History FreudianExcuse / Fanfics

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'']]
* All the {{Original Character}} working with the villain in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4267279/1/Hero-High-Sphinx-Academy Hero High: Sphinx Academy]] have their own FreudianExcuse. The main reason they follow him is because he was pretty much the only person that could see past that and treat them as people.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'']]
* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': In "The Survivor," Mittens's owners' bad behavior is largely explained because of early childhood disorders and abuse for Jack (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, foster home abuse) as well as Emily and Claire (Borderline Personality Disorder and parental abuse, as well as possible Attention Deficit Disorder for the latter).

[[AC:''Anime/CodeGeass'']]
* The whole of ''Fanfic/CodeGeassMaoOfTheDeliverance'' could be seen as a version of this trope taken UpToEleven for Mao.

[[AC:{{Crossover}}]]
* In the ''{{Fanfic/Housemates}}'' universe it's discussed that {{Film/Thor}} and his buddies would play "very rough" with Loki when they were kids [[ValuesDissonance as in it would be considered abuse among Midgardian children.]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', we have Jackie Jakobs, subjected to a TraumaCongaLine starting with ParentalAbandonment, continuing through RapeAsBackstory combined with a life as a StreetUrchin. Of course, this isn't all [[TheReveal shown]] right away as initially, all readers see is a RichBitch who's more than willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] the story's heroes.
* In ''Project Horizons'', a ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'' fanfic ([[RecursiveFanfiction a fanfic of a fanfic]]), most of the villains have these. This is lampshades several times, but the funniest is when Blackjack rejoices upon finding a villain who *doesn't* have one, because she wouldn't feel sorry about the ensuing fight.
* ''Fanfic/FatesCollide'': Cinder Fall reveals that when she was a child, she and her parents were attacked by a Grimm. They were completely helpless, but just when they were about to be killed, a Huntress showed up and killed the Grimm with a single blow. This is the reason why Cinder is so obsessed with acquiring power, so she would never be helpless like that again.
* In ''Fanfic/MyHuntsmanAcademia'', Panchito "Pistoles" Rojo swore bloody vengeance against the Anacondas, a Human gang, for killing his brother in cold blood right in front of him. After single-handedly wiping them out, he extended his hatred towards "Human assholes" in general, joining the White Fang to terrorize Humans into submission.
* This trope is dealt with at least two times in ''Fanfic/ATriangleInTheStars''.
** Bill especially has it bad, [[spoiler: having slowly had his [[UsedToBeASweetKid empathy extinguished]] and [[DrivenToMadness sanity degraded]] by the abuse and mistreatment.]] It's no wonder he's a psychopathic, evil jerk. [[spoiler: Unlike most examples, he eventually realized that [[HeelRealization he was definitely in the wrong for every other thing he's done since then.]]]] It's also part of the reason he [[spoiler: tries to kill himself in Chapter Forty-Four.]]
** [[spoiler: Gabriel, the story's first BigBad, had been tossed into the Void for more than a trillion years.]] Of course he'd be out for vicious revenge, [[spoiler: even though it was [[NeverMyFault mostly his fault]]]], and have lost more than a few marbles too.
* Discussed and averted with Handsome Jack in ''Fanfic/BoopTheSnootForCriticalDamage''. After learning about Handsome Jack's former occupation (debugging [=CL4-TP=] robots), Blake comments that it's no surprise he became a megalomaniac when one learns that he had to spend all his days programming those annoying robots. Angel immediately states under her breath that he was always "an evil piece of scum long before that."

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'']]
* ''Fanfic/{{ResurrectedMemories}}'': [[spoiler: Ember prior to her own CharacterDevelopment, had been a vengeful, short tempered EvilDiva who wanted to use her powers to have the entire world adore her and her music.]] See DarkAndTroubledPast/FanWorks above to see why she is how she is.

[[AC:''Manga/DeathNote'']]
* In ''FanFic/ACharmedLife'' things are not as perfect in Light Yagami's life as he pretends them to be—he is a very unhappy person and he thinks of Ryuk as his first real friend. Of course he's still a mass murderer...
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Fanfic/AllYouNeedIsLove'':
-->''"The Beyond Birthday case made so much more sense now, BB wasn't a megalomaniac he was [[FoeRomanceSubtext L's spurned and neglected lover.]] Clearly the jam was just the aftershock of being forced into sex with someone that looked vaguely like a crack head. And she had prevented him from burning himself alive, if she had to have sex with L she might have tried to burn herself alive too. Naomi noted to herself that perhaps it was a good time to go to L.A.'s prison and apologize to that poor madman."''
* Many of the characters in ''Fanfic/AndTheStoryContinues'' get some variant of FreudianExcuse.
** Teru's canon backstory of being an emotionally disturbed and constantly victimized BullyHunter is kept intact. Umbra notes that he may see [[spoiler:Kiyomi]] as a replacement mother-figure since his actual mother "deserted" him.
** Misa, equally disturbed, also keeps her canon backstory (witnessing the brutal murder of her parents) WITH the addition of her older sister Kimiko, an alcoholic who has always had a strained relationship with her and their late parents. [[spoiler:She is also still mourning the loss of Light and grappling with the reverberations of their [[DestructiveRomance "relationship."]]]]
** Mello’s FaceHeelTurn is spurned by [[BrokenPedestal his grief and rage]] upon discovering that [[spoiler:L had killed himself and yet still never chose between him or Near as his successor.]] His feelings of betrayal and abandonment are the common ground on which he bonds with [[spoiler:Misa, former minion from the opposite side.]]
** Before coming to Wammy’s House, Matt was raised by an alcoholic father who could be emotionally and sometimes physically abusive, and their dysfunctional relationship closely mirrors the one Matt currently has with Mello. The former is so codependent on the latter he still goes with whatever he wants even if he knows in his heart that it’s wrong.
** [[spoiler:Before becoming the next Kira,]] Kiyomi suffered emotional and financial abuse at the hands of her mother, and appears to have issues with men due to her ExtremeDoormat of a father and the sexual harassment she had to put up with from Demegawa.
** L is presented with as much of a DarkAndTroubledPast as one might suspect of him. [[spoiler:As an infant, his parents were murdered by their insane housekeeper who kidnapped him out of want for a baby of her own. After her arrest, he spent some time in foster care before meeting Watari, who gave him the opportunity to become a GreatDetective and by his suggestion had his death faked during the Winchester Mad Bombings. In addition to his FriendlessBackground, he struggled with the suicides of his kidnapper and A (his first successor), as well as the FaceHeelTurn of B (his second successor) and [[IAmAMonster what is implied to be shame just for how he was as a person.]] Considering his meeting [[MoralityPet Erin]] as the closest he'd get to doing something genuinely good, he still follows her around even after [[HeroicSacrifice his death]] and [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie rebirth as Umbra]].]]
** If Lumen’s attitude towards Soichiro is any indication, [[spoiler:Light (his previous incarnation) carried a lot of anger and hostility towards his father upon his death. Soichiro, still grieving for Light and blaming himself for all the misfortune that’s happened between them, is unsure what exactly he hates him for…between his often being away on duty while Light was growing up, pretending to execute him at L’s request, and taking L’s side when Light exposed himself as Kira to the whole task force.]]
** Roger has one that could explain his issues with children: his parents, especially his father, weren't exactly kind people, and when he was in school he got a girl he was seeing at the time pregnant. He did the responsible thing and married her but kept wishing that they weren't having a baby and thinking about how he didn't feel ready to be a father. His wife ended up dying just after giving birth to their son, who turned out to be stillborn. He felt horribly guilty about the whole thing for a long time afterwards; in fact it's implied that he never completely got over it.
** Watari and his mother were forced to leave his scientist father behind in Europe in the wake of WWII when he was little, and after his mother died some years later he was raised by their neighbor and maid who herself happened to be a BrokenBird, encouraging his talents at inventing and marksmanship. She's probably where he got the idea to train orphans.
** Near’s mother had him while she was young and dumped him on his sick grandmother. Presumably thereafter, most people he came across considered him a freak. With Roger as his only real confidante, it’s revealed that he [[JerkassWoobie acts the way he does]] so he won’t be hurt by anyone again. Not to mention his own [[BrokenPedestal feelings of resentment]] towards L, and the guilt he feels for not being there for Mello as much as he doesn't know how to express support for anyone.
* [[Manga/DeathNote Light]] is given one in BackStory in ''FanFic/ConstantTemptation''- [[RonTheDeathEater His father]] and [[BrokenPedestal role-model growing up]] turned out to be a DirtyCop and [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain raging homophobe]] who arranged the deaths of all Light's past {{Love Interest}}s. Light figured out that his father was behind the deaths and [[GuiltComplex blamed himself for it]] [[FailureToSaveMurder because he wasn't able to protect them.]] He came to the conclusion that there was no [[ArcWords justice]] in this world but no one should suffer as he did, he wished there was ''some way'' he could protect ''everyone''... [[StartOfDarkness and then Light found the Death Note]]...
* Done twice in ''FanFic/ACureForLove'', [[PlayingWithATrope downplayed both times.]] 1) There's the background of OriginalCharacter V: [[spoiler: [[RapeAsBackstory She was a victim of a human trafficking ring and had a child by rape]] when she was 12 (a child that would later be stolen from her by Wammy's House.) L discovered the human trafficking ring and also how V had arranged their deaths, and so recruited her to be an [[ProfessionalKiller assassin]] for Wammy's House-in other words she was so broken when they found her they decided that she was beyond fixing and just trained her to be a SerialKillerKiller. But because she is an assassin they wouldn't let her talk to her son or let him know she was his mother and still alive.]] Also there are hints that [[spoiler: she might have been in love with [[DeathByOriginStory A who committed suicide.]]]] 2) [[VillainProtagonist Light]] is given one in BackStory when L asks him why [[HatesEveryoneEqually he doesn't really seem to like people]]-- at a young age he noticed [[HumansAreBastards how shallow, stupid, and unjust people were.]] [[MaliciousSlander It was often gossiped about in their neighborhood]] that [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter he looks nothing like his parents]]. Their gossiping brought his mother shame, so Light internalized that it was his fault (even though he knew it wasn't) and that there was something wrong with him. [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse from there.]]
-->'''Light''': [[PlayingWithATrope "It was a boring story, sorry if you were expecting some deep and meaningful tale of woe. My childhood was fairly uneventful.]] [[DisproportionateRetribution I suppose I get hung up on innocuous things]] [[ItsAllAboutMe which you don't want to hear about."]]
* Also invoked in ''FanFic/OfficePolitics'':
-->'''[[Manga/DeathNote L]]''' (to [[Manga/DeathNote Souichiro]]): Did you hug your son enough as a kid?
* ''{{FanFic/Solitude}}'' does this twice for Light. First [[BreakTheCutie he's broken]] by his [[{{Deconstruction}} "perfectly normal childhood" when he's not "perfectly normal"]] and it's later made worse when he [[spoiler: [[RapeAsBackstory was molested by one of his father's coworkers]]]] but he never reported it because he knew that [[StepfordSmiler was not what people expected of him.]]
* In ''Fanfic/ThoseWhoStandForNothingFallForAnything'' as a teenager L [[spoiler: was molested by his father's coworker and [[AbusiveParents his father]] [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming blamed L for it.]]]] Later it's revealed that Light [[spoiler: witnessed the assassination of his political mentor.]] Also B has been in love with L for as long as he's known him... and has been stuck in the friend-zone for as long as he's known him.

[[AC: ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'']]
* Franchise/TheLionKing fans just love using this trope on Scar and Zira. Usually comes in the form of an abusive childhood or the loss of a parent at a young age.

[[AC:''Franchise/FinalFantasy'']]
* [[spoiler: Vaticus, Ignatius and Riccio]] have their's revealed during the St. Galleria arc of FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire.

[[AC:''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'']]
* In ''FanFic/TheNewRetcons'' Elly's hatred of motorcycles stemmed from [[spoiler: being rejected by her first boyfriend and the father of her first child, who was an avid motorcycle rider.]] Her obsession with cleanliness [[spoiler: was caused by her grandmother calling her unclean after she had a child out of wedlock, a feeling made worse when her first marriage dissolved. That same incident caused her brother Phil to swear that he'd never have kids.]]

[[AC:''Franchise/GreenLantern'']]
* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6179989/1/# DEATHmatch]], by Shadow Crystal Mage, attempts to justify [[spoiler: Nekron's attempt to wipe out all life in Blackest Night]] by saying the paperwork had been getting him down.

[[AC:''Franchise/HarryPotter'']]
* In ''{{FanFic/Heir}}'' Draco Malfoy is regularly tortured by his father via the Cruciatus curse. Also there's Harry himself- in this fic his abusive childhood is played much more seriously and as a direct result he's now a dark lord in training. Then there's Voldemort-- [[spoiler: as a child Tom Riddle had a [[BreakTheCutie psychotic break]] when the other kids [[OrphanageOfFear at the orphanage]] killed his baby snake in front of him.]]
* ''FanFic/TheJadedEyesSeries'' is another fic where Harry's childhood is played much more seriously as it becomes his StartOfDarkness when he snaps and murders the Dursleys. Then he ends up in an OrphanageOfFear where he's regularly bullied by the other kids and has the scars to prove it. It gets worse when [[spoiler: Harry discovers that his parents are still alive and have a perfect little family and a little brother who was living a perfect life while he was living in that Hell.]]
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8679289/10/Diagnosis Diagnosis]]'' Harry expressed his annoyance at this particular trope when telling Hermione about his lessons with Dumbledore sixth year.
-->...He made a point to mention to her that it was hinted that Riddle had been abused, and that his mum had bewitched his father who was a Muggle, and even that he was more than likely unloved and abused, but that it was no excuse for what he became. The abused aren't predestined to become the abusers, and it always hacked Harry off when people, including the Headmaster made it seem like it was some sort of excuse.
* Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/TheVerySecretDiary''. Ginny is able to deduce Riddle's [[ParentalAbandonment backstory]], but doesn't feel sorry for him at all. She points out that [[TheHero Harry]] lost his parents and was stuck with the Dursleys, but didn't turn bad, concluding that being an orphan is a shitty excuse for all he's done.

[[AC:''VideoGame/KidIcarus'']]
* Pyrrhon is given one in ''FanFic/KidIcarusUprisingTheNovelization'': he's sick and tired of always being ignored in favor of [[BigGood Palutena]], [[GaiasVengeance Viridi]], and even [[EveryoneHatesHades Hades]], and sees hijacking the Aurum as his chance to finally get some recognition.

[[AC:''Anime/KillLaKill'']]
* In ''Webcomic/KillLaKillAU'', the reason as to why 8-year old Ryuuko is a delinquent seems to stem from maternal deprivation from being separated from her mother at two-years old and her anger and upset thereof of something she felt sad about, yet didn't know what it is, as well as the fact that no one would tell her.
* From ''Fanfic/TheOutside'', from we have mentioned of photos and Shiro's reasonings, the reason Satsuki is agoraphobic and was so overprotective of Ryuuko (to the point of [[MyBelovedSmother smothering]]) was because she's been sick a lot her whole life and knew nothing else, especially in light of their parents splitting and their father's death, leaving her to use Ryuuko as something of a LivingEmotionalCrutch to cope with her situation, as she probably couldn't cope otherwise.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TheLegendofKorra'']]
* ''Fanfic/BookFiveLegends'' give us this for the villain's backstory. Unloved by virtually all except their mother, losing them devastated the villain to the point that they are trying to resurrect them Creator/MaryShelley style. And when that doesn't quite work out the way they hoped, they go full on ''burn it all down'' mode. To a lesser extend, the secondary antagonist has a similar excuse, having been shunned and abandoned by their real family and thus developing an unhealthy fixation on their [[spoiler:Big Bro Temuji]] as a result.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'']]
* It's popular {{Fanon}} that Luan's over-the-top antics on April Fool's Day stem from AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment from [[KidsAreCruel bullying classmates]], with some authors even having the treatment causing her to develop an outright SplitPersonality. How sympathetically this is treated varies depending on the story in question though.

[[AC:''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'']]
* ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'' subverts this. While Dr. Wily does have an abusive father who colored his outlook on life, the story takes pains to show that Wily himself is a horrible man who deserves punishment.

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Metal Gear}}'']]
* ''FanFic/{{Stray}}'' discusses this - it's set in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' universe, land of villains with unhappy childhoods, and at least two characters (including one of the protagonists) are former {{Tykebomb}}s. However, Adamska (one of the tykebombs in question) eventually rejects the idea that a person's essential nature can be changed by the actions of other people.

[[AC: ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]
* ''Fanfic/AncientSins'': Dante states the reason for his goals is because of the pain he's endured and that the way the universe works is flawed.
* In ''FanFic/BrideOfDiscord'', Discord reveals the reason he initially overthrew Celestia and turned Equestria into a WorldGoneMad, was because his misguided attempts at "helping" pony-kind, lead to Celestia, the only pony to give him a chance in his ''entire life'', getting angry with him. Being the LastOfHisKind and being [[AllTheOtherReindeer shunned and ridiculed]] by ponies prior, probably didn't help his emotional state.
** To a much lesser extent, Fluttershy reveals to him, part of the reason she has a hard time opening up to everypony and why she was very reluctant in trying to pursue a romantic relationship, is because as a filly, a colt told her she was beautiful and asked her out on a date, only to reveal it was cruel trick to mess with her.

[[AC:''{{Manga/Naruto}}'']]
* Meimu Uchiha from [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8774090/1/Reincarnation-Roulette Reincarnation Roulette]] by Silver Queen has some great reasons for being the cold hearted villain she is. Namely, she's a self-insert born into the Uchiha clan, and realized she'd have a miserable life if she became a ninja. Unfortunately, her [[AbusiveParents new parents]] won't take no for an answer, and proceed to literally beat ninja training into her. Her Jounin sensei ends up being ''Orochimaru'', forcing her to be on the lookout for having a Sharingan, lest she end up as one of his host bodies. She succeeds in hiding it by killing anyone who ever found out, but is forced to make herself useful to him in other ways. She gains a younger brother in the form of Obito, and wonders if she'll have it in her to murder him and avert the future. [[spoiler:She does, complete with Itachi's "foolish little brother" line.]] What makes her most disturbingly chilling is the fact that, as Silver Queen's self-insert, she used to be the same person as the protagonist of [[FanFic/DreamingOfSunshine her most famous fic]]. The contrast between [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Meimu]] [[InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn Uchiha]] and [[TheHeart Shikako]] [[TeamMom Nara]] effectively makes the former the latter's MirrorUniverse EvilCounterpart.
* Parodied in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5415242/1/Oh-Did-You-Have-a-Sob-Story-Too-Sasuke Oh, Did You Have a Sob Story Too, Sasuke?]]. Since every vilain (almost) have a FreudianExcuse in the manga, Naruto has trouble remembering them, or rather which is whose, leading him to list all of them to Sasuke until he get it right.

[[AC:''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'']]
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Gendo abandoned his son because he was just as afraid of Shinji as Shinji was of him. He did not know how dealing with other people or relating to them, and his wife’s loss broke him completely. After hearing about it Shinji did not think it was good enough of an excuse… until he realized he was just like his father.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Chapter 8 examines how Gendo does everything he does because he is a broken man, utterly afraid of other people, that was completely obsessed with getting his deceased wife back.
* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': Chihiro Tanaka's aggressiveness, vindictiveness and rude behaviour is later explained as the result of growing up without a mother.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': Most of the story is narrated from Shinji's point of view, so Gendo is treated very unsympathetically most of time. The "Let the World Burn/One Dream at a Time" side-story explores his personality and motivations. Gendo is depicted as a pathetic, broken shell of a man always felt lonely and frightened of other people, thought nobody would ever love him because he was not worth it and fell utterly apart after his wife's death, sending his only son away because he was scared of Shinji and of hurting him.

[[AC: ''Manga/PandoraHearts'']]
* ''Fanfic/BeyondTheWindingRoad'': Edith beats the crap out of kids in her class, blatantly disrespects teachers and other authority figures, and throws other people's emotional baggage into arguments when she's losing control of them. But she's also suffering from some extreme ParentalNeglect and it's heavily implied she was both ostracized from the community due to her mother's previous scandalous actions and sexually harassed by the boys in her school (in her introductory chapter, some boys fill her locker with condoms, though the author never outright states what they are). Worse, those same teachers and authority figures were predisposed to find fault in her whenever she came to them due to her mother's [[ReallyGetsAround reputation]].

[[AC: ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'']]
* An interesting case where the hero has the excuse, ''Fanfic/PokemonShadowOfTime'' establishes that the reason Ash never pursued a romantic relationship with any of his female travelling companions was because he was afraid of turning out like his father, who left his mother and him when he was younger and never came back, Ash choosing to avoid relationships so he'd never hurt his partner like that.

[[AC: ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'']]
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13260174/4/Ambition-of-the-Red-Princess Ambition of the Red Princess]]'': When Malty was a child, she overheard her mother declaring she was useless as an heir, insisting on having another child, suggesting Malty be married off to [[TheBluebeard King Faubley]]. Given Malty's and Melty's respective ages, the princess was less than ten years old when her mother wrote her off. As a result, Malty becomes solely devoted to proving she's a better heir than her younger sister, [[PragmaticVillainy with all of her actions geared towards becoming queen]] rather than engaging in petty sadism.
** The people of Melromarc are suspicious of the Shield Hero on principle partially because a previous Shield Hero became king of Siltvelt and was such a monstrous tyrant that the world knew him as the "King of Rape".

[[AC: ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'']]
* In Adel Aka's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2fOjhgfec8 video on rewriting Adam's character]], he changes Adam's character to be a {{foil}} to Yang. His extremist nature comes down to being born on a farm with a family who is unable to survive elsewhere due to their faunus heritage. After his mother dies of overwork, Adam turns against the farm and joins the White Fang.
* In ''Fanfic/ReBoundRWBY'', Neo's parents were killed by Raven's people. Raven took her in and raised Neo as an assassin.
* ''Fanfic/BurningCoals'': Neo originally began killing simply to survive. As a child, she was orphaned in a fire that also injured her throat. Neo spent several years on the streets before Roman took her in.
* ''FanFic/ARabbitAmongWolves'': Perry once aspired to be a veterinarian, and applied to medical school for his chance. He was denied a scholarship (which he legitimately qualified for) just for being a Faunus. After his dreams were crushed, Perry found no other choice but to join the White Fang. The narration afterward notes that his situation is nothing new.
--> ''Most anyone who joined the White Fang did so because something had affected them in the past. People called them insane Faunus – often using terms like rabid to drive home the `animal` angle – but the simple fact was a person wouldn't risk their life for no good reason. You needed something big enough to drive a person to action.''

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Superman}}'']]
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn''. Albeit ComicBook/LexLuthor sees himself as the victim of an alien who betrayed him and ruined his life when they were teenagers, leading to being branded as a criminal and being kicked out of home by his father, an analysis of his life's story shows he just blamed ComicBook/{{Superboy}} for all of his own self-caused problems.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'']]
* ''Fanfic/CastSwap'': Staci wants to impress people, so she lies about her family in order to do so. Dawn figures this out, and tells her that she doesn't need to lie.
* ''Fanfic/ChangeOfPlans'': The {{Flashback}}s establish that Ezekiel was desperate to prove himself as more than "some hick kid from the prairie," which helps explain his desire to stay in the game and resulting SanitySlippage.
* ''Fanfic/LoveAintEasyItsEzzy'': Duncan's underlying reason for his harshness toward Bridgette and her relationship with Geoff is so deep-seated that he isn't consciously aware of it until Izzy [[AwesomenessByAnalysis deduces it]]: Duncan once had a girlfriend in his hometown who resembled Bridgette in both appearance and attitudes, but she betrayed him by calling the police on him and making a crime he committed sound much worse than it actually was. Right after he was thrown in jail, she started dating his best friend.
* ''Fanfic/MyRidonculousRace'': Leo mentions the reason he doesn't try to pursue romance is because he saw his parents relationship crumble before his eyes as a young child. June also reveals that the reason she is so pushy comes from lingering habits passed down by her mother.
* ''Fanfic/TotalAlternateIsland'': Gwen from her cold behavior towards Duncan whenever he tried to hit on Leshawna due to [[spoiler: an ex-middle school teacher whom Gwen was taken in by, but he turned out to be a crazy StalkerWithACrush who tried to kidnap her to run away together with, until he got thwarted by Gwen's older brother]]. Leshawna towards Heather due to [[spoiler: a death of a friend in the past where a queen bee-type caused her friend to be driven to suicide]]. Finally Duncan to Harold with the nerd [[spoiler: looking like a friend who betrayed him and caused him to be locked up in juvie.]]
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaChris''
** Harold dislikes Lindsay because he once dated a girl like her named Autumn. The date ended poorly, and afterward he was subjected to even more torment and teasing, convincing him that Autumn was in on the whole thing and that all dumb blondes are evil.
** Leshawna's used to be friends with a nice girl named Madison. Unfortunately, Madison's parents were racist bastards who promptly falsely accused her from stealing from them and filed a restraining order against her. Leshawna was ''ten'' at the time. Years later, they happened to attend the same high school; by that point, however, Madison had become the AlphaBitch, and immediately began picking on Leshawna, aided by racist teachers. Girl's got one hell of a chip on her shoulder for a ''reason''.
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaCodysRedemption'': It's eventually revealed that Gwen hates Cody because a lot of geeks hit on her, and [[AllMenArePerverts none had good intentions]].
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaComebackSeries'':
** Turns out Courtney gets her obsession with being perfect from her parents constantly pressuring her to be so. They had NoSympathy for the circumstances behind her losing the first season. Also, the fact that her school life became miserable after she got the boot (being insulted with names like Crazy In Training) and being beaten for the Student Council President by a guy who's rebuttal was essentially a giant poster of her being dragged down the dock of shame screaming.
** Heather reason for being so mean is that, in her tween years she had pimples all over her face, wore braces and was extremely fat, and thus she was bullied and teased by her classmates. After losing weight and getting rid of the braces and pimples, she decided that it was better to be the agressor than the victim.
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaLetterz''
** Apparently, Chris Maclain had a tumor in his brain that caused him to act sadistic. This is revealed to be a lie in the Prologue of Letter Starz.
** Fifi Cleopatra became a man hater due to being mistreated by a lot of people due to being female.
** Tabitha Barrington parents taught her bad morals and beat her and hospitalized her every time she failed at something. All these years of abuse made Tabitha become lonely and VERY insecure. Tabitha even admits she was jealous of Uzuri.
** Apparently everything Kim Rosefelt does throughout the season is due to severe depression, and it's implied that something happened in her past intense enough to cause it. She also had no pills for the duration of Letterama as a result of her contract, and based on her reactions in the bonus chapter, her pills clearly help her a lot.
** Lankston Gallows parents neglected him as a child and nearly caused him to die.
** Nina Dumpster stays dirty because she fears taking a bath due to a near death experience when she was a kid.
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaNations''
** Makoto's actions are due to his poor mental state and home life.
** Although in a rare inversion, it's actually used to explain why Hans Von Böse's not even more ruthless than he already is. After he and his brother nearly kill their abusive father, he vowed never to be as cruel again. Pushing Emma into the campfire triggered memories of this and made him realize he was awfully close to doing so.
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaRevengeofTheForeverMine'': All of the characters' backstories are this. Especially for [[{{InTheBack}} Jo]] and [[{{DarkAndTroubledPast}} Mike.]]
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaStranded'': Calvin explains his high school had a social hierarchy where showing weakness leads to getting crushed. He uses this as his excuse or wanting to have power over others.
* ''Fanfic/TotalHighschoolDrama'': It is revealed that the reason why Amy is mean to Sammy is because she believes she's responsible for their father's death.
* ''Fanfic/TotalLoudIsland''
** In "Basic Straining", Courtney reveals to Lincoln that her hyper-competitive perfectionism arose as a result of being bullied for being the new kid at school after her family moved, which motivated her to be the best at everything so she would not be pushed around anymore.
** Why did the serial killer in "Hook, Line, and Screamer" kill people. [[DaddyIssues Because his dad wouldn't let him be a folk singer and forced him to be a butcher, which cost him his hand.]]
* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': Heather's actions, especially during TDI, cemented her as a manipulative, scheming and conniving bitch that has little regard for the well-being of others. Chapter 4 makes it quite clear this is due to her parents treating everyone, including each other, exactly the same if not worse.

[[AC:''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'']]
* In Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX, we have a odd example in Yukari, in that it be a fairly safe assumption some of her issues she's had, especially wanting to have a child to such an extent that it tears her up inside and some issues with attachment (either would be described as "something to love, something to hold, occasionally scold, and something that would take away an intense pain"), seem to stem from being abandoned by her parents, to whom she referred to as "two large shitbags", when she was two.

[[AC:''Tabletopgame/YuGiOh'']]
* In ''Fanfic/YuGiOhForever'', several villainous characters have a Freudian Excuse for why they turned to the dark side. 1) Jan Shimizu, the BlackSheep of his family, recounts late in the story that his father, Ryou Bakura, frequently treated him with subtle contempt [[spoiler:because Jan's appearance reminded Ryou too much of the abusive spirit of the Millennium Ring]]. It led Jan to leave home and change his last name, to distance himself from the family, and led Ryou to declare IHaveNoSon concerning him. 2) Michael Bronte, a member of the JUDAS organization's QuirkyMinibossSquad, explains that the reason he joined the group was initially to exact revenge on his parents--specifically, his stepfather used to physically abuse him as a child, while his mother turned a blind eye. Present-day Michael is an AxCrazy [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiler]] who enjoys perpetuating ColdBloodedTorture on his victims. 3) Angel Snow, a member of the Zodiac terrorist group, grew up with a drunken and physically abusive adopted father. TheDragon then liberated her from that home situation, and she jumped at the chance to give him her loyalty. 4) James Truesdale, another Zodiac member, has a particularly painful one that he hides behind a mask of [[TheStoic stoicism]] and [[TheResenter thinly-disguised contempt for his sister]] [[WellDoneSonGuy and father]]: [[spoiler:his mother died giving birth to his sister, and his father made him keep his grief hidden for the sake of the little girl. He [[VillainousBreakdown blows up spectacularly]] [[CallingTheOldManOut when he finally reveals his past and his repressed anger]]]].

[[AC:''Franchise/XMen'']]
* ''Fanfic/XMenTheEarlyYears'': Scott can't stand Bruno, a high-school bully he meets in "Boy Scouts, Sex, and Other Mysterious Things". Scott's parole officer explains Bruno's father was abusive, and Bruno needs to be taught how to behave.
-->'''Carol:''' Good, now that we're alone. I'm asking you to try to be a little nicer to Bruno, okay? I know it's not an easy task and he's not the most pleasant person you'll ever meet. Bruno's not a bad kid Scott. Yes, I know he's a bully, but he's only acting out what he knows. What his father taught him.\\
'''Scott:''' So? That makes it okay for him to threaten to hurt Bobby? That makes it okay for him to threaten to hurt someone younger than he is?\\
'''Carol:''' No, of course not. But Bruno has only threatened, and he actually hasn't made a move to hurt Bobby. That leaves a lot of room for you to let it slide off your back and compromise until he actually tries something. If Bruno tries to hurt Bobby, you won't be the first one to trounce him. Trust me.\\
'''Scott:''' Compromise, in my experience, has always been another word for lose.\\
'''Carol:''' You are so wrong, Scott. Compromise most times is the only way everyone wins. Bruno is acting out the lessons that his drunken, abusive father taught him. Don't act out the lessons that Jack taught you. Don't let Jack win like that.

----

* Discussed and averted with Handsome Jack in ''Fanfic/BoopTheSnootForCriticalDamage''. After learning about Handsome Jack's former occupation (debugging CL4-TP robots), Blake comments that it's no surprise he became a megalomaniac when one learns that he had to spend all his days programming those annoying robots. Angel immediately states under her breath that he was always "an evil piece of scum long before that."

* ''Fanfic/TotalLoudIsland'': In "Basic Straining", Courtney reveals to Lincoln that her hyper-competitive perfectionism arose as a result of being bullied for being the new kid at school after her family moved, which motivated her to be the best at everything so she would not be pushed around anymore.

* ''Fanfic/TotalLoudIsland'': In "Basic Straining", Courtney reveals to Lincoln that her hyper-competitive perfectionism arose as a result of being bullied for being the new kid at school after her family moved, which motivated her to be the best at everything so she would not be pushed around anymore.

* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaLetterz'

* Disney/TheLionKing fans just love using this trope on Scar and Zira. Usually comes in the form of an abusive childhood or the loss of a parent at a young age.