History Main / MonsterSobStory

* StartOfDarkness: A prequel that details how an established villain became evil in the first place. It may or may not involve tragedy, trauma or other misfortune that makes them sympathetic.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: The character isn't evil at first, but the difficulties they face after being accused and treated as one causes them to snap.

* DrivenToVillainy: Tragic circumstances drives a person to commit evil deeds.

* StartOfDarkness: A prequel that details how an established villain became evil in the first place.

* StartOfDarkness: An event, usually a painful one, causes someone to become progressively more bitter and evil.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: The character isn't evil at first, but the difficulties they face after being accused and treated as one cause them to snap.

* StartOfDarkness: An event, usually a painful one, makes someone become progressively more bitter and evil.

* DrivenToVillainy: Tragic circumstances led a person to a path of villainy.

* StartOfDarkness: An event, usually a painful one, drives a person into a progressive path of evil.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: The character isn't evil at first, but the difficulties they face after being accused and treated as one makes them snap.

[[quoteright:196:[[Webcomic/BobTheAngryFlower https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zzmss_9982.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:196:Bob knows this trope.]]

->"''...But I also came into existence, so you could go preserved and unscathed. I am the sole empty purpose of being a trash receptacle for everything you couldn't handle.''"
-->-- '''Dictator Pickles''', ''WebAnimation/AlfredsPlayhouse''

Monsters and villains in works of fiction aren't usually made to invoke sympathy. Engaging a monster emotionally as someone would another person diminishes the terror and revulsion villains are supposed to evoke. However, this isn't the case if the villain has a Monster Sob Story. Basically, this is a villain who gets a moment when, to everybody's surprise, he's cast in a somewhat sympathetic light. His motivations and emotional state are explored, and the audience finds itself pitying (if not identifying with) the villain. They may be a SmugSnake or MagnificentBastard, but the reader/viewer feels sorry for them. The heroes themselves may even feel pity. The experience ends up giving the villain a level of characterization that goes beyond what a villain doing things ForTheEvulz usually gets.

Unlike the WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, or the AntiVillain, this villain was already evil long before-- and will likely remain so, despite anyone's pity. May be an IneffectualSympatheticVillain. May also bring about BadassDecay or VillainDecay if not done well. This is not to be confused with a VillainousBreakdown containing a MotiveRant, which usually occurs after the villain has suffered a setback or is almost defeated. Here, the sympathy is more triggered by the villain's goals or feelings rather than any pain the villain is going through himself. If the villain simply chokes out "[[FreudianExcuse I had a]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast terrible childhood]]!" and then dies, it's AlasPoorVillain.

See also SympathyForTheDevil (where the characters feel the monster's pain) and CryForTheDevil (where the ''audience'' feels the monster's pain).
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Told by both Souther and Kaioh to Kenshiro in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' right before their final battles, when there's no time left for the reader to watch them grow as characters or sympathise with them. Though the week-to-week short term plotting of the shounen manga industry is probably to blame here.
* He's never made 'pathetic' but Askeladd is made sympathetic in the revelation of his origins in ''Manga/VinlandSaga''.
* In ''Manga/{{Monster}}'', [[spoiler: the revelation that Johan Liebert may just be the tragic result of military experiments and a seeming lack of affection on the part of his mother after all. Plus the redemption of any number of other characters throughout the series]].
%%* [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]] after his OhCrap moment in ''End of Evangelion''.
%%* Both Jesse and James of TeamRocket gets quite a few in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''.
* The aliens from ''Manga/TokyoMewMew''. Living in a world so inhospitable and full of natural disasters that they had to stay underground, with almost no food, all while they had once lived in Earth. After learning this, even the heroines can't help but feel sorry for them and see their side of matters. Zakuro points out how they can't blame the aliens for hating humanity, considering how little value humans seem to give the planet that was once theirs and how the aliens, like them, are fighting for the ones they love.
* During the Eclipse in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Griffith gets a childhood flashback scene as he's alone with the Godhand, which serves as one last moment of feeling sorry for him after [[TraumaCongaLine everything he's been through up to this point]] -- and which serves to make his FaceHeelTurn all the more hate-worthy.
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it's revealed that Envy hates humans because it's jealous of their ability to empathize with one another. He caused hatred and violence to fill their hearts so he could blot out that ability. When Ed expresses sympathy for it, Envy [[spoiler: commits suicide]].
** Sloth doesn't want to be one of Father's evil minions, he just wants to sleep all the time.
** [[Anime/FullMetalAlchemist The 2003 anime version's]] Lust gets an episode devoted to this. The anime Envy had one as well, but in the end it only reinforced what a truly vile being he had become.
* Yuca from ''Manga/ImmortalRain'' certainly does this, to the point of being a grade-A WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. He's a horrible, misanthropic, nihilistic sociopath; but then, he's lived for [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld centuries]] through {{Reincarnation}} and experienced inconceivable pain in those many lives. He hates the world, simply because he's so sick of living in it.
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'':
** Dio was shown to have had a tragic childhood, growing up in the slums with his father being an abusive alcoholic that beat his mother to death. This however does little to excuse his later actions of killing Jonathan's dog, harassing his girlfriend, attempting to poison Jonathan's father for his inheritance and later, rejecting his humanity to become a vampire and enslave all mankind... though in a rare moment of humanization, he's shown to genuinely mourn [[spoiler: Jonathan's death,]] as he was the one person whom Dio respected and considered a WorthyOpponent.
** La Squadra in ''Vento Aureo'' may have been a violent criminal assasin gang, but their motive was to get revenge on the Boss after he murdered two of their members, with their gang being portrayed as rather close and like a brotherhood. [[spoiler: This ends up getting them killed at the hands of Team Bucciarati protecting the Boss's daughter Trish, though ironically the heroes themselves later betray the Boss after his true motives are exposed.]]
** Same with Squalo and Tiziano, a pair of hitmen who are out to kill the heroes, but are very close to each other bordering on AmbiguouslyGay and are [[spoiler: willing to sacrifice their life to protect their partner.]]
%%* [[MagnificentBastard Suitengu]] from ''Anime/SpeedGrapher''.
* [[spoiler:Yamamoto]] the Conwelian (and their race in the whole, really) in ''Manga/LevelE''. Having to eat your own females to fertilize their eggs is one thing, having the instinctive urge to do so triggered by ''[[CartwrightCurse romantic attachment]]'' -- is another story completely. But continuing to do so after resettling [[spoiler:on Earth]] as a refugee from the war that destroyed your own planet (and was fought over the cure to that urge, that some hard-liners viewed as abomination) with the ''local'' females -- well, that's the prime TheWoobie material.
* ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'': Nanami life is one of continuous pain, alienation from her Martial Arts School, existential frustration and continued assassinations attempts (even from her own family!) that she would desire were successful. Even so, after seeing what she is capable of, is very difficult to empathize with her.
* Hansel and Gretel from ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. They gleefully torture and murder through their story arc. They are also children who in the past were raped and forced to kill other children. They are eventually [[spoiler: hunted down and killed]].
* This applies to [[spoiler:4]] of the original Seven Warlords of the Sea in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Boa Hancock's [[spoiler:experience as being a slave and abused by male Celestial Dragons gave her a permanent distrust and disgust for men, saved later for Luffy. It also cause her to put on the act of a cruel and merciless tyrant in order to hide all her fears and weaknesses to others]]. Crocodile's [[spoiler:dream got crushed in the New World, thus made him give up his dream and turn him into a bastard obsessed with military power instead]]. Gekko Moriah got it tenfold the nightmare. [[spoiler:He technically watched his entire crew, companions and friends get slaughtered by Kaidou without being able to do anything. Such event crushed him so severely it turns him into the fucked-up bastard we know today]]. [[spoiler:Donquixote Doflamingo]] had possibly one of the worst. [[spoiler:After his family gave up the life of Celestial Dragons, they found themselves hunted down and ostracized by Noble-hating citizens of their new home, resulting in his mother's death, he and his brother being forced to eat trash, and they and their father being crucified to their burning house. He may be one of the biggest monsters in the [=OP=] world, but it's impossible not to feel sympathy for him]].
** Arlong qualifies too. Although he was already a racist toward humans to begin with, [[spoiler:Fisher Tiger and Koala's presence did shred a tiny light of hope for his attitude toward humans]]. Then shit happened. [[spoiler:Koala's departure followed by Fisher Tiger's death totally busted all that hope and thus grant Arlong the motivation to unleash all his hatreds and cruelties on humans]]
* Many of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'s'' cast of villains, including Itachi, Nagato, Kabuto, and Orochimaru, have sympathetic backstories.
* ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st]]'' does this for Precia Testarossa, going into detail about her descent into insanity after [[spoiler:Alicia's death]]. Given the RecursiveCanon nature of the movie, Fate probably insisted on those scenes being included so her mother would be portrayed in a more sympathetic light.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Two-Edge the half-troll from ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' spends half the time fomenting wars or designing death-traps and torture devices, and the other half soliciting (and sometimes getting) sympathy from the elves because of his mistreatment by Winnowill [[spoiler:(his mother)]].
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Creator/AlanMoore's take on the third Clayface takes this UpToEleven. The character falls in love with a mannequin, has his home burned down, deals with insane paranoid jealousy (from his perspective it seems like his inanimate love is cheating on him), is attacked by Batman, put in an asylum, and finally grows to resent the one (imaginary) romance he has. In the end it's implied that he has come to hate his new life to the extent that he's just waiting for his wife to die...which she won't. Ever.
** Some versions of Scarecrow. He's a nasty piece of work, but geez, try to read about his childhood in Scarecrow: Year One without crying. He was [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned by his mother]], ruthlessly bullied at school, was dirt poor and his grandmother used him for child labor and locked him in an old church to be attacked by birds over and over again for "sins" such as reading books besides the Bible. She's been dead for years, but [[MommyIssues he's still freakin' terrified of her.]]
* Starting with ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' #382, EvilCounterpart villain the Abomination was given one of these. As it turned out he had a long lost wife, who he was forced to abandon but still pined for. This angle was eventually done away with and the long lost wife killed off as it made the Abomination more pathetic than sympathetic.
* ComicBook/{{Magneto}} was given his definitive sob story by Creator/ChrisClaremont in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #150, which revealed that the previously CardCarryingVillain in fact had the mother of all [[FreudianExcuse Freudian Excuses]]: He was a survivor of UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, and rather than being motivated by pride or greed (as he had been in all stories before), what was truly driving him was a desire to make sure what happened to his people would never happen to mutants. This retcon became insanely popular, to the point where even Creator/StanLee himself said in a 2008 interview that he "never saw Magneto as a bad guy", despite Magneto being portrayed as ''exactly that'' (and nothing more) until Claremont got ahold of him.
* ComicBook/NormanOsborn, after the failed Siege of Asgard that ended ComicBook/DarkReign, gets a MotiveRant (spoken to his alter-ego, the Green Goblin) about how he ''knows'' the Hulk, the X-Men, or some other superhuman is inches away from completely wrecking the world (it would be more sympathetic if he weren't one of those same superhumans endangering the planet).
* In a classic ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' story, the Surfer goes to a planet after receiving a call for help. He finds a group of natives being attacked by a monstrous dragon. After a brief battle, the Surfer is surprised when the dragon proves capable of speech. The dragon explains that his race was actually a peaceful one, and after escaping their doomed planet, they arrived here in search of fuel. The natives, [[FantasticRacism for no reason other than the dragons' monstrous appearances]], gave them a chemical that [[KillItWithFire destroyed them all]] - save [[LastOfHisKind him,]] who was on a scouting mission. The last dragon then stayed on the planet and vowed to punish the natives, being the monster they feared he was in the first place. The Surfer, indecisive over who to side with, decides to end the conflict by removing the dragon's powers - which is ultimately fatal to the dragon. The natives cheer the Surfer and thank him for defeating the "evil monster". The Surfer gives them all an [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech epic chewing-out]] and vows to never again to come to their aid, even if it means they all die.
* Franchise/{{Transformers}}: Shockwave is, and remains one of the most powerful and dangerous of all Decepticons. He embodies the unfeeling machine, uncaring of everything but logic. [[spoiler: He wasn't always this way. ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye showed that before the war he was one of the few good Politicians, opposing the cruel and unethical treatment and persecution of the commoners, and he risks his life and reputation to save Optimus, then Orion. He's lobotomized and has his appearance changed, becoming the villain everyone sees today.]]
** If you're wondering how they pull this off, [[spoiler:it's because we don't actually find out he's Shockwave until the Empurata process is done on him in ''MTMTE'' #11, at least three issues after we see him as a former Senator.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' has one with [[KnightOfCerebus Belladonna Tyrian]] in [[WhamEpisode Chapter 23]], where she tells Ash and the readers about her tragic past. Between [[TrashOfTheTitans her appalling living conditions]] and [[AbusiveParents her horrible mother]], it's very easy to feel sorry for her. Of course, this is brought to light in the middle of an elaborate murder scheme.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* [[spoiler: Lotso]] from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''. He's got more than one FreudianExcuse to justify his actions even if they're monstrous, but it doesn't absolve him of his [[MoralEventHorizon greatest and final sin in the movie]]. Which is why you cheer the ending. He's bad, we know ''why'' he's bad, but it ''still'' doesn't excuse his actions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' opens with Dracula's wife committing suicide, causing him to reject God and turn into a vampire as a result.
* Similarly, "Max Schreck" in ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'', especially in his monologue wherein he explains why he identifies with the character he's playing.
* Brigadier-General Hummel in ''Film/TheRock'', who's something of a WellIntentionedExtremist, takes over Alcatraz and threatens to kill most of San Francisco. He's not doing it ForTheEvulz or even for himself, but because he's lost a lot of men under his command who were sent on various covert missions and then abandoned when they got caught. He just wants the government to acknowledge that and give the families of the soldiers their dues. [[spoiler:It turns out he was bluffing about nerve-gassing the city, but unfortunately some of the mercenaries he was working with didn't get the memo on that, and revolted when they realized he wasn't going to go through with it. Death wound up ensuing for practically everyone.]]
* In ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', when the Phantom's backstory is revealed it makes the viewer sympathize with him [[spoiler: Also when he allows Christine to go after showing that she is willing to stay in what would basically be hell for her to let Raoul live makes the viewer feel even worse for him.]]
* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': [[spoiler:Cato]] gets one in before his death.
* ''Film/FullEclipse'': Garou relates how his family was hunted down and that he hated being a werewolf at first.
* ''Film/Godzilla2014'' has shades of this with the two MUTO, who despite being giant radioactive {{Kaiju}} are portrayed as NonMaliciousMonsters simply trying to raise a family in a world they no longer belong in. Sure, their reproduction could spell doom for mankind, but one still has to feel a little bad for them, especially when [[spoiler: the female MUTO is wailing in anguish before the incinerated remains of her unhatched offspring.]]
* Played with in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''--it turns out the Soul Stone can only be obtained by [[SacrificialLamb sacrificing someone you love]], so Thanos is forced to kill [[spoiler:Gamora]], the only person he ever had a PetTheDog moment with, to obtain it. As she points out, this may not really qualify as "love," but it counts for the stone's test; and, of course, this could have been avoided if he gave up on his [[WellIntentionedExtremist questionable quest to kill half of all life in the universe]], since that was the only reason he even wanted the stone. Although it's framed as tragic to the audience, none of the characters have any sympathy for him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/{{Abarat}}'', Christopher Carrion's backstory. His entire family, except for his grandmother and absent father, died in a massive fire, he was brought up to be a perfect villain by his abusive grandmother who had sewn up his lips for saying the word love, fell in love with a princess who used and then shunned him... and his life didn't get better since then.
* Unusual for Creator/HPLovecraft, in ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' the protagonist only sees the aftermath of a horrific massacre at the hands of an ancient alien race. At the end, he finds several of the individuals responsible for that massacre dead, and finds himself comparing their actions to how humans would react in the same situation. They're still somewhat creepy, given they still look on humanity with cosmic indifference, but given an understanding of their motives makes it hard not to feel some sympathy for them. The same can't be said for the Shoggoths, though.
* ''Literature/CodexAlera'':
** The Vord Queen. In the first five books she is not sympathetic in the slightest, but in the sixth [[spoiler:we discover that she is attacking the Alerans because the Queens she has produced in Canea are trying to kill her, so she fled.]] She's still quite clearly evil, but it's very sad, in a way.
** Even all-around [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder treacherous bitch]] Invidia Aquitaine gets treated with a little sympathy in the same book, as she's managed to screw everything up so badly that even Isana is feeling sorry for her. For reference, Invidia [[spoiler:arranged to have Isana's husband killed, repeatedly tried to kill her son, and is helping the Vord Queen hold her hostage]].
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/GhostStory'', Uriel says he kind of pities [[spoiler:the Skinwalkers]], as their rampages and the pain they cause is some desperate attempt to prove to themselves that everyone can be as screwed up as they are. His sympathies are far more toward their victims though.
* OlderThanRadio: The "creature" from the original ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' was an intelligent, gentle, fairly human person who happened to look like a hideous monster, so he was abandoned by his creator and rejected by society, making him lash out to become truly evil.
* Gollum's CharacterDevelopment in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', though there were traces of this in ''Literature/TheHobbit''.
* ''Literature/{{Grendel}} is a retelling of the old epic ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' told from the perspective of Grendel, the first story's antagonist. The story [[InMediasRes begins with Grendel knocking on Hrothgar's door, just like in Beowulf, and then cuts back to his childhood]] eventually showing us his StartOfDarkness
* Kallor from ''Literature/TheMalazanBookOfTheFallen'' was a son of a bitch long before he was cursed to a) live forever and b) fail at everything he did. ''Toll the Hounds'' however, spends a great deal of time demonstrating that not only did the curse fail to fix him, but the constant misery he has suffered over the millennia has only succeeded in making him even worse, transforming him from a standard EvilOverlord and into a MisanthropeSupreme who hates himself and all humanity with equal passion. An example of a character who you can both pity, and wish a horrible death upon all at once.
* [[DarkActionGirl Ney]] from the ''[[Franchise/EvilliousChronicles Story of Evil]]'' novels. She causes [[KillTheCutie Micheala's death]], spies for [[EvilMatriarch Prim]], and ends up possessed by [[VillainousGlutton Conchita]]. It was [[MommyIssues all for her mother]], [[spoiler: Prim]] , who merely views her as a tool, [[WellDoneSonGuy to praise her]]. [[spoiler: (She [[SelfMadeOrphan doesn't)]].]] And then she dies in one of the most [[TearJerker tearjerking]] ways possible...
* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the Azanians are obvious, even genocidal villains who run a racist, totalitarian state. But their POV makes their motives a little more understandable. They started out as traumatized women fleeing from [[NoWomansLand horrible other regimes]] in a post-apocalyptic hell-world, and built a country of their own. A generation later, they have used the setting's sci-fi assets to make it a prosperous high-tech society, and remake themselves into a OneGenderRace of Amazons--Who in turn have begun to [[PersecutionFlip attack nearby male societies]], because they are still paranoid and hate and fear anyone who might [[TragicBigot put them back under the yoke]]. Their behavior makes them intolerable, but it's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for them when they begin to ''lose'' their war--against protagonists who are very much [[UnscrupulousHero unscrupulous heroes]]--and are ''absolutely terrified'' that all their worst fears are coming true, to the point of choosing mass suicide over surrender.
* [[spoiler: Virgil]] of ''Literature/WithinRuin'' spent centuries crafting a fake religion and setting nations to war against one another in order to harvest the souls of the dead. We soon find out that he did it to [[spoiler: [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl revive his Elven queen Ankaa]] whom he loved more than anything. Except she no longer loves the man he has become. He then falls in love with the soulless Descarta and continues doing evil in order to save her despite the fact that she hates him vehemently]]. It doesn't excuse his actions but it's clear why he ignores Descarta's wishes and goes through with the final process.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Total Monster Tate in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse'' crying over Violet and making her puke because she's dying from too many pills.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' gives us Mr. Bester, a telepathic MagnificentBastard of the highest order, who revels in [[TheChessmaster tormenting and manipulating others]] to achieve his ends. Also [[FantasticRacism enormously dismissive]] of any [[{{Muggles}} Mundanes]]. Midway through the series, he enters an EnemyMine arrangement with the heroes, and learns that his former lover, a [[DatingCatwoman Rogue Telepath]] who [[MutantDraftBoard refused to join the Psi-Corps]], [[spoiler:was captured by the Psi-Corps and handed over to the Shadows to be [[BodyHorror changed into]] a [[WetwareCPU control unit]] for the Shadow warships.]]
** His [[PapaWolf almost paternal]] concern for "his" telepaths and the lengths he will go to protect them turn up in a new light when it transpires that [[spoiler: there ''is'' an anti-telepath conspiracy, led by people who are [[FinalSolution every bit as ruthless]] (but [[OutGambitted not quite as clever]]) as Bester himself.]]
* ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' has Cutler, who is revealed to have [[spoiler: been tricked into drinking his murdered wife's blood by Hal.]]
* Kim Young of ''Series/DaeJangGeum''. She did some unforgivable things to Jang Geum and Lady Han, but most of the time she was caught between a rock and a hard place and she was always miserable about her life and her situation.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wilson Fisk is a mob boss who does a lot of despicable things, but he also shows several moments of vulnerability, most notably when it's revealed that Fisk grew up in an abusive household.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The original trope namer was the lone Dalek in the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]], who tugged at viewers' heartstrings as it tried to come to grips with being the last Dalek left alive. A sorry fate for a being that believed absolutely in its race's superiority over all others. It started out as {{Narm}} when it seemed less upset about being the last Dalek in existence than about having no orders left to follow. But then it gradually got scared, which is a big jumping point since Davros programmed them to not feel any emotion but pride and hate. Even The Doctor felt sorry for this Dalek when he learned it had absorbed some of Rose's DNA and was impure — something it couldn't bear to live with when it found out. That fact makes it even more tragic: for the most part, the Dalek race is essentially damned to self-loathing, fear and finally suicide if it ''ever'' [[HeelFaceTurn sees the light]].
** Invoked intentionally by Blon in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown "Boom Town"]]. In her previous appearance she was just one of many Slitheen who planned to initiate a nuclear holocaust simply so they could sell the radioactive remains of the Earth as starship fuel. When the heroes meet her again, her motives haven't improved much; she intends to nuke Cardiff (tearing apart the rift) in order to escape the planet. She certainly never pulls any sort of HeelFaceTurn, but attempts to forestall her own execution by explaining how horrible her life has been (she would have been killed if she'd refused to be a killer like the rest of her family) and how unnecessarily cruel her death will be (dissolved in boiling vinegar). In the end she does get a sort of second chance, as she is [[spoiler:regressed to an egg and can start her life over]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment "The Lazarus Experiment"]]: Professor Lazarus survived the London Blitz as a child, giving him his motivation to try and conquer death.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: [[spoiler:TheMaster]] turned in this direction when it's revealed to him that he was driven insane (partially) by [[spoiler:the High Council's {{plan}} to escape the Last Time War. And then he's cast aside, because he's "diseased".]]
* The ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Incubator" is the Monster Sob Story for series BigBad and MagnificentBastard Scorpius. It didn't really work in persuading the [[ItMakesSenseInContext neural chip copy of Crichton]] in the episode. However, when Scorpius later reveals his backstory to the real John, he seems fairly affected by it, though not enough to actually help Scorpius.
%%* Several of the creatures on ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' come across this way.
* Echidna, the otherwise utterly repulsive (and quite literal) "Mother of All Monsters" from ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' got this treatment prior to her later CharacterDevelopment. A loathsome she-beast with scaly green skin, snakelike fangs, a grotesque shriek of a voice, and tentacles that seemed to stretch out for miles, she nevertheless evoked sympathy: her hatred of Hercules was entirely justified, as he had slain all her children, even if it was in self-defense. She plotted Herc's demise on a number of occasions, but eventually underwent a HeelFaceTurn and enlisted the hero's help after her youngest child was kidnapped. Interestingly enough, she also married [[BigFun a fun-loving giant]] (who was very large but otherwise normal-looking), making their case an example of HotGuyUglyWife.
* Sylar, as of Volume 5 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. He hates what he is, he realizes that no one will ever love him and he'll spend all of eternity alone and miserable and after spending all that time gaining new abilities he now wants to be rid of them because he knows that he'll never stop killing while he has them. He's still pure evil, but it's hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for him... Like some takes on the vampire myth he's a wretched monster, controlled by his bloodlust and unable to change unless FORCED to.
%%* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Most of the main villains have this, particularly Regina/The Evil Queen and Gold/Rumplestiltskin.
%%* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', [[spoiler:Davis Bloome/Doomsday to Chloe in season eight, in a fashion.]]
* This is practically the entire point of ''Series/TheSopranos''. Like it or not, we spend as much time watching these mobsters in moments of humanity and vulnerability as we do watching them violate nearly every moral code known to man. Most cross the MoralEventHorizon at some point (possibly even multiple times), but are still portrayed as human beings with relatable problems, which is what makes the show so fascinating and horrifying at the same time.
* [[MonsterOfTheWeek A shape-shifting demon]] from the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Monster Movie" gets this when he reveals how he was abused by his father and villagers, but he found refuge from the violence in old monster flicks that he re-enacted to a very serious degree (which involved killing people and kidnapping women).
** Demonstrated again when Sam and Dean head back in time in order to secure the remains of a phoenix to kill [[EvilMatriarch The Mother of all Monsters]]. Said creature goes on a killing spree against three local police officers once they arrive, only for Dean to find out it was a painful [[RapeAndRevenge love and loss]] revelation against a duplicitous sheriff's deputy with his [[DirtyCop cowardly superior]] and the decadent judge taking his word over the persecuted and ended up burning for it.
* ''Series/TeenWolf''’s [[spoiler:Matt Daehler]] is a JerkAss StalkerWithACrush on the female lead and, once he becomes [[TheKidWithTheRemoteControl the master of a reptilian shapeshifter]], murders several people along with taking over a police station and holding the parents of the main characters hostage. Well, as it turns out, his killing spree stems from a traumatic experience when he was only 9 or 10 years old – the 2006 swim team (his future victims) tossed him in a pool and ignored him when he started drowning. He was rescued by the coach only to be screamed at that his near-death was his own fault and to never speak of this to anyone. Still doesn’t excuse the stalking or killing all the cops, but you begin to understand his reasons for JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, and his murder (by drowning – the exact thing he fears most) is worthy of being a TearJerker.
** Peter. He may be a manipulative bastard but it's hard not to feel some sympathy towards the guy when you consider that nearly his entire family was burned alive and as a result of the same fire, he was stuck in a catatonic state for six years, slowly healing "cell by cell" and driven mad.
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': The season two BigBad is like this - we all pay attention to the FreudianExcuse, and think about just how messed up someone like that would be, and if this villain ever really had a chance.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" made many a fan feel pity, if not sympathy, for the series' eponymous BigBad, who has been until then presented as an utterly irredeemable JerkAss. It probably helped that it was the first (and only) episode where he wasn't seen from Mulder and Scully's POV and, thus, got a chance to show the more human sides of himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* ''Music/QueenOfTheWave'' by Music/PepeDeluxe. The villain Mainin was already seeking forbidden knowledge and black magic, but it was a pointless tragedy (the execution of his lover, based on false evidence) that finally drives him to outright supervillainy.
* "Monster" by Meg and Dia. It tells the story of a boy who was abused during his childhood. When he grows up, he attacks and presumably rapes a woman. According to the short story that the song is based on, the boy then commits suicide in a bathtub full of kerosene.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* Both ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' can be played this way. In fact, the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Time of Judgement]] book "Gehenna" for [=VtM=] specifically invokes this trope, to the point of mentioning in the introduction that two of the game designers imagined it ending with the last vampire on earth [[DrowningMySorrows drinking himself to death in a random bar]], [[SuperLoser depowered]] and [[JerkassWoobie all alone]].
* The Yozis in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' manage to be somewhat sympathetic despite being insane god-monsters whose plan to break out of hell involves an obscene amount of death.
* The writers of ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' adventure paths and modules do this a lot when explaining why monsters are located when they put them. Even if it never comes up when the minor combat encounter unfolds, the GM at least will know exactly how much life sucks for the monsters who are only attacking out of unfortunate circumstances, or are being forced to do so. In the rare cases where it's theoretically possible to help them (such as a celestial who was [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil tortured]] and magically brainwashed into becoming a minion to an evil wizard who has already died elsewhere), [[DevelopersForesight the writers anticipate]] [[VideoGameCaringPotential your act of kindness]] and usually write in a suitable reward.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Creator/CliveBarker's ''Theatre/TheHistoryOfTheDevil''. He ''is'' the devil, but he just wants to go home. He seems to win at the ending, being allowed to return to heaven on the condition that he can never leave it again, but in a massive DownerEnding [[spoiler: it's revealed that heaven is completely empty, abandoned by God and all the other angels]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* Makuta Krika of Toys/{{Bionicle}}, who only went along with Teridax's plans seeing as it would just be a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. He longs for the old days when the Brotherhood of Makuta stood for something and helped the people rather then trying to enslave them and usurp the Great Spirit Mata Nui.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* After finishing ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' and likely mowing down hundreds of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent ganados]] along the way, getting to see a slide show of the villagers ''before they became monsters'' living their lives peacefully and happily hits you like a bus. ''Especially'' since you recognize some of them[[note]]Remember the one from the beginning with the axe? He liked to play his guitar on the porch for the village children[[/note]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_weHtgqZ5Bs Give it a watch]]; It's remembered as the most terrifying part of the game for a reason.
* Walter Sullivan from ''VideoGame/SilentHill4''. He's a creepy psychotic ritual serial killer, but his backstory is just so sad. How's this for a motive: [[spoiler:he just wants his mommy]].
** Pointed out in the parody series ''WebVideo/NoisyHill'' when Henry is appalled to realise that the "Evil plan" he's trying to stop is this, declaring "I'm really not a very nice person, am I?"
** ''Franchise/SilentHill'' somehow turns this tragedy into a dark sort of tragicomedy by further revealing that [[spoiler: he thinks his mommy is ''your apartment'']].
*** This is [[MindScrew Silent Hill]]. He might not be wrong.
* Capehornus from ''VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare'' is what can be lightly called a douchebag obsessed with [[DisproportionateRetribution taking revenge on everyone and everything for the slights he's suffered in life]], and many a player grows to dislike him intensely. Then Zolgonark, the demon he summoned to help him do so, [[spoiler:turns his granddaughter--the only person he loves--into a harpy. And all of his plans slowly but surely come undone as Yellma cheerfully ignores his plight to pursue her own agenda and the Wisp's army dispatches his subordinates.]] After his last stand and his bitter death speech, even Maria and Meria admit that he's NotSoDifferent from them.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'': Aperture Science Sentry Guns, otherwise known as just 'Portal Turrets'. They don't ''want'' to kill you, but they've been heartlessly programmed to perforate anything that isn't another turret. They'll even apologize for their behavior... once you've [[WeakTurretGun knocked them over]] and rendered them permanently incapacitated.
-->'''Turret''':[[AC: I don't hate you]].
* The BigBad of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' in Hisui's route gets one of these when it's revealed [[spoiler:SHIKI has been experiencing the same psychic link Shiki has been coping with, and if anything has been feeling even worse than Shiki. He just wants to kill Shiki to sever the link and give his mind some peace.]]
** The whole thing about [[spoiler:being disowned by his family, locked up in a basement for years and years because his family carries demon blood that drives its' members crazy, and unknowingly being the reincarnation of an immortal vampire, which amplified the effects of said demon blood when it "awoke" in him.]]
* VideoGame/RuleOfRose. It's such a TearJerker (still being survival horror) that it's hard to determine where to begin. Both villains have major sob stories: a PsychoLesbian with a FreudianExcuse and an AxCrazy madman.
* Every single boss in the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series decides to have a [[StoryToGameplayRatio 15-minute conversation]] before trying to kill you. Some try to justify their actions by telling you their motivations. Others just [[SmugSnake gloat about how screwed you are]] and that you have [[GambitPileup no idea what is really going on.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', after you arrive at the final boss battle above [[spoiler:sunken Hyrule]], Ganondorf tells Link that he sought the Triforce to [[spoiler: bring cooling winds to his people as they lived in the barren desert.]] Whether this is a EvilPlan or this trope is debateable, but damn did it invoke some pity for Ganon.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Amea}}'', [[spoiler:Mish, the title character's childhood friend]] is shown to have turned into a HumanoidAbomination that controls many monsters all because of his efforts to embrace the suffering that the others have tried to expunge by [[spoiler:becoming slaves of the Master]].
* With the ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' franchise, [[spoiler:in the first game you managed to defeat and kill Saturos and Menardi trying to stop them from lighting the lighthouses and save the world. Then in the sequel you find out that the world is slowly eroding because the lighthouses aren't lit, and they were only trying to light them because their village was ''falling off the face of the world.'']]
** What makes these characters this is that their methods for their very sympathetic goals include kidnapping, death threats, underhanded manipulation, smug attitudes, and generally trying to kill young teenagers for getting in their way without even attempting to explain why they're doing what they're doing. It isn't until the sequel that it's explained why they behaved this way. [[spoiler: Saturos and Menardi both tried to warn the villagers of Vale on what was going on, [[CassandraTruth but they didn't believe them]]. With time running out and their view on everyone preventing the lighthouses from being lit, the duo's attitudes are soured and they took drastic measures to achieve their goals at the cost of becoming evil.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' [[spoiler:you kill Ashnard the king of the country of Daein, and all that remains is his vicious dragon mount. It turns out that he had Izuka, the mad scientist, warp and twist the mind and body of the missing dragon Laguz prince Rarajion. But its too late for him to survive.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series, the animatronics are ruthless killing machines that will stuff every guard they encounter inside an empty Freddy Fazbear suit, dooming them to a painful, gory demise... Except hidden information through the first three games of the series reveals the main Fazbear group (Freddy himself, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Golden Freddy) are actually possessed by the tormented souls of the children murdered by [[BigBad William]] [[GreaterScopeVillain Afton]] who want to find their original killer and terminate him so their [[GhostlyGoals spirits can finally rest in peace.]]
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'': the ninth chapter of the game sees Ruvik twist his MentalWorld to show Sebastian (and the player) his past to try and elicit Sebastian's sympathy for his goals. [[spoiler: It turns out he was born an albino named Ruben Victoriano, whose father despised him and whose only friend was his beloved elder sister, Laura. One day, while playing in a barn on the family property, a bunch of disgruntled local farmers set fire to it -- deliberately ignoring the fact they heard Ruben and Laura playing there. Laura helped the horrifically burned Ruben escape through a window, but was trapped inside and burned to death. After this, Ruben's father locked Ruben up in the family estate's cellar and lied to his mother, claiming Ruben was dead. After his parents died and he was free, Ruben befriended the scientist who used to treat him in his youth, Dr. Jimeniz, and starts work on a machine that he believes will allow him to recreate Laura's mind from his own memories of her when he perfects it. And then Dr. Jimeniz betrays him and has him murdered, reducing him to a BrainInAJar that is installed into his own consciousness-linking machine.]]
** Averted InUniverse and almost certainly with the player; Ruvik's visions also show the various atrocities and insanities he was prone to before and after his tragedies, such as [[spoiler: abducting and murdering people to provide raw materials for his research, leading people to torturous deaths in sadistic {{Death Trap}}s for his own amusement, [[SelfMadeOrphan murdering both his father and his loving mother, who had no idea he was being kept in the basement by her husband]], and killing unknown hundreds of people in the process of perfecting his STEM Machine]], and this leads Sebastian and player alike to condemn his efforts to elicit pity for his past.
* From the moment you meet him, Flowey from ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' almost immediately tries to kill you, invokes his "kill or be killed" philosophy, and ridicules the whole idea of mercy. Of course, once you find out who Flowey truly is, his character suddenly takes a tragic turn. [[spoiler: Flowey is Asriel, the dead son of King Asgore and Toriel. He was unintentionally brought back to life by Dr. Alphys as a flower, only to find his compassion gone and unable to find joy in anything, resulting in him becoming a ruthless, cruel creature that was only temporarily cured once he absorbed the human souls and all the monster souls in the Underground]]. It's hard not to feel bad for the little guy by the end of the game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'''s final arc was Monster Sob Story. This was one the arc where EveryoneLives, yet ended with the sense that one tragedy couldn't be avoided.
* ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'' is a vicious {{Deconstruction}} of CuteMonsterGirl and MagicalGirlfriend and also generally a crazy piece of writing. Yet it manages to make the two protagonists, Fuminori and the titular Saya, appear very tragic and likeable despite their actions, simply because due to circumstances outside their control they just cannot have the one thing so important to them - ''each other''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Syphile, Ariel's abusive stepsister / governess in ''Webcomic/DrowTales''. She was once the proud heir to the clan, but lost her status immediately after she took on demonic tainting as a requirement for her studies at school. In attempt to redeem herself she continues her studies underneath Sillice, whose other job and hobby is torturing the tainted. Constantly being abused by Sillice and looked down upon by the rest of the clan, has lead Syphile to take out her anger on Ariel, the current heir.
* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob''--Fructose Riboflavin, when his most recent evil scheme fails in a really silly way, [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20070327.html collapses in tears,]] and the strip's hero (still tied up!) [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20070331.html tries to cheer him up a little.]]
** This trope is played much more straight when we finally learn Fructose's origin story, starting [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100828.html here.]]
%%* [[http://monstermanga.tumblr.com/post/10881148132 This comic here]]. View once and [[TearJerker you are almost guaranteed to cry]].
* ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' '''is''' this (it has almost exclusively {{Villain Protagonist}}s), but especially to Jareth, who got two arcs made from this trope. The ''Kid!Jareth'' one which deals with his [[DarkAndTroubledPast terrible childhood]] and [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe current (unwanted) crush]] on a [[MoralityChain heroine]], and later ''Such Stuff...'' when the rest of the cast met his parents... let's just say in comparison he is [[BlackSheep positively cuddly]]. He, uncharacteristically for someone blessed with this, also tries to redeem himself, but unfortunatelly has very little clue, how the [[HeroWithAnFInGood being good thing works]].
* The villain in ''[[Webcomic/DoctorWhoRegenerated The Tomb of the Stone Clock]]'' claims she's doing what she's doing to restore her civilisation. We'll see whether it's true.
* The trolls in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' are monsters in the literal sense and some of them are monsters in the figurative sense as well, but when their full story is revealed it's hard not to feel sorry for most of them. ''Most'' of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* Parodied in the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' video of ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'': After one too many bosses delivers their tragic backstory as they lay dying, Fred (as Solid Snake) is reduced to yelling "I! DON'T! CARE!!!" and trying to stab his earpiece out with a knife.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Mr. Freeze from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' was splashed with cryogenic chemicals while fighting with his boss, from who he'd been stealing resources to find a way to cure his terminally ill wife Nora. He was even willing to kill innocent people to get revenge and/or find a cure. Things only get worse for him as the series continues.
** In ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', Freeze's condition had worsened, reducing him to an immortal head without a body. Nora was revived but left him for one of her doctors. A comic tie-in expands on this. Nora's new husband, jealous over her love for Victor, hid the letters that Victor wrote to her. When Nora found out, she tried to return to Victor but could not accept his criminal past.
** By the time of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', his wife's gone, a woman he was falling in love with betrayed him, he's been rejected by society for the last time, barely surviving a battle with [[WalkingWasteland Blight]], and he just wants to watch the Wayne-Powers Corporation go before he does. His FamousLastWords with Terry, the new Batman, are one of the best done AlasPoorVillain moments ever.
--->'''Terry''': You gotta get out of here, Fries. The whole place is gonna go!\\
'''Freeze''': Believe me, you're the only one who cares.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' Demona lived a long life full of betrayal and suffering, losing everyone and everything she ever cared about one by one until all she has left is revenge. When the "City of Stone" story-arc is wrapping up (where-in she turned every human to stone and went around blowing them up one by one with a laser gun) it is next to impossible to hear the reveal of her fail-safe password ("…Alone") without feeling some measure of sympathy for her even if she is beyond redemption.
* Lucius from ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' is normally a completely unsympathetic [[TheCaligula Caligula]]. But you'd be hard-pressed not to see his {{flashback}} in "Happy Birthday Lucius" and not feel just a little sorry for him.
* Vandal Savage in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Hereafter", where the immortal megalomaniacal conqueror has become the guilt-ridden last man on Earth... because [[spoiler:he won.]]
* Igole in ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}''. He was once a family pet. Then, he and Nox found the Eliacube, and Nox went mad over the thing. He stayed behind when Noximilien's wife and children left, and then they were killed in Ogrest's Chaos. He then spent the next two hundred years while Nox worked on gathering Wakfu for his plan, subject to his ramblings and having his life extended unnaturally and being treated only a little better than Nox's minions. He still remembers his time as a family pet and it's rather sad seeing just how much he really does remember.
[[/folder]]

----

* From the moment you meet him, Flowey from ''VideoGame/Undertale'' almost immediately tries to kill you, invokes his "kill or be killed" philosophy, and ridicules the whole idea of mercy. Of course, once you find out who Flowey truly is, his character suddenly takes a tragic turn. [[spoiler: Flowey is Asriel, the dead son of King Asgore and Toriel. He was unintentionally brought back to life by Dr. Alphys as a flower, only to find his compassion gone and unable to find joy in anything, resulting in him becoming a ruthless, cruel creature that was only temporarily cured once he absorbed the human souls and all the monster souls in the Underground]]. It's hard not to feel bad for the little guy by the end of the game.

* In the ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series, the animatronics are ruthless killing machines that will stuff every guard they encounter inside an empty Freddy Fazbear suit, dooming them to a painful, gory demise... Except hidden information through the first three games of the series reveals the main Fazbear group (Freddy himself, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Golden Freddy) are actually possessed by the tormented souls of the children murdered by [[BigBad William]] [[GreaterScopeVillain Afton]] who want to find their original killer and terminate him so their [[GhostlyGoals spirits can finally rest in peace.]]

** La Squadra in ''Vento Aureo'' may have been a violent criminal assasin gang, but their motive was to get revenge on the Boss after he murdered two of their members. [[spoiler: This ends up getting them killed at the hands of Team Bucciarati protecting the Boss's daughter Trish, though ironically the heroes themselves later betray the Boss after his true motives are exposed.]]

* This applies to [[spoiler:4]] of the original Seven Warlords of the Sea in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Boa Hancock's [[spoiler:experience as being a slave and abused by male Celestial Dragons gave her a permanent distrust and disgust for men, saved later for Luffy. It also cause her to put on the act of a cruel and merciless tyrant in order to hide all her fears and weaknesses to others]]. Crocodile's [[spoiler:dream got crushed in the New World, thus made him give up his dream and turn him into a bastard obsessed with military power instead]]. Gekko Moriah got it tenfold the nightmare. [[spoiler:He technically watched his entire crew, companions and friends get slaughtered by Kaidou without being able to do anything. Such event crushed him so severely it turns him into the fucked-up bastard we know today. Donquixote Doflamingo had possibly one of the worst. After his family gave up the life of Celestial Dragons, they found themselves hunted down and ostracized by Noble-hating citizens of their new home, resulting in his mother's death, he and his brother being forced to eat trash, and they and their father being crucified to their burning house. He may be one of the biggest monsters in the [=OP=] world, but it's impossible not to feel sympathy for him.]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance]]'' [[spoiler: you kill Ashnard the king of the country of Daein, and all that remains is his vicious dragon mount. It turns out that he had Izuka, the mad scientist, warp and twist the mind and body of the missing dragon Laguz prince Rarajion. But its too late for him to survive.]]

* [[http://monstermanga.tumblr.com/post/10881148132 This comic here]]. View once and [[TearJerker you are almost guaranteed to cry]].

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: [[spoiler:TheMaster]] turned in this direction when it's revealed to him that he was driven insane (partially) by [[spoiler:the High Council's {{plan}} to escape the Last Time War. And then he's cast aside, because he's "diseased"]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]