History ShellShockedVeteran / WesternAnimation

-->-- '''Kanan Jarrus''', ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''

'''Skinner:''' Don't worry, they'll forget. ''(turns serious)'' Just like they forgot about me in that tiger cage for eighteen agonizing months! Every night, I wake up screaming! ''(brightens up again)'' Well, let's meet your classmates!

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has become one of these in [[{{Revival}} Season 5]]. Jack, a OneManArmy ActionHero, was constantly fighting against [[EvilOverlord Aku]] and [[EvilMinions his troops]] for ''[[TimeSkip 50 years straight]]'', both for his own survival and to save as many innocent people as he can. However, the toll of seeing how many innocents he ''failed'' to save, combined with not being able to succeed at his original goal ([[TimeTravel of escaping]] [[BadFuture this wretched world]]), has caused Jack to fall into a deep state of insanity; he's now an extremely anxious, depressed, and paranoid shell of his former self, who suffers from [[{{Hallucinations}} nightmarish visions borne from his guilt and self-loathing]]. He even regularly [[TalkingToHimself argues with]] ''[[EnemyWithin his own subconscious]]'', as he's constantly considering whether or not to [[{{Seppuku}} commit "honorable" suicide]] just to put an end to his misery.

* A parody of this trope is Principal Skinner on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', with his occasional 'Nam flashbacks, like the one on "I Love Lisa" where he saw his best friend (who was writing a love letter to his girlfriend) get shot in Da Nang in 1969 on Valentine's Day or the one on "Team Homer" where Skinner was put in a POW camp by Viet Cong after being distracted by a racy T-shirt slogan ("Up With Mini-Skirts") worn by one of his men and the always classic flashback of him and his men in a POW camp where he watches with horror an elephant eat his entire platoon.
** Parodied in ''Team Homer'', where it looks like he's going into angry flashback mode, except...
-->''I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right!''
** Also, one episode (the one where Samantha arrives at the school as a new student) had Skinner at one point angrily reminiscing about Vietnam while Samantha was being checked out, the two flashbacks he was angrily thinking about was being trapped in a Tiger cage while in Vietnam, as well as his being spat on presumably when he returned from Vietnam when he was promised with a parade.[[note]]This is a TruthInTelevision, as Vietnam veterans were not treated well by some of the populace, some of their actions including, yes, being spat upon.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Many Gems who participated in the 1,000 year war have this.
** Steven is a special case. While he wasn't alive for the Gem War, certain adventures he has while encountering certain Gems, such as Jasper and Peridot, really did a number on his psyche. That's not even counting his encounters with [[spoiler: Bismuth and Eyeball]]. The ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]'' episode "Growing Pains" has Dr. Maheswaran flat out state that his childhood traumas have warped his mind and body's reaction to stressful situations, meaning that even minor inconveniences leave him reacting like he's in mortal danger.
--->'''Steven:''' How do I move on from all the stuff I've been through? How do I live life when it always feels like I'm about to die?
** Lapis Lazuli [[spoiler: was a civilian caught up in a Rebellion battle, imprisoned under the assumption she was another Crystal Gem, and interrogated for ages before being left behind and uncaringly stepped on (which cracked her gem), the war did a number on her psyche.]]

* This is [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Wood Man's]] personality in ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged''. Involved in the Hard Age (a war between humans and robots), he went missing in combat and was assumed destroyed. However, such was not the case, and when he reemerges, he is similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda Hiroo Onoda]], believing the war to still be on, and misinterprets an argument between Mega Man and his human sister Suna Light as a fight between ChildSoldiers. He proves himself incredibly vicious in combat, and attacks Mega Man relentlessly under the belief of him being a deserter. However, he also underwent SanitySlippage as a result of isolation, making him see trees and rocks as companions, giving a BigNo after Mega Man strikes a rock in combat as if he was a soldier killed in action, and also developed severe paranoia and need for stealth. When he finds himself in Silicon City, he goes on a rampage, believing humanity and robotkind are still fighting one another. Even with Mega Man able to prove that humans and robots are at peace, he admits to feeling uncomfortable around so many humans, instead choosing to isolate himself and slowly reintegrate himself with time.

* This is [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Wood Man's]] personality in ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged''. Involved in the Hard Age (a war between humans and robots), he went missing in combat and was assumed destroyed. However, such was not the case, and when he reemerges, he is similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda Hiroo Onoda]], believing the war to still be on, and misinterprets an argument between Mega Man and his human sister Suna Light as a fight between ChildSoldiers. He proves himself incredibly vicious in combat, and attacks Mega Man relentlessly under the belief of him being a deserter. However, he also underwent SanitySlippage as a result of isolation, making him see trees and rocks as companions, giving a BigNo after Mega Man strikes a rock in combat as if he was a soldier killed in action, and also developed severe paranoia and need for stealth. When he finds himself in Silicon City, he goes on a rampage, still believing humanity and robotkind are still fighting one another. Even with Mega Man able to prove that humans and robots are at peace, he admits to feeling uncomfortable around so many humans, instead choosing to isolate himself and slowly reintegrate himself with time.

** As the Season Three opener has shown through a combination of ''more'' traumatic flashbacks and severe self-esteem issues? He's got a lot more to get over.

** He also displays a pathological hatred of upgrades after being tortured at the hands of an upgrade addict. Problematic when they become necessary over the course of the series-- he practically has a FreakOut over Optimus getting a Jetpack.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has become one of these in [[{{Revival}} Season 5]]. Jack, a OneManArmy ActionHero, was constantly fighting against [[EvilOverlord Aku]] and [[EvilMinions his troops]] for ''[[TimeSkip 50 years straight]]'', both for his own survival and to save as many innocent people as he can. However, the toll of seeing how many innocents he ''failed'' to save, combined with not being able to succeed at his original goal ([[TimeTravel of escaping]] [[BadFuture this wretched world]]), has caused Jack to fall into a deep state of insanity; he's now an extremely anxious, depressed, and paranoid shell of his former self, who suffers from [[{{Hallucinations}} nightmarish visions borne from his guilt and self-loathing]]. He even regularly [[TalkingToHimself argues with]] ''[[EnemyWithin his own subconscious]]'', as he's constantly considering whether or not to [[{{Seppuku}} commit "honorable" suicide]] just to put an end to his misery.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Many Gems who participated in the 1,000 year war have this.
** Steven is a special case. While he wasn't alive for the Gem War, certain adventures he has while encountering certain Gems, such as Jasper and Peridot, really did a number on his psyche. That's not even counting his encounters with [[spoiler: Bismuth and Eyeball]]. The ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]'' episode "Growing Pains" has Dr. Maheswaran flat out state that his childhood traumas have warped his mind and body's reaction to stressful situations, meaning that even minor inconveniences leave him reacting like he's in mortal danger.
--->'''Steven:''' How do I move on from all the stuff I've been through? How do I live life when it always feels like I'm about to die?
** Lapis Lazuli [[spoiler: was a civilian caught up in a Rebellion battle, imprisoned under the assumption she was another Crystal Gem, and interrogated for ages before being left behind and uncaringly stepped on (which cracked her gem), the war did a number on her psyche.]]
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' episode "Duke", where, while Duke is telling his ComingOfAge story in the 1910's, Maurice's penises are fighting in World War I as a background event. One of them is heavily traumatized by watching his best friend die in his arms and he returns to the United States, embittered, an alcoholic, and a heroin addict. Over the course of the episode he is shown landing in the hospital, where he falls in love with the nurse treating him, they marry, have children, and he finally visits his friend's grave where he is finally able to be at peace.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Wodehouse was an enlisted servant on a Royal Flying Corps base, and didn't see any combat... until the death of his officer, Reggie Thistleton, [[SingleTargetSexuality broke his heart]] and his mind and sent him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. It's implied that his experiences are the reason for his heroin addiction, as he is seen smoking opium not long after the war.

* WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender:

[[ShellShockedVeteran Shell-Shocked Veterans]] in western animation.