History DysfunctionJunction / WesternAnimation

* The cast of WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} are all terrible people in their own ways, but there's a reason why they've stuck together for so many years through thick and thin -- despite all their violence and vitriol, they do genuinely care about each other, openly admit that they do not want to be seperated, and have referred to each other as family (not to mention that Archer and Lana have a daughter.)
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The point of the BeachEpisode was to get the four dysfunctional teenaged [[AntiVillain villains]] together and spill their guts about their personal issues a la ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. Or maybe that was just an excuse to provide us with {{Fanservice}}. The teenaged heroes [[ParentalAbandonment aren't much better off,]] but being main characters, they handle it with more grace. Although Azula takes her issues perfectly in stride until The Boiling Rock, which shakes her and starts a downward spiral that ends in the finale, at which point [[spoiler: she has a psychotic breakdown, turning into TheCaligula and hallucinating that her MissingMom is talking to her- and violently ''attacking'' the hallucination upon being told "I love you"]].

* Sterling WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, a womanizing drunkard who is a jerk to everyone. This is due to his mother hardly being there for him when he was young, and when she is she makes his life miserable. [[RunningGag Cheryl/Carol/Carina/Cristal/Cherlene]] is an insane pyromaniac who is TooKinkyToTorture. Cyril is a {{Crazy Jealous|Guy}} ExtremeDoormat who cheated Lana several times. Even Lana, the OnlySaneWoman, is crazy. She attempts to shoot Archer multiple times when she's angry. [[spoiler:She admits that she still loves him, oh and that ''she stole his sperm to impregnate herself.'']]

** Catra is the most obvious example: her [[DarkAndTroubledPast abusive upbringing]] has left her with [[DrivenByEnvy an envious streak a mile wide]], [[AmbiguousDisorder symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder]], and enough self-destructive tendencies to blow up the world. [[spoiler:Literally - in the throes of a VillainousBreakdown, she decides to end the world because Adora wants to save it, and she refuses to let Adora have even that much of a victory.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Most of it in [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]] (and by manual, we mean [[Comicbook/TeenTitans original comic book]] and occasionally the ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' comic). Raven's DarkAndTroubledPast is the only one which gets any detail, though. Cyborg's, Beast Boy's, and Robin's are only implied through dialogue and visual cues. Starfire seems to be the only one with a normal past until the episode "Go" which {{retcon}}s it into her tragic comic book origin.

** {{Transformers}} having tragic pasts and psychological issues is a constant no matter WHAT continuity you look at; in fact, many of the minor and toy-only characters, Autobot and Decepticon alike, are defined primarily by their neuroses. It's not like you'd expect a group of aliens who've been fighting for eons on end to stay well-adjusted. ''Comicbook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' (in the Comics section) is so popular because of how it delves into this.

** [[spoiler:Pacifica Northwest was trained like a dog by her parents and conditioned to obey them every time she heard her father ring a bell, leaving her TERRIFIED at the thought of disobeying them.]] [[AdultFear It's entirely as messed up as it sounds.]]

%%** Alejandro - brother
%%** Sierra - Slap Slap Revolution
%%** Jo - gender insecurities
%%* Dakota
%%** a kid with {{Split Personalit|y}}ies

%%** a song-obsessed teenage girl still in her PrincessPhase

** Sarah is an [[HairTriggerTemper ill-tempered]], {{Spoiled|Brat}} BrattyHalfPint who seems to hate her older brother for merely ''existing''. Her only redeeming quality is her friendship with [[MoralityPet Jimmy]], and is frequently shown to hate nearly everyone else in the Cul-De-Sac as well, with the other kids being exasperated at her violent behavior and rotten attitude.

* ''WesternAnimation/Centaurworld'' is this to a T - absolutely ''everyone'' has some sort of tragic backstory, with clues dropped here and there as to what happened in their pasts and how they try to [[StepfordSmiler mask their traumas underneath their silly, fun-loving demeanors.]]

** Durpleton is a kind-hearted people-pleaser who seeks validation from others whenever he can. However, it's implied this is because he grew up with a verbally abusive father and ''constantly'' struggles with it. In fact, some of his behavior is a textbook case of someone who's been verbally abused; he hears his father's words in his own flatulence to the point of cowering and sometimes even apologizing to his own farts - [[spoiler: only with the help of the Tree Shamans does he find a way to alleviate the lasting pain of his traumatic childhood by making the voice he hears much kinder to him.]]

** Ched ''hates'' Horse and horses in general for no good reason, but he hints that when he was younger, his mother had an affair with a horse centaur that went on whenever his father was out of town. Because of his parents' failing marriage, he's developed a resentment towards horse centaurs and anything similar to them.

%%** Izzy

%%** Trent

%%** an obese pageant queen with a white trash upbringing

** When confronted with a possible serial killer in "[[Recap/TotalDramaHookLineAndScreamer Hook, Line, and Screamer]]", rather than run, Leshawna tells him that she's "got 16 years in the projects!" and isn't afraid.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', every member of Planet Express has some kind of issue, even if this Trope is played little bit lighter than the rest of the page's examples.

* In hindsight, it's amazing how much ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' was able to get away with for a kids show in regards to this.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': The hosts and many of the contestants have gone through a traumatic experience, have a disorder, aren't in a good mental place, and/or have parents who did/could or do/can not act in the best interest of their child.
** Bits and pieces of Chef's past are brought up every now and again and few paint a pretty picture.
** The second generation contestants are a ruthlessly backstabbing AlphaBitch, a card-carrying juvenile delinquent, a perfectionist CompetitionFreak GoGetterGirl, a big fat {{gasshole}}, an impossibly stupid BrainlessBeauty, a wimpy MamasBoy built like a brickhouse, a dimwitted party animal, an IronButtMonkey guitarist, a GranolaGirl who's more coordinated on water than on land, an over-the-top SassyBlackWoman stereotype, a PerkyGoth who considers herself the OnlySaneMan, an AxCrazy CloudCuckoolander, a hopelessly dweeby CasanovaWannabe, an awkward geek versed in useless skills and trivia, the snarkiest and most pessimistic teenager since Daria Morgendorffer, a klutzy DumbJock, a homely geek who's NotGoodWithPeople, a ridiculously handsome supermodel, a butch JerkJock with a HairTriggerTemper, two absurdly close HeterosexualLifePartners, and a hopelessly clueless homeschooled kid. And then Season 3 adds the ultimate LoonyFan and a ridiculously suave and talented LatinLover to the mix.
** The second generation contestants are a CreepyChild implied to have supernatural powers, a hipster who ApologizesALot, a kid with {{Split Personalit|y}}ies, a military cadet who's a big softie at heart, a hillbilly with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, a JerkJock so stupid he can't identify others' genders, a super-genius who never talks, a genius BubbleBoy, an overweight gamer geek, a {{Joisey}} stereotype obsessed with her hair and spray tan, a compulsive liar who never shuts up, a tomboy who treats everyone around her as expendable fodder, and the most massive AttentionWhore to have ever starred on reality TV.
** The third generation contestants are a guy who talks only in {{Wacky Sound Effect}}s, a {{LARP}}er who is convinced he is an actual wizard, a whiny NeatFreak who thinks he's the OnlySaneMan, a song-obsessed teenage girl still in her PrincessPhase, a farmboy who hopelessly falls in love with every girl he lays eyes on, a GentleGiant Australian stereotype, a CrazySurvivalist obsessed with zombies, an obese pageant queen with a white trash upbringing, a self-declared evil genius who only manages to be a HarmlessVillain, a bookworm whose polite facade hides a psychotic personality, an aspiring reality TV host whose personal hero is the narcissistic sociopath who runs the show, twin cheerleaders who do nothing but bicker with each other, and a PassionateSportsGirl so focused with winning the competition that she was willing to throw away the boy who liked her without second thought.
** And all of this is ignoring the fact that the hosts of the show are a shamelessly sadistic narcissist who only cares about milking his show for maximum ratings and drama and a DrillSergeantNasty ScaryBlackMan who cooks crappy food for the sole purpose of making everyone's lives as miserable as possible.

* Sterling WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, a womanizing drunkard with who is a jerk to everyone. This is due to his mother hardly being there for him when he was young, and when she is she makes his life miserable. [[RunningGag Cheryl/Carol/Carina/Cristal/Cherlene]] is an insane pyromaniac who is TooKinkyToTorture. Cyril is a {{Crazy Jealous|Guy}} ExtremeDoormat who cheated Lana several times. Even Lana, the OnlySaneWoman, is crazy. She attempts to shoot Archer multiple times when she's angry. [[spoiler:She admits that she still loves him, oh and that ''she stole his sperm to impregnate herself.'']]

** Dude, Starfire didn't even know what the word "nice" was until she came to Earth, and the closest word she had on her planet was "weak", she had a CainAndAbel relationship with her sister, and she was sold into slavery by people who experimented on her before attempting to bring her to live out her days as a servant on another planet!

* The entire premise of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' revolves around this - taking some of the most eccentric and over-the-top teenagers around Canada, putting them all together on a reality show, and watching the fur fly. The host even explains in the first episode that the competitors were specifically chosen based how weird or messed-up they seemed in their audition tapes and how entertaining it would be to have them interact with each other and compete in absurdly life-threatening challenges. In brief:
** The first season's cast of contestants are a ruthlessly backstabbing AlphaBitch, a card-carrying juvenile delinquent, a perfectionist CompetitionFreak GoGetterGirl, a big fat {{gasshole}}, an impossibly stupid BrainlessBeauty, a wimpy MamasBoy built like a brickhouse, a dimwitted party animal, an IronButtMonkey guitarist, a GranolaGirl who's more coordinated on water than on land, an over-the-top SassyBlackWoman stereotype, a PerkyGoth who considers herself the OnlySaneMan, an AxCrazy CloudCuckoolander, a hopelessly dweeby CasanovaWannabe, an awkward geek versed in useless skills and trivia, the snarkiest and most pessimistic teenager since Daria Morgendorffer, a klutzy DumbJock, a homely geek who's NotGoodWithPeople, a ridiculously handsome supermodel, a butch JerkJock with a HairTriggerTemper, two absurdly close HeterosexualLifePartners, and a hopelessly clueless homeschooled kid. And then Season 3 adds the ultimate LoonyFan and a ridiculously suave and talented LatinLover to the mix.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' has this in spades:

** [[spoiler:Even Rose isn't safe from this. While initially being presented as an ethereal goddess-like leader and the ultimate BigGood, she was then over time said to have killed Pink Diamond and and revealed to have poofed and bubbled Bismuth for wanting to do the same to the other Diamonds. It eventually turned out that she ''was'' Pink and [[FakingTheDead faked her own death]].]]
** Bismuth turned into a WellIntentionedExtremist willing to go against Crystal Gem ideology to assassinate the Diamond Authority.

** Sarah is an ill-tempered, {{Spoiled|Brat}} BrattyHalfPint who seems to hate her older brother for merely ''existing.'' Her only redeeming quality is her friendship with [[MoralityPet Jimmy]], and is frequently shown to hate nearly everyone else in the Cul-De-Sac as well, with the other kids being exasperated at her violent behavior and rotten attitude.

** Sarah is an ill-tempered {{Spoiled|Brat}} BrattyHalfPint who seems to hate her older brother for merely ''existing.'' Her only redeeming quality is her friendship with [[MoralityPet Jimmy]], and is frequently shown to hate nearly everyone else in the Cul-De-Sac as well, with the other kids being exasperated at her violent behavior and spoiled rotten attitude.

** The Kankers are [[StalkerWithACrush stalkers with crushes]] on the three Eds, as well as generally AxCrazy to anyone who has the misfortune to cross their paths. It's implied to be caused by their neglectful mother who ReallyGetsAround (they may or may not each have different fathers).
** Last, but most certainly not least, is Eddy. Eddy is a ConArtist with [[SmallNameBigEgo an ego bordering on narcissism]], [[{{Greed}} a love for money]], [[HairTriggerTemper a short temper]] and a NapoleonComplex) and wrapped up into a SnarkKnight look on the world. All of which would make him utterly irredeemable, except [[TrueCompanions he truly cares for his true friends and all the effort to get rich and popular is for them, too.]] [[spoiler:TheMovie shed light on ''why'' Eddy acts like this: he was physically tormented by his sadistic older brother (previously said to be TheAce, which Eddy admits was all a lie), making Eddy grow up to believe that [[HiddenHeartOfGold acting like his brother]] would help him make friends.]]

** Sarah is an bad-tempered BrattyHalfPint who seems to hate her older brother for merely ''existing.'' Her only redeeming quality is her friendship with [[MoralityPet Jimmy.]]

** Helga acts like the resident bully, but this ends up being an act as she is in fact ''in love'' with Arnold, but [[LovingBully acts like a bully towards him]] out of both fear and as a result of having lived in a broken home. Her mother's a jobless, chronically depressed drunkard, her father's a greedy, emotionally distant ManipulativeBastard who is obsessed with advancing his beeper company, and her older sister is a hugely successful business woman whose constant success has given Helga a massive inferiority complex, which was made even worse by the fact that [[StageMom their parents were always giving her attention 24/7]], [[ParentalNeglect which led them to neglect Helga in turn]].

** Helga acts like the resident bully, but this ends up being an act as she is in fact ''in love'' with Arnold, but [[LovingBully acts like a bully towards him]] out of both fear and as a result of having lived in a broken home. Her mother's a jobless, chronically depressed drunkard, her father's a greedy, emotionally distant ManipulativeBastard who is obsessed with advancing his beeper company, and her older sister is a hugely successful business woman whose constant success has given Helga a massive inferiority complex, which was made even worse by the fact that [[StageParents their parents were always giving her attention 24/7]], [[ParentalNeglect which led them to neglect Helga in turn]].

** Helga acts like the resident bully, but this ends up being an act as she is in fact ''in love'' with Arnold, but [[LovingBully acts like a bully towards him]] out of both fear and as a result of having lived in a broken home. Her mother's a jobless, chronically depressed drunkard, her father's a greedy, emotionally distant ManipulativeBastard who is obsessed with advancing his beeper company, and her older sister is a hugely successful business woman whose constant success has given Helga a massive inferiority complex.
** Said older sister also has severe problems of her own, thanks to her dad always pushing her to strive for the top, and [[TheBGrade had a breakdown when she thought she had a B+ on her report card]].

* In hindsight, it's amazing how much ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' was [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar able to get away with]] for a kids show in regards to this.

** While Mindy is [[FlatCharacter normal]] compared to her friends, her mother is overprotective (until Season 2). ** ** Face 9000 suffers from serious jealousy and abandonment issues. He really wants his owners to like him and doesn't want to be replaced with someone else. Having a competitive asshole of a brother doesn't help much.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', despite being a show high in comedy, is very much this. Finn is a human who is secretly depressed about being the last of his kind (and may have issues with being sexually aroused by violence), Jake's parents are dead (and may have kleptomania issues), Princess Bubblegum has the stress of ruling a kingdom and never being able to be a kid, Marceline has daddy issues, the snail is possessed, the Tart Toter is insane, the Ice King suffers from severe dementia, Cinnamon Bun is brain-damaged, Peppermint Butler is borderline satanic, Lemongrab is a lemon in every sense of the word, LSP is SurroundedByIdiots, in addition to being a bratty teenager (or possibly an adult with a bratty teenager [[{{Manchild}} personality]], the list goes on.

* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'''s heavy focus on Hollywoo mental complexes results in this. The title character is a deeply depressed and unpleasant man who is discovering that having AbusiveParents, substance abuse issues and fundamentally good intentions doesn't justify his unlikeable behaviour - and that's just the beginning of his problems.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', despite being a show high in comedy, is very much this. Finn is a human who is secretly depressed about being the last of his kind (and may have issues with being sexually aroused by violence), Jake's parents are dead (and may have kleptomania issues), Princess Bubblegum has the stress of ruling a kingdom and never being able to be a kid, Marceline has daddy issues, the snail is possessed, the Tart Toter is insane, the Ice King suffers from severe dementia, Cinnamon Bun is brain-damaged, Peppermint Butler is borderline satanic, Lemongrab is a lemon in every sense of the word, LSP is SurroundedByIdiots, in addition to being a bratty teenager (or possibly an adult with a [[bratty teenager {{Manchild}} personality]], the list goes on.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', despite being a show high in comedy, is very much this. Finn is a human who is secretly depressed about being the last of his kind (and may have issues with being sexually aroused by violence), Jake's parents are dead (and may have kleptomania issues), Princess Bubblegum has the stress of ruling a kingdom and never being able to be a kid, Marceline has daddy issues, the snail is possessed, the Tart Toter is insane, the Ice King suffers from severe dementia, Cinnamon Bun is brain-damaged, Peppermint Butler is borderline satanic, Lemongrab is practically autistic, LSP is surrounded by horrible idiots... in addition to being more or less of a bratty teenager-- or is that just a teenager [[{{Manchild}} personality]]?

** The one worker who is [[OnlySaneMan relatively sane and happy]] is [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Hermes]], and he takes strange delight from his job as an ObstructiveBureaucrat right into the point that he is {{Workaholic}} and borderline OCD-patient. Also, his [[UglyGuyHotWife wife]] is [[YourCheatingHeart constantly cheating on him]] with his [[SitcomArchnemesis former athletic rival]] Barbados Slim.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', some of the characters had issues involving their families. Cartman's mother is a prostitute and he killed his own biological father. Stan has a father who,[[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything despite being a geologist]], is a complete idiot who constantly takes up crazy activities and careers for the sake of being happy. Kyle has an overprotective mother and a strict father, later revealed to be an infamous internet troll responsible for someone killing herself. Kenny and his family are poor, and his dad is sometimes battered by his mom. It could be worse, because... Butters is raised by AbusiveParents, end of story. And Craig's tendency to [[FlippingTheBird flip the bird]] [[ItRunsInTheFamily runs in the family.]]