History ButtMonkey / WesternAnimation

** Squidward Tentacles. The worst things tend to happen to him, including but not limited to being: shot out of a cannon, doused with gas and set on fire by the Krusty Krab's security system...''twice'', squished by a boulder, stung mercilessly by jellyfish, stampeded by a crowd, repeatedly attacked by a sea bear, zapped multiple times by the Flying Dutchman, skinned alive, cut in half with a giant pair of scissors from nowhere, gruesomely separated from the toenail he suddenly has, and blown up by various means on numerous occasions. He seems generally hated by everyone in Bikini Bottom, including inanimate objects and the universe -- in "My Pretty Seahorse", Squidward willfully ignores [=SpongeBob=]'s baiting, telling himself 'don't say anything, Squidward, remember your karma'. Karma's response? The front wheel breaks off Squidward's bicycle for no apparent reason causing him to fly off the seat, fall down a cliff, and ''explode'' [[https://youtu.be/0waJjf-ki34?t=3]]. The only people who ''do'' like him are his mindless next-door neighbors on each side who persistently bother him when he repeatedly insists that they don't, making them the source of much of his suffering. Only five episodes ("Band Geeks", "Suction Cup Symphony" ,"Love That Squid", "Enchanted Tiki Dreams", and "House Fancy") have ever truly ended up in his favor -- and even then, "Band Geeks" saw him constantly humiliated and nearly impaled and "House Fancy" included the notorious toenail incident.

** NEPTR generally tends to get the short end of the stick more often than not as TheUnFavorite. He once spent three months in the desert building a town out of popsicle sticks only for BMO to knock it down in less than ten seconds.

** Tuck Carbunkle for ''damn'' sure. Where to even ''begin'' with this poor boy? Throughout the whole show, he has been shunned, berated, belittled, mocked, infantilized, humiliated, ignored, and gone through just about every single form of physical pain and discomfort you can imagine— and a good chunk of all of it comes from his own so-called "friends": Brad, Jenny, and Sheldon, who typically see him as little more than an annoying pest. There are very few episodes where he’s not afraid, upset, or distressed about ''something'' at least ''once'', and more often than not, it’s for a good reason. With all the shit he goes through on a regular basis, it truly is a mystery how he manages to remain loyal to the teenage trio for three seasons straight and not completely ''lose'' it at any point.

** Tuck Carbunkle for ''damn'' sure. Where to even ''begin'' with this poor boy? Throughout the whole show, he has been shunned, berated, belittled, mocked, infantilized, humiliated, ignored, and gone through just about every single form of physical pain and discomfort you can imagine— and a good chunk of all of it comes from his own so-called “friends”: Brad, Jenny, and Sheldon. There are very few episodes where he’s not afraid, upset, or distressed about ''something'' at least ''once'', and more often than not, it’s for a good reason. With all the shit he goes through on a regular basis, it truly is a mystery how he manages to remain loyal to the teenage trio for three seasons straight and not completely ''lose'' it at any point.

** In the episode ''The Big Job'', Wander himself is protryed as this since the crackpot team that recruited Sylvia [[BitchInSheepsClothing don't actually like him and are annoyed by him]].

** Tuck Carbunkle for ''damn'' sure. Where to even ''begin'' with this poor boy? Throughout the whole show, he has been shunned, berated, belittled, mocked, infantilized, humiliated, ignored, and gone through just about every single form of physical pain and discomfort you can imagine— and a good chunk of all of it comes from his own so-called “friends”: Brad, Jenny, and Sheldon. There are very few episodes where he’s not afraid, upset, or distressed about ''something'' at least ''once'', and more often than not, it’s for a good reason. With all the shit he goes through on a regular basis, it truly is a mystery how he manages to remain loyal to the teenage trio for three seasons straight and not [[WhosLaughingNow completely snap]] at any point.

** NEPTR generally tends to get the short end of the stick more often than not as the UnFavorite. He once spent three months in the desert building a town out of popsicle sticks only for BMO to knock it down in less than ten seconds.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': Jenny (XJ-9) is prone to this, as she's basically considered a freak by everyone but her friends and "mother" and almost nobody seems to give her any of the respect she deserves, despite having saved the world multiple times.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodeFamily'': Gerold Goode is the show's cross between DoggedNiceGuy and TheDitz. He was this in the radio episode, "Trouble in Store" and "Gerold's Way or The High Way"

*** In an episode Timmy wished he was never born due to being unappreciated by his parents, best friends, etc, even though he was just trying be helpful. When Timmy got his wish, he ends up seeing all characters being very successful, happier, and without flaws just because Timmy doesn't exist, ''even though he didn't '''directly''' have anything to do with most of their situations when Timmy DID exist.''

** Lemongrab cranked this trope UpToEleven in the span of 11 minutes. He gets pranked, insulted, assaulted, fed extremely spicy food, bullied by his own mother, falls out of a window, falls out of a tree...and at the end, he's fired, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and his mom calls him a "butt."]] He has since nearly bled and starved to death.

* ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'': General Skarr has been zapped, electrified, burned, blasted by lasers, attacked by animals, and blown up many times throughout the series. And it was only [[UpToEleven cranked up to 11]], in Season 2, where episodes dedicated entire sideplots to focused on him being tortured.

*** Taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] in an episode where Timmy wished he was never born due to being unappreciated by his parents, best friends, etc, even though he was just trying be helpful. When Timmy got his wish, he ends up seeing all characters being very successful, happier, and without flaws just because Timmy doesn't exist, ''even though he didn't '''directly''' have anything to do with most of their situations when Timmy DID exist.''

** The title character is routinely subjected to the sort of [[AmusingInjuries slapstick cartoon abuse]] that usually gets inflicted on the ''antagonists'' of a cartoon. And despite dealing with AxCrazy villains like [[EvilTwin NegaDuck]], criminal masterminds like Taurus Bulba, evil scientists, demons, and being S.H.U.S.H.'s top freelance contractor and one of FOWL's worst enemies, he [[DudeWheresMyRespect doesn't get an ounce of respect from the city he protects]]. He's constantly upstaged by [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 Gizmoduck]], and even when Darkwing wins a "Superhero of the Year" award, the award is a statue of ''Gizmoduck'' with his CoolHat and cape attached, because Gizmoduck winning was considered a foregone conclusion.

* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'': Many characters end up being Butt Monkeys in one way or another, given the deranged nature of the show. In particular, Clara, Ling Ling, Woldoor, and Toot suffer the worst effects.

** May, particularly when Lee and Marie gang up on her. However, she does dish it back.

** Zoidberg is the most common recipient of the trope and serves as the show's walking punchline. He's always poor, hungry, lonely, lives in a dumpster, and is disliked, bullied, and mistreated by most of his co-workers, sometimes for no reason.
** Kif Kroker is put upon a lot because Zap Brannigan blames him for his own failings and constantly treats Kif like a slave and Kif's gotten a bit depressive as a result.

** Carl Wheezer, Jimmy's FatBestFriend, is always suffering from his many allergies and phobias.

** Not even [[FieryRedhead Groundskeeper Willie]] is safe from this trope. "Lisa's Date with Destiny" and "Treehouse of Horror V" are ones where he has it very bad, even getting killed in all three segments of the latter.

** "Monster Detectives": Has to put up with Uniqua being TooDumbToLive, only to have her [[spoiler:lose her to the Soccer Monster.]]

--->'''Jerry''': I'm this entire family's toilet paper.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': Principal Haney. In one episode, two characters even related flashbacks which ended in him suffering some form of abuse, and when a third character related a flashback that did not, Arthur asks "Aren't you forgetting something?" Cue the continuation of that flashback in which, yes, Principal Haney suffers abuse.

** The title characters are arguably the series' biggest examples. Their stupidity and obnoxious behaviour frequently get them in trouble with the wrong kinds of people and throw them into bad situations that they only worsen with their idiocy. Nonetheless, the results are hilarious.
** Many of the people B&B interact with could qualify too, but the biggest of these are their teacher Mr. Van Dreissen (whose attempts to reach out to the duo constantly fail), Tom Anderson (their hapless neighbour), Principal [=McVicker=] (who always tries to get the boys out of his hair with no avail), and Stewart (who has the misfortune of being the closest thing B&B have to a friend that isn't each other).

** Tom Dubois, but more often than not he brings the trouble upon himself. He always talks about and complains about his fear of getting sent to prison and being raped there, up to the point that his Caucasian wife Sarah is so sick of listening to it that she's come to regret marrying Tom. He also got a big beating from Usher's bodyguards for slapping Usher in the face after wrongfully accusing Usher of having an affair with his wife. And then Tom signed ''himself'' up for slavery in Freedomland [[WhatAnIdiot for stupid reasons]].

** Oscar Proud is a natural born loser, his own mother hates him, and he constantly make terrible decision that turn badly for him, and every success the family makes, he is excluded from it.

** From about Seasons 9/10, Moe and Kirk van Houten become two of the major Butt Monkeys of the show.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Beast Boy. Poor guy even suffers in the DownerEnding. No wonder he's embarrassed that his first name is the same as that of [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} a certain well-known cat]]. But he's much better off than Poor Doctor Light...

** Timmy. Parents who would rather go out for a night on the town and tend to discipline you with a cage, a bitchy and manipulative babysitter, a gray-skinned bully, and a spastic teacher who gives you "F"s for the hell of it? Good thing he has fairies.

** Sokka, as a frequent source of [[PluckyComicRelief comic relief]] throughout the series, is a victim of increasingly violent slapstick and harsh mockery. [[CartwrightCurse Aside from humor, he once fell for a princess, only to learn that she was engaged, which was a moot point once]] [[spoiler:she got [[TonightSomeoneDies killed off and turned into the moon.]] Which was rough]]. There was even an episode in the second season where he was stuck in a hole for the entirety of the episode. It comes to a head in the final season, where he leaves the group for a few weeks in an attempt to become a strong enough warrior to lose this status. Sokka's bad luck was Lampshaded in the Season 1 episode "The Fortuneteller," where the titular fortune-teller Aunt Wu tells Sokka "Your future is full of struggle and anguish ... most of it self-inflicted." Aunt Wu's point is soon demonstrated when Sokka, complaining about her prediction for him, vigorously kicks a small stone, which ricochets violently off a sign and strikes him.

** The health inspector from the episode "Nasty Patty" gets knocked out unconscious and suffers many mishaps that knocks him back into a coma. Granted,[=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs thought he was a fake after hearing a news report only for a subsequent one (that came a little too late) confirmed him to be a real one.

** Kevin Reynolds as he constantly makes terrible decisions, is hated by his gym coach, gets a huge share of being beaten up by multiple virus monsters, and falls victim to a lot of malfunctions in his battle ball while transforming into the wrong animal a lot

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': Michelangelo. Donnie is also getting shades of this -- to the point where fellow nerd Leo gets on his case about TechnoBabble, and Mikey takes literal ''and'' figurative swings at him in a decidedly non-AnnoyingYoungerSibling way. That's not even mentioning the out-of-the-blue insults and general smacking around by [[BigBrotherBully Raphael]].

%%* ''WesternAnimation/JibberJabber'': Jessica

%%** Both Blossom and Bubbles have had their fair share of torment in episodes like "A Very Special Blossom" for the former and "All Chalked Up" for the latter.
** Mojo Jojo spends about 80 to 90% of his screen time getting humiliated, bruised, beaten badly and insulted for being an incompetent villain who can't tackle three super-powered mutants who resemble kindergartener girls.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''

* ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' entire purpose of the show was about placing an incredibly sympathetic, sincere, likable character in a series of gags designed to bring harm to him. In later seasons, however, Sharky the Shark Dog took over the role (though you could say much of the time he [[JerkassWoobie brings it on himself]]). In one short" Try Hard" he recruited his international cousins to try to eliminate the cat once and for all. Eek unwittingly thwarted their plans through sheer dumb luck.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'':

* Vinnie Grigori from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', who seems to have a horrible encounter with the protagonists every other week, starting with his motorcycle getting destroyed and escalating from there. Deconstructed later in the series when we get [[PerspectiveFlip an episode from his perspective]] and get to see just how miserable his life has become as a result of his constant misfortunes. [[spoiler:He ends up trying to take vengeance on Goliath for it all... and ''succeeds''. Mostly because his idea of vengeance was hitting Goliath with a PieInTheFace. As he's walking off into the sunset afterwards, Goliath and Hudson [[UnknownRival wonder who the hell that guy was]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Dipper Pines, while a more subtle example than most, qualifies. It seems to be a pretty big factor when it comes to his trust issues. Another instance would be Thompson, who is very literally the butt-monkey of his friend group (although maybe not the show), doing things such as eating run-over waffles or having ice dumped down his pants. Although Thompson also weaponizes his status in order to [[spoiler: get everyone to reconcile at the end of "The Love God"]] Let's not forget Toby Determined, who gets zero respect from any of the townspeople and is generally a total failure in his life.

* ComicBook/{{Bane}} of all people is this in ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'', being an AdaptationalWimp [[ExtremeDoormat (in terms of spirit)]] who gets pushed around by all the other villains despite the fact that he [[BullyingADragon could easily break any one of them in half]].