History Main / BrokenBird

* The Hatter in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010''. Mercury poisoning is only part of what drove him mad.

* Maggie in ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' has the attitude, although the audience learns very little about her past.
* The Bride and O-Ren Ishii, in ''Film/KillBill''.

** As for O-Ren: when she was seven, she watched her parents be brutally murdered right before her eyes, leading her to avenge them by hunting down their killer. At age [[LittleMissBadass eleven]], she found him and stabbed him to death. That act of revenge proved to be a slippery slope, as she grew up having taken professional killing as her career, joining Bill's Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and eventually becoming a feared yakuza leader. Even after all that, she's still shown to be affected by her parents' death, and insulting the Chinese-American heritage she gained from them is a big BerserkButton of hers.

* ''Film/SuicideSquad'': Katana. The death of her husband has driven mad and she is left with very poor temper.

* Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie) in ''Film/TheHustler'' is this both mentally and physically.

* Kat in Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou was once a happy, relatively popular student at Padua High before her social life was ruined by rich, popular jerk Joey Donner. Ever since, she's been a quintessential Broken Bird and DeadpanSnarker who acts disgusted with the inanity of her high school existence and cynically mocks everyone around her, including teachers, her father, fellow students, and her younger sister, Bianca, whom she particularly scorns for all her grasping attempts at popularity. Kat displays many of the traits of the Broken Bird, including a tendency to punch people and a history of having been a "hero" before she became a pariah. She actually has a streak of CoolBigSis for her sister, thought, despite constantly reminding Bianca of how annoyed she is.

* Blanche Dubois of ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' is strictly the badass type. She is definitely not emotionless, but she does tend to put herself in charge.

* The titular Lizzie Borden in ''Theatre/{{Lizzie}}''

[[folder: Web Originals]]

* Red from ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie'' (no pun intended). On the outside. he may appear as a Jerkass to those around him, but given he [[spoiler:neither knew his parents nor had friends growing up]], who can blame him?

* In ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', Nick Wilde is a rare male example. As a child, he was an idealistic dreamer like Judy until his dreams were broken when he was bullied and muzzled for being a fox by prey animals. This made him cynical and bitter, deciding that he was never going to let anyone see that they got to him and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil resign himself to being the shifty, untrustworthy fox he's expected to be]].

-->“My own mother thought I was a monster. *{{Beat}}* She was right, of course, but it still hurt."
** Zuko could definitely be considered a male example. His father [[AbusiveParents burned half his face]] and banished him, sending him on a SnipeHunt to find the Avatar, all when he was only thirteen. And that's only the beginning. [[spoiler: Luckily, he gets better.]]

* [[Characters/MCULoki Loki]] from the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''. In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', we see that he is actually a relatively nice person deep down, who loves his brother and looks up to him immensely. Sure, he's manipulative most of the time, ruining [[Characters/MCUThor Thor]]'s coronation just because he thought Thor wasn't ready (he wasn't, but that's not the point), but learning that [[TheReveal his whole life and family is a lie]], and that [[YouAreWhatYouHate he's actually part of a race he's been taught to hate his entire life]] is still pretty devastating. This is what ultimately makes him snap and go about violently trying to prove his [[WellDoneSonGuy worth]] in the worst way possible. After this, the [[BigBadSlippage downward spiral only continues]]... [[spoiler:although he does seem to get some redemption in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and even more so in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar.]]

* [[Characters/MCULoki Loki]] from the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''. In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', we see that he is actually a relatively nice person deep down, who loves his brother and looks up to him immensely. Sure, he's manipulative most of the time, ruining [[Characters/MCUThor Thor]]'s coronation just because he thought Thor wasn't ready (he wasn't, but that's not the point), but learning that [[TheReveal his whole life and family is a lie]], and that [[YouAreWhatYouHate he's actually part of a race he's been taught to hate his entire life]] is still pretty devastating. This is what ultimately makes him snap and go about violently trying to prove his [[WellDoneSonGuy worth]] in the worst way possible. After this, the [[BigBadSlippage downward spiral only continues]]... [[spoiler:although he does seem to get some redemption in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and even more so in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. Or does he?]]

* From ''Fanfic/KillLaKillAU'', we have this Ryuuko, who is a bit young for one, however, she seems to have a rather cynical view of the world, especially when it comes to her poor health, having been in and out of the hospital, along with the fact that she was separated from her mother when she was two, meeting her again fairly recently. Apparently, due to the aforementioned poor health, she counts how much time she might have to live, considering death to be a release.

* Gwen from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'', in spades. She's [[FriendlessBackground never had many friends]] and gets picked on by every villain.
** Courtney becomes this following her downfall in [[Recap/TotalDramaSundaeMuddySundae Sundae Muddy Sundae]]

* The titular Lizzie Borden in ''Theatre/Lizzie''

-->'''Asuka''':''"Don't worry Shinji. So far, I've lived on my own, by my own, only for me, only for my own values and my own satisfaction. I don't need you, or anyone else for that matter. I... I don't want to be lonely anymore. If I could... I'd rather be with you then be alone. But it's too late now. And besides... half of your heart is not enough. If I can't have you all to myself, then I'd rather not have you at all..."''\\
'''Shinji''':''"Asuka..."''\\
'''Asuka''':''"It's okay. I can manage on my own."''

* The pro wrestling story ''A Ring Of Their Own'' portrays Molly Holly as one of these, that getting her head shaved at WrestleMania 20 and her subsequent losing streak caused her to lose all confidence in herself and retire from wrestling.

* In ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, we are given OCStandIn Athena who is tricked into killing the only people she considers family, causing her to fly into an UnstoppableRage whose brutality haunts her. From the same galaxy, a RichBitch named Jackie Jakobs is set up [[ColdBloodedTorture quite]] [[ItsAllAboutMe unsympathetically]], but is revealed to have had [[FreudianExcuse reasons]] to act out in the ways she does.

* Jyn Erso from ''StarWarsRogueOne''. As a child she watched [[spoiler: her mother gunned down by Imperial troops, and her father effectively kidnapped to work on an Imperial weapons project, and the next time she sees him it's only for him to die in her arms after a Rebel air strike]]. Her guardian turned her into a ChildSoldier, and then up and abandoned her, ostensibly for her own protection since his men were beginning to learn who she ''really'' was. From then on she was on her own, more or less resorting to petty crime to get by, until she ended up in an Imperial labor camp. All of these experiences leave her beaten down and jaded, to the point where she's stopped caring about anything other than her own survival, and is honestly content to just keep her head down and ignore how bad things are for everyone else under the Empire.
* Rey from ''StarWars'' ''Film/TheForceAwakens''. Despite her naive optimism, being abandoned as a child caused some serious abandonment issues, judging by the look on her face when Finn announces his plan to leave and [[spoiler:the flashback it triggers.]]

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out.

%%* Lindsey from {{Shadowgirls}}. She ain't forgiving herself anytime soon.

* [[NiceGirl Heidi Turner]] becomes one in the 21st Season of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. She is stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship with [[{{Jerkass}} Eric]] [[TheSociopath Cartman]], receives NoSympathy from her female peers who instead constantly mocks her for the choices she made, and tries to cope with all of this stress by turning into a [[DistaffCounterpart female version]] of her boyfriend. This way of thinking has caused her to physically and mentally degenerate, a fact that she [[JerkassRealization realizes]] in the season finale before [[spoiler:breaking up with Cartman for good.]]

* Heidi Turner becomes one in the 21st Season of''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. She is stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship with [[{{Jerkass}} Eric]] [[TheSociopath Cartman]], receives NoSympathy from her female peers who instead constantly mocks her for the choices she made, and tries to cope with all of this stress by turning into a [[DistaffCounterpart female version]] of her boyfriend. This way of thinking has caused her to physically and mentally degenerate, a fact that she [[JerkassRealization realizes]] in the season finale before [[spoiler:breaking up with Cartman for good.]]

* If the Romans are to believed, Queen Dido of Carthage from ''Literature/TheAeneid'' is this. She is happily married, then her brother kills her husband and forces her to flee her homeland. Then, she has to start a new city from scratch with a few men, and then Aeneas turns up. He has a love affair with her that ends badly (he leaves her because of the {{Jerkass}} gods). Later, she [[DespairEventHorizon loses her sanity]] and [[DrivenToSuicide kills herself]]. To show just how badly she is broken when Aeneas

-> '''Estella''': ''Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, and of course if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no--sympathy-sentiment--nonsense.''
-->-- ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Great_Expectations/Chapter_XXIX chapter XXIX]]

-->-- 'Literature/GreatExpectations'' [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Great_Expectations/Chapter_XXIX chapter XXIX]]

* If the Romans are to believed, Queen Dido of Carthage from ''Literature/TheAeneid'' is this. She is happily married, then her brother kills her husband and forces her to flee her homeland. Then, she has to start a new city from scratch with a few men, and then Aeneas turns up. He has a love affair with her that ends badly (he leaves her because of the {{Jerkass}} gods). Later, she [[DespairEventHorizon loses her sanity]] and [[DrivenToSuicide kills herself]]. To show just how badly she is broken when Aeneas leaves her, Vergil stretches to its limits the inherent flexibility of Latin word order (an effect lost in translation)--the word order and grammar are so horribly broken that the subject and direct object can be several lines apart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Elspeth Tirel from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has lived through a childhood of Phyrexian horror and has seen her self-proclaimed homeworld of Bant fall, even as she tried her hardest to defend it. Because of this, she is portrayed as a cynic and a CowardlyLion who just wants to put down her sword and live a normal life - unfortunately for her, [[DoomMagnet conflict seems to follow her to every world she visits]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* Aldonza in ''Theatre/ManOfLaMancha''. "Aldonza" (the song) is a great portrayal of anger and cynicism overlaying a very unhappy backstory.
* The Witch in ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' consistently embodies the cynical and badass qualities, warning Rapunzel, "the world is dark and wild." It never becomes entirely clear where the Witch's brokenness stems from, but she is persuasive enough in pointing out the failings of others to make us suspect that her ruthless and misanthropic ways came from somewhere.
* [[spoiler:Meg Giry]] in the sequel to ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''Love Never Dies'', due to [[spoiler: a combination of her falling for the Phantom, who still pines for Christine, and too much time on the CastingCouch over the ten years separating the two shows. She ultimately tries to kill Christine's son; she winds up ''actually'' killing Christine.]]
* Niobe from ''The Love of the Nightingale''. Procne and Philomele become birds after their BreakTheCutie.
* In ''Theatre/TheLittleFoxes'', Birdie married twenty years ago into a BigScrewedUpFamily, who took her cotton plantation and sired on her an unlikable twit of a son. She spends a lot of time [[DrowningMySorrows drowning her sorrows]] in her own room, which they try to hide by lying and saying she has a headache.
* Blanche Dubois of ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' is strictly the badass type. She is definitely not emotionless, but she does tend to put herself in charge.
* Depending on the interpretation, Joanne from ''Theatre/{{Company}}'' could be a cynical example: She is an alcoholic who has been twice divorced and is currently on her third husband. She is rather different from Bobby's other friends, spends most of the scenes making occasional snarky remarks, and is shown being extremely critical of both her husband, who clearly loves her with all his heart, and of Bobby. However, Bobby describes her as "warm", and her husband says that her behaviour comes from her being "wildly conceited" with "no self-esteem", and in the end, she also plays something of a mentorly role to Bobby, as she is the one who makes him question what he wants from a relationship.
* Rienne Boilou in ''Theatre/TheHammerTrinity''. Loses the love of her life to an arranged marriage, loses her husband to war, [[spoiler: gets keelhauled by pirates]], loses all faith in the cause she gave her life for and finally [[spoiler: loses the love of her life, again, to war, after an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Hayasaka Erika from ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' is cool, calm, sarcastic, and quick to inflict violence on anyone violating her personal space. At first thought to be the only person in the cast who wasn't awash with neuroses, she eventually turned out to be possibly the most damaged of them all. And [[TropeNamers it was the title of one of her albums]].
%%* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'''s main character 25th Baam in a case where we see the initial breaking in season one and the final result five years later in season two.
* In ''Webcomic/BloodBank'', most Art count as this: humans selected at a very young age to be raised as slaves for bourgeois vampires, often for sexual reasons. If they're "lucky" enough to escape being drained of blood by their masters after outliving their usefulness, they usually end up in the slums, unable to readjust to normal life. Special mention goes to Humpty Dumpty for being treated with drugs that prevent him from ever aging.
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'':
** Jillian Zamussels turns out to be a Broken Bird, among other things, due to being the princess of a destroyed kingdom that she never wanted in the first place, in addition to massive amounts of torture, MindRape, and failed attempts to ScrewDestiny.
** Her lover and torturer (yeah, it's that kind of relationship) Wanda isn't better: her backstory, explored in the ''"Inner Peace (Through Superior Firepower)"'' stories, reveals just how much she was broken, repeatedly, during her first turns of existence, slowly turning her into the ruthless and Fate-abider character she is nowadays.
** Bunny Velvetino. Her voice was taken from her by the Great Minds after she revealed Thinkamancy secrets to her lover, Prince Ponzie. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that these secrets involved literal MindRape from Doller Bill, who would rape a doll that she was mentally linked to.]] She is also implied to have had a hand in Ponzie's death when he tried to seize the throne, having to choose between Don King and Ponzie.
%%* Miranda West in ''Webcomic/TheWotch''.
* Red in ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'' is a ruthless monster-hunter, quick to violence, ''extremely'' protective of November, and has AnAxeToGrind. Having died ([[UnexplainedRecovery she recovered]]) and hacked her way out of a wolf that ate her grandmother changes one's outlook.
%%* Kamikaze Kate from ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}''.
* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''
** Faye -- though she subverts the FreakOut, she makes jokes about it while she's in obvious pain from bringing it up, and chooses to tell Marten beforehand. Still counts, though, because she is [[TheWoobie pretty broken]]. After finding out the whole story, Marten is careful to explain the situation to her next potential boyfriend.
--->'''Angus:''' Wait, how do I know any of this is true? Maybe you're still holding a torch for her!\\
'''Marten:''' Dude, when a park ranger warns you about bears, it's not so he can keep all the bear hugs for himself.
** More recent issues indicate that Dora may also be one, particularly regarding her relationship history and trust issues with Marten.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** Considering recent developments with her character, [[DarkActionGirl Tsukiko]] ''might'' be this - or she might just be crazy. She says that she "likes" the undead because she thinks that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters living people are the real monsters]] and therefore the undead, as their inverse, [[InsaneTrollLogic must be good]]. It is, however, unclear whether these opinions come from personal experience or not - if they do, she's probably this trope, and a good deal more sympathetic than she had been previously. Which wouldn't be surprising, as a lot of villains tend to have a dimension of sympathy. (Except the BigBad himself, by [[WordOfGod admission of the creator]].)
** [[LawfulStupid Miko]] [[KnightTemplar Miyazaki]] could be [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation interpreted as such]] as well; she was orphaned at a young age, is severely socially awkward, and her only friend is her horse. One could imagine a lonely young girl with poor social skills adopting a rigid black-and-white view of the world as a means of emotional defense - only making things worse, as her narrow-mindedness and arrogance drives people even further away from her.
%%* Iris Kolrick from {{Shadownova}}. Her past hasn't been shown yet, but word of god confirms that it is a tragic one.
%%* Lindsey from {{Shadowgirls}}. She ain't forgiving herself anytime soon.
* Galatea ("Golly") in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob.'' is much less of an emotional disaster than she once was, but she still tries to project an air of competence and experience far beyond what she actually has (even if she is a genius).
%%* Susan from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' is not quite as broken as some on the list, but she has her problems. Also, one of the more Badass characters.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Aradia]] [[EmotionlessGirl Megido]]. The poor girl is so broken by the time the game starts that she's forgotten what emotion feels like, [[spoiler: which makes her ascention to God Tier all the more heartwarming.]]
%%* Lucy of ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl''. It's only noticeable under certain circumstances, but ''wow''.
%%* Carmen of ''Webcomic/NinthElsewhere''; explained by her childhood.
* [[spoiler:Bathory]] of ''Webcomic/{{Crepuscule}}'' seems to be this, as revealed in more recent chapters: [[spoiler:For hundreds of years, she's been searching for a surviving relative from the extermination of the pureblood succubi. Thankfully, she finds Angela, her aunt, and seems to be getting better because of it.]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'':
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-11-14 Seymour diagnoses the navy blue succubus as this.]]
-->''So much cynicism in your voice -- masking untold sorrows.''
%%** [[spoiler: Blue herself]] is revealed to be one.
* The title heroine of ''Webcomic/{{Glorianna}}'' is carrying heavy angst from some as-yet-unspecified childhood trauma, as well as guilt over her [[spoiler:unplanned pregnancy and subsequent abandoning of her baby]].
* ''Webcomic/TheFoxSister'': Yun Hee might be warming up towards Alex, but overall she's still quite brusque and closed off.
%%* ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'': JerkassWoobie [[DarkActionGirl Darkish Action Girl]] Sal.
* Murai in ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' is a variant-- her EstablishingCharacterMoment is her collapse during the bandit raid, meaning the broken side of her was shown before the facade was.
* Lei'ella if ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}'' puts on a ruthless facade and uses SpockSpeak to intimidate people in her capacity as a thief-catcher, a job which she admits usually results in her killing someone. She's cynical about Acheron's motives, and refuses to believe the thief Varden has any capacity for goodness. This is because she's an elf "afflicted" with mortality and exiled when she was twelve; since then she's had to hide her race because she's invariably been rejected by prejudiced humans.
* Both the protagonists of ''Webcomic/{{Ice}}''. Hunter used to be quite an outspoken GranolaGirl before [[spoiler: getting raped by the Queensmen]], while Cirr, nowadays close to TheStoic, [[spoiler: has a messy DescentIntoAddiction]] as his backstory.
* Arthur in ''[[http://findchaos.com Find Chaos]]'' started out [[SelfMadeOrphan murdering]] his {{abusive|Parents}} SinisterMinister father, escaped from a mental institution by "dying, a little", and got recruited as a [[CreatureHunterOrganization monster assassin]]. He's also TheFriendNobodyLikes to his organization thanks to his [[TroubledSympatheticBigot profound religious prejudice]] against everyone in the group, including himself. His life is less than happy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Originals]]
* Iriana Estchell of ''Literature/IlivaisX'' lived a life that amounted to abusive rape followed by even more rape, which given her condition meant more like being tortured for 15 years. By the time the story starts, she's desperately trying to cover her mushy, fragile core with stoic badassery and indifferent sadism, but isn't as good at that as she'd like. When she meets someone that loves her (or rather, manipulated into doing so), she's so confused at how she's treated that she tends to respond by hurting her even more.
%%* Shoutan Himei of ''Literature/SailorNothing'' fits this trope in a heartbreakingly perfect way.
* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'':
** In a far [[PlayedForLaughs lighter]] example, Nostalgia Chick is a twisted CuteAndPsycho girl with a big drinking problem.
** The Makeover Fairy is also pretty bad, trying so hard to be happy and girly and cheerful, but always showing in the end that she's just a NervousWreck.
* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'': Thanks to the premise, there are a fair amount of examples of this trope due to [[BreakTheCutie how many cuties are broken in each version]]. It's either that they ''started'' out this way and only get more scarred and/or AxCrazy, or that they become this way due to the amount of trauma they've suffered. Either way, the island doesn't do well for mental and emotional health.
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** Agent Carolina, in the present, is one of these, having built up a cold, callous exterior that covers her sadness concerning the fates of her Freelancer comrades. [[spoiler:Like Wash below, hanging around the Reds and Blues have helped her immensely recover the kindness she used to have]].
** Agent Washington was once an {{Adorkable}} and friendly NiceGuy, until he had the memories of a tortured AI unit uploaded into his head. This, combined with the betrayals of various friends and allies later in life, led to Wash becoming cynical and no-nonsense. [[spoiler:After the Blues help him escape custody, however, Wash begins to recover and becomes something closer to his kinder self.]]
** In Season 12, it's implied and later confirmed that Felix's experiences in the Great War against the Covenant have kind of broken him and reshaped him into the cynical, sort of-SociopathicHero he is today. [[spoiler:Nope, that's his cover story. He did fight in the war and it did have an effect on him, but he was a sociopath even then and arguably only got ''worse''.]]
** It's implied that Locus' experiences in the Great War have also left him with some form of trauma, which he hides with his OneManArmy and ConsummateProfessional mask. [[spoiler:Unlike Felix, it's genuine, and Felix was willing to exploit this and keep him from getting help in order to keep him by his side so he could survive their work as mercenaries.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Vista, the youngest member of the [[SuperTeam Brockton Bay Wards]], becomes this after Leviathan's attack on the city kills two of her teammates-including one that she had a childhood crush on-and then seeing the rest of her team slowly collapse, eventually becoming TheFatalist and accepting what she viewed as her inevitable death while still doing everything she could for her teammates.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** By the end of Volume 3, Yang has become this. [[spoiler:First, she is publically disgraced and arrested on internationally broadcast television, then she's told her MissingMom Raven is still around and also cares very little about her, and then she loses her school, her promising career, all of her friends (including Penny and Pyrrha, [[KilledOffForReal who are fatalities]], and [[BreakingTheFellowship her team-mates in RWBY who all go their separate ways]]) and even [[AnArmAndALeg her right arm]] in the [[YouCantGoHomeAgain devastating terrorist attack which destroys Beacon]] not long afterwards. The epilogue shows that even after several weeks have passed, the normally cheerful and easygoing Yang is bedridden and under her father's care, a depressed and emotionally broken girl who angrily admonishes Blake at the mention of her name and even brushes off Ruby's affection with little care. Poor thing.]]
** Blake is introduced rejecting the idea of a happy world. Her past of [[spoiler:leaving her family to remain a member of the White Fang, being in an abusive relationship with its leader, and finally going on the run to escape the violent ways of the organization]] left her emotionally damaged. It shows in her obsession with stopping Torchwick from [[spoiler:collaborating with the White Fang]], which compels her to throw away her health, grades, and sanity by not sleeping, eating, studying, or socializing. She also considers herself a coward, and hates herself for her past actions. The events that transpire during her confrontation with the White Fang's leader amidst the fall of Beacon ([[spoiler:she gets beaten and stabbed, and watches her best friend lose her arm trying to defend her]]) enforce her beliefs that she doesn’t deserve to be loved by anyone, and that she ought to shut herself away from the world. She also becomes paranoid, surly, ill-tempered, and physically abusive to Sun, whom she treats as a nuisance that doesn’t comprehend the reality of what she is going through.
* The ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' character Sophie the Swamp Witch started out as [[TheCutie a sweet and innocent child]], but TookALevelInCynicism when her hometown was cursed and she was forced to flee into the woods. She was separated from her family for years afterward. Sophie is now a GrumpyBear SolitarySorceress.
* Max from ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' is a cynical JerkAss, who feels the need to drag everybody else down to his level. But it is made painfully clear, that this is driven by the fact that his parents just don't give a shit about him and dumped him in rundown summer camp without even bothering to sign him up for a specific activity. Underneath that Jerkass Façade is a heartbroken, lonely little kid.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Helga Pataki from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' is the badass variety. She mentions in one episode that she would probably go crazy if it weren't for Arnold.
* Arcee from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. First she lost Tailgate to Airachnid and then Cliffjumper to Starscream. This makes Arcee the most aggressive out of all the Autobots, concerning Optimus that Arcee's anger and desire for revenge has clouded her judgment.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** Raven, though she does gradually open up in the last two seasons.
** Terra, though she tries to hide it behind a FunPersonified façade. Stick around her long enough, though, and it becomes obvious the girl has ''serious'' issues with people.
* Karai from ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' becomes one of these during the show's fourth and fifth seasons, after the turtles and Utroms exile her father to an icy asteroid.
* Meg of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Although it's PlayedForLaughs and she's a pretty big ButtMonkey, some episodes depict her being both emotionally fragile and disturbed, [[IJustWantToBeLoved derived from a desperation for love and attention.]]
* [[http://www.anna-blue.de Anna Blue]], it doesn't get any more broken than this.
* Mrs. Krabappel from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is TheSnarkKnight variety. In her case, it's PlayedForLaughs.
** Eleanor Abernathy aka the CrazyCatLady. [[UsedToBeASweetKid At age 8]], she was already aspiring to become both a doctor ''and'' a lawyer, and accomplished it by age 24. However, [[{{Workaholic}} the stresses in being both left her burned out]] by age 32, and [[TheAlcoholic she started drinking]] and acquired her first cat. By age 40, she'd turned [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] and disheveled, with cats as her only companions.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,''
** Mai. Her parents neglected her and forced her to be a "perfect child", causing her to be cynical and apathetic. [[BirdsOfAFeather Unsurprisingly]], she ends up with the resident TroubledButCute.
** Azula as well:
-->“My own mother thought I was a monster. *{{Beat}}* She was right, of course, but it still hurt."
** Zuko could definitely be considered a male example. His father [[AbusiveParents burned half his face]] and banished him, sending him on a SnipeHunt to find the Avatar, all when he was only thirteen. And that's only the beginning. [[spoiler: Luckily, he gets better.]]
** In the sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', three seasons of various kinds of trauma have made Korra herself into one. [[spoiler:After a three-year timeskip, she's gone into hiding as an earthbender, getting beat up in fight clubs for cash. None of her friends know where she is, and even her parents thought she was in Republic City. Thankfully with some help, Korra is eventually able to recover from her past traumas and retake her position as being the Avatar. By the end of the series, she is hopeful for the future again and begins a romantic relationship with her [[RelationshipUpgrade friend]] [[BiTheWay Asami.]]]]
** Averted with Asami Sato despite losing her mother to murder and her father being a terrorist, but [[spoiler:she hints that losing Korra would have most likely pushed her over the edge.]]
* Gwen from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'', in spades. She's [[FriendlessBackground never had many friends]] and gets picked on by every villain.
** Courtney becomes this following her downfall in [[Recap/TotalDramaSundaeMuddySundae Sundae Muddy Sundae]]
* Charmcaster in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. Being used by Darkstar was a huge part in making it worse.
* Artemis from ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' comes from a broken home, with her mother having spent years in prison, her father being a supervillain, and her older sister, Jade, being the notorious assassin Cheshire. This has understandably made Artemis very cynical and abrasive.
* Both Rogue and [[Comicbook/ScarletWitch Wanda]] from ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution''.
** Rogue was purposefully raised as an [[{{Goth}} outsider]] by Mystique and Destiny to manipulate her into becoming Mystique's tool, [[BlessedWithSuck cannot touch anyone without draining them due to her mutant ability]], and to top it all off suffers from a bad case of [[LoveHurts unrequited love]] for Scott and consequentially is bitterly jealous of Scott's official {{Love Interest|s}} Jean.
** [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Wanda]] on the other hand was raised in an abusive asylum after her [[ComicBook/{{Magneto}} father]] [[ParentalAbandonment left her]] there as a child for undisclosed reasons. Her brother is utterly terrified of her as her entire life's goal seems to be to [[{{Patricide}} murder her father]]. Sadly, she only improves after her father [[MindRape has a telepath rewrite her memories to make her love him]]. The sad part is that while Rogue at least got to be be redeemed by the ComicBook/XMen and made some friends, Wanda never really had anyone help her without selfish motives.
* In "Sad About You" on ''[[WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot]]'', the human girl Joy was a broken bird who had sworn off friendship and happy feelings after her best friend moved away, but the Care Bears managed to fix it, in large part thanks to Grumpy Bear, who helped them to see that they need to empathize with and acknowledge her feelings rather than simply try to cheer her up.
* Marceline from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. No sign of her mother ever appears, her biological father ranges from "neglectful" to "abusive", her [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] has magical curse alzheimers and doesn't remember her (but still sticks around, just to twist the knife), her boyfriend sold her most cherished possession, and she's had a millennium of other miscellaneous such events. Is it any wonder she [[JerkassFacade plays up her vampirism to drive people away for their own good]]?
* The widow Kelly Deegan in ''WesternAnimation/HollyHobbieAndFriends [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas Wishes]]'', until Holly manages to help restore her happiness by contriving to give her the solo at the Christmas pageant.
* Enrique on ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales''. According to his [[AllThereInTheManual bio]] that was posted on the parents section of the show's official website, much of his general mopiness at times as well as his wariness of making new friends and trying new things came from the fact that he and his family had moved several times in his young life.
* [[JerkassWoobie Kitty]] from ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' lost her [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar girlfriend to their abusive pimp]] and walks around wearing a creepy mask to shield herself from the cruelty of reality. Courage does everything he can to appease her [[spoiler: and succeeds when he reunites the two.]]
** Courage himself fits this trope very nicely in the episode Remembrance of Courage Past, especially [[spoiler: when suddenly remembering his real family who was sent to space years before the show]] - [[AngstComa he didn't even respond]] to Eustace's trademark "Ooga booga booga!" scare, which ''always'' did the trick.
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' qualifies, as he'd grown up with a StageMom who withheld affection unless he acted, which [[FreudianExcuse pretty succinctly explains why he's at]] ''best'' a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* Lapis Lazuli of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', especially in the episode "Jail Break." Steven is completely capable of getting her free, and alongside the Crystal Gems they'd be more than a match for Jasper and Peridot. But Lapis refuses to leave her cell because she believes that resisting would only make things worse and that the only way she can help them is by [[spoiler: taking the reins of a fusion with Jasper and dragging them both down to the bottom of the sea forever]]. Lapis was also trapped inside a mirror for 6,000 years and interrogated by Homeworld soldiers who mistook her, a civilian, for a Crystal Gem. Even after everyone fled, she was stuck on the Galaxy Warp for ages until Pearl found her. In addition, her fusion with Jasper did her absolutely no good, genuinely ''missing'' Malachite, the most toxic fusion we've seen thus far. Finally, Lauren Zuke confirmed Lapis Lazuli has PTSD, as was hinted at in 'Same Old World.'
** Pearl has been suffering from PTSD since Rose died and hasn't been the same since.
** Despite her faux FunPersonified Demeanor, Amethyst has had a really harsh life. She said she never asked to be made. What doesn't help is that not only was she made to be a "bad" gem, but after her creation was left alone in a dark abandoned canyon for millennia without any friends. On top of that, she watched her mother figure die before her very eyes, and she was the one person she thought actually liked her. And chose to ran away from home, she even pushed Steven away, who is the LAST person to reject her for who she is. Poor Girl.
* Of all people, the ''Care Bears Cousins'' themselves in the ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'' spinoff ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins'' starting with the episode "The Bright Stuff".
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----

-> "''Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt," said Estella, "and of course if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no--sympathy-sentiment--nonsense.''"
-->-- '''Estella''', ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Great_Expectations/Chapter_XXIX chapter XXIX]]

* Loki from the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''. In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', we see that he is actually a relatively nice person deep down, who loves his brother and looks up to him immensely. Sure, he's manipulative most of the time, ruining Thor's coronation just because he thought Thor wasn't ready (he wasn't, but that's not the point), but learning that [[TheReveal his whole life and family is a lie]], and that [[YouAreWhatYouHate he's actually part of a race he's been taught to hate his entire life]] is still pretty devastating. This is what ultimately makes him snap and go about violently trying to prove his [[WellDoneSonGuy worth]] in the worst way possible. After this, the [[BigBadSlippage downward spiral only continues]]... [[spoiler:although he does seem to get some redemption in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld''. Or does he?]]