and impersonated, and when she's rescued, almost everyone ''hates'' her, which makes her grow even more cynical than she was in the past.

* How many readers of ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' see Starfire. It's not certain at this point if this was Lobdell's intention. She gets really snippy and hostile whenever anyone tries to talk to her about her past, and we eventually find out that her most precious memory is [[spoiler:killing the only Citadel member who showed her sympathy in all her time as a slave. It's even lampshaded how screwed up the team must be.]]
* All of the kids in Marvel Comics' ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' but special mention goes to Karolina, Nico and Chase who deal with issues of identity, love and the loss of it.

* Hazmat of ComicBook/AvengersAcademy lost everything because of her powers. Mettle, similarly, lost almost all tactile sensation and is now unable to do what he loves: surf. They find some solace in each other.
* The cast of ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' is filled with these, including X-23, Hazmat, Mettle, and Nico, as well as space-farer Cammi. Cammi lives in the shadow of Drax the Destroyer and desperately does not want to be "normal" again. The series then proceeds to put them through hell.
* Sharon Ventura, the second ComicBook/MsMarvel, had a miserable childhood, then got gang-raped early into her superhero career, and then, just when she was starting to get over that and develop a healthy relationship with Ben Grimm, she was mutated into a horrible rock-monster form. And then, just as she was finally getting over ''that'', Grimm dumped her. And then Doctor Doom mutated her into an even ''more'' horrible form. She eventually had her form stabilized, but it required her to make deals with the Wizard, which cost her many of her friendships in the superhero community.
* Sally Sonic of the Bulleeteer's miniseries from ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' is gradually revealed to be this. Sally was blessed with super strength and eternal youth, but this turned out to be BlessedWithSuck when the people she loved kept dying. Sally was put into a cruel orphanage because no one believed she was in her 20s, and when she escaped she fell into the clutches of Vitaman. Sally didn't remember him, but he'd been one of the crooks Sally and her judge father put in jail, and he wanted revenge because his brother, who was in jail as well, died before he got out. So Vitaman sleeps with Sally, takes lurid photos of her, tries selling her to England's criminal underworld, and exposes her to PsychoSerum. The end result? A bitter, ruthless seductress trapped in a teenage body, working for the erotic organization called Eternal Superteens, and manipulating married men into leaving their wives and following their self-destructive power fantasies.
** The Bulleteer, Alix Harrower, herself is one. Alix did little to support her husband's fantasies about becoming superheroes, especially since he was treating Alix, who at the time was 27, as if she was already an old woman. Because of his stupidity (and Sally Sonic), he gets killed and Alix becomes permanently bonded with metal skin. Alix loses her job, discovers her husband was cheating on her, and tried to kill herself. After finally meeting Sally, Alix is naturally enraged but tries to talk Sally down when she realizes the girl is clearly insane. The ''Seven Soldiers'' series ends with Alix questioning whether she can even call her life her own, as she ends up accidentally killing the BigBad of the series... just as destiny said she would.
* Mélisande from ''Mélusine''. She's the cousin of the titular character and is the shame of the family for choosing to be [[OurFairiesAreDifferent a fairy]] while everyone else is [[WitchClassic a witch]]. Despite her usual joyful demeanor, Mélisande one day breaks down crying because she has no friends, no boyfriend, [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway her power to conjure pastries is pathetic]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Santa Claus never visits her]].
* ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsWhiteTiger White Tiger]]'': {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecuter questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Poor "Julia" of Daxam was enslaved, tortured, had her eyes ripped out, and put in a TailorMadePrison that displays her to the rest of the slaves on Hope's End as a warning against trying to revolt. After Wonder Woman frees her she's mostly mute outside screaming, with dangerous bursts of violence and she doesn't speak for months.
* Franchise/GreenLantern Jessica Cruz big time. She had a normal life until she and her friends accidentally discovered some Mafia members burying a body while they were hunting. The Mafia attacked to get rid of witnesses, killing her friends and wounding Jessica. She developed PTSD and severe ''agoraphobia'' by this, locking herself in her apartment for three years. Then, she finds herself possessed by the demon Volthoom and turned into the Earth-0 version of Power Ring, only saved because Batman understood her grief and pain. When Volthoom is killed and she becomes a Green Lantern, she still struggles with her self-worth and will break down into panic attacks.

* ComicBook/JessicaJones from ''Comicbook/{{Alias}}'' ([[Series/{{Alias}} no relation to the Jennifer Garner series]].) She lost her parents in the accident that gave her superpowers, and her initial career as a superheroine ended with her being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Purple Man. And the worst part was, even though she had friends in the superhero community at the time, it was months before any of them even noticed that she was missing.

* ''ComicBook/WhiteTiger'': {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecuter questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.

** Barbara Gordon, the ''first'' ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'', after her spinal injury at the hands of the Joker. Complete with hypercompetence, mentoring of other heroes (though Huntress and Black Canary were really Broken Birds themselves, rather than cheery optimists), the requisite explosive teary breakdown early in her story when her partner learns a bit about her horrible past, and a slow evolution into a happier, less bitter, and more open person culminating in undergoing a procedure to regain the use of her legs and subsequently [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 becoming an active crime-fighter again]].

** Expect a second boilerplate [[DefrostingIceQueen Broken-Bird-evolves]] storyline, with the ''third'' [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Batgirl -Stephanie Brown-]] in the 'cheerful mentee' role, over the course of the new volume of that series.

* ''ComicBook/WhiteTiger'': {{Implied|Trope}}. Soledad Ayala intended to file for divorce immediately after her husband White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was wrongfully arrested for murder, because Hector had promised her he'd give up being a superhero. Matt Murdock convinces her to hold off divorcing him until after the trial because if she divorces him right now that would just send the message that he's guilty. She agrees to hold off the divorce, admitting both that she knows he's not guilty and that she still loves Hector. But during the trial, when the prosecuter questions their marriage, she can't stand the pressure and leaves the courthouse. Soon after, Hector is convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Murdock. Hector is shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerges that belatedly proves his innocence. In Soledad's last appearance in ''White Tiger'' #6, according to Hector's sister Awilda, Ayala hasn't been right in the head ever since Hector's death, implying that the death and the guilt she has for leaving the trial has destroyed her. She takes the appearance of someone as a new White Tiger as a sign from God that Hector forgives her.* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Poor "Julia" of Daxam was enslaved, tortured, had her eyes ripped out, and put in a TailorMadePrison that displays her to the rest of the slaves on Hope's End as a warning against trying to revolt. After Wonder Woman frees her she's mostly mute outside screaming, with dangerous bursts of violence and she doesn't speak for months.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Poor "Julia" of Daxam was enslaved, tortured, had her eyes ripped out, and put in a TailorMadePrison that displays her to the rest of the slaves on Hope's End as a warning against trying to revolt. After Wonder Woman frees her she's mostly mute outside screaming, with dangerous bursts of violence and she doesn't speak for months.

* ComicBook/{{Mera}} pre-Flashpoint suffers [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of her son Aquababy]] progressively leading to a falling out between her and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the destruction of Atlantis followed by the death of Arthur, eventually leading to her being too despondent to pick up the pieces and holding vigil at Arthur's old home. And that's when Blackest Night happens, when the reanimated corpses of Arthur along with the rest of the deceased Aquafamily attack her and Aqualad/Tempest, killing the latter. She holds her own for as long as she can until a beatdown by a Black Lantern Ring controlled Wonder Woman triggers her rage, which gets her chosen as a Red Lantern, [[BlessedWithSuck triggering]] [[UnstoppableRage an uncontrollable fury]]. When Wonder Woman confronts her again, this time as [[ThePowerOfLove a Star Sapphire]], and uses her Lasso of Truth on her, she realizes how empty and full of regret and self-loathing her ally is over her failure to be there for Arthur and all the lies and things left unsaid[[note]]A possible allusion to how she was originally sent to kill Arthur as would be revealed in Brightest Day, and her own past with Black Manta, killer of Aquababy.[[/note]]. Thankfully, she does get better after Arthur revives, as does their relationship with Brightest Day.

* Still in Marvel comics, there's ComicBook/SpiderWoman[=/=]Jessica Drew. On top of her already broken and screwed up past, she gets caught by the Skrull and impersonated, and when she's rescued, almost everyone ''hates'' her, which makes her grow even more cynical than she was in the past.

* Mélisande from ''Mélusine''. She's the cousin of the titular character and is the shame of the family for choosing to be a fairy while everyone else is a witch. Despite her usual joyful demeanor, Mélisande one day breaks down crying because she has no friends, no boyfriend, [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway her power to conjure pastries is pathetic]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Santa Claus never visits her]].

* Mélisande from ''Mélusine''. She's the cousin of the titular character and is the shame of the family for choosing to be a fairy while everyone else is a witch. Despite her joyful demeanor, Mélisande breaks down crying because she has no friends, no boyfriend, [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway her powers to conjure pastries is pathetic]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Santa Claus never visit her]].

* ComicBook/JessicaJones from ''Comicbook/{{Alias}}'' ([[Series/{{Alias}} no relation to the Jessica Garner series]].) She lost her parents in the accident that gave her superpowers, and her initial career as a superheroine ended with her being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Purple Man. And the worst part was, even though she had friends in the superhero community at the time, it was months before any of them even noticed that she was missing.

** Barbara Gordon, the ''first'' ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'', after her spinal injury at the hands of the Joker. Complete with hypercompetence, mentoring of other heroes (though Huntress and Black Canary were really Broken Birds themselves, rather than cheery optimists), the requisite explosive teary breakdown early in her story when her partner learns a bit about her horrible past, and a slow evolution into a happier, less bitter, and more open person... only to be promptly reverted two decades back to her immediate post-shooting self when [[Comicbook/BirdsOfPrey her series]] was cancelled.

** Then, post relaunch, [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2011}} Barbara Gordon]] is back to suffering trauma over TKJ. This plot is on repeat.
%%** [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]], the second Batgirl.

** ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInTheEightGrade'': Kara is taken from her home, has to go to a school full of jerks, gets sad, depressed, upset... but she never lets anything gets her down. [[spoiler:Mr. Mxyzptlk isn't happy about it.]]

** In any universe and timeline, Franchise/Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El has endured tragedy: She always loses her parents -usually twice-, her home is destroyed -at least thrice-, she's used and manipulated... and she always tries to overcome her pain, make herself stronger and become a real hero.