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I put this link by mistake, and I’m taking it out.
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* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks [[Characters/ArrowverseDinahLaurelLance Dinah Laurel Lance]] is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
to:
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks [[Characters/ArrowverseDinahLaurelLance Dinah flashbacks Laurel Lance]] Lance is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
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* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks Laurel is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
to:
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks [[Characters/ArrowverseDinahLaurelLance Dinah Laurel Lance]] is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
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[[folder: Films]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
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[[folder: Western Animation]]
[[folder: Western Animation]]
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* The Joker did this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' where during Bruce's time he [[spoiler:kidnaps Tim Drake and tortures/{{MindRape}}s him into giving up Batman's secrets (including SecretIdentity) as well as making him into a miniature version of The Joker known as J.J (Joker Jr.) to fit into a sick excuse of a family unit with Harley Quinn and him.]] This is shown as enough to convince Batman to try and kill Joker, (meaning the Joker finally broke Batman, too) [[spoiler:which he fails to do... but is saved by the still-broken Tim killing the Joker after Joker tries to get him to kill the subdued Batman. This only further adds to his trauma.]] Although he does get better, Tim is forever traumatized and never again becomes Robin in the DCAU.
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* The Joker did this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' where during Bruce's time he [[spoiler:kidnaps Tim Drake and tortures/{{MindRape}}s him into giving up Batman's secrets (including SecretIdentity) as well as making him into a miniature version of The Joker known as J.J (Joker Jr.) to fit into a sick excuse of a family unit with Harley Quinn and him.]] This is shown as enough to convince Batman to try and kill Joker, (meaning the Joker finally broke Batman, too) [[spoiler:which he fails to do... but is saved by the still-broken Tim killing the Joker after Joker tries to get him to kill the subdued Batman. This only further adds to his trauma.]] Although he does get better, Tim is forever traumatized and never again becomes Robin in the DCAU.
* From ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' there's the episode "Emperor Joker" where the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] Batmite tries to help {{Franchise/Batman}} without breaking an earlier promise he made about not using his powers. He resolves to lend Batman his powers but misses, hitting Joker instead and giving the villain the power to bend reality to his will. As a result of this the Joker [[ApocalypseHow destroys the universe]]. Now powerless Batmite is tormented by an Imp version of the Joker, [[NightmareFuel Jokermite]]; ForcedToWatch his hero be killed mercilessly over and over again in different painful methods and be humiliated and demoted to [[TheFool Court Jester]] all the while plagued by the knowledge that this is all his fault.
* From ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' there's the episode "Emperor Joker" where the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] Batmite tries to help {{Franchise/Batman}} without breaking an earlier promise he made about not using his powers. He resolves to lend Batman his powers but misses, hitting Joker instead and giving the villain the power to bend reality to his will. As a result of this the Joker [[ApocalypseHow destroys the universe]]. Now powerless Batmite is tormented by an Imp version of the Joker, [[NightmareFuel Jokermite]]; ForcedToWatch his hero be killed mercilessly over and over again in different painful methods and be humiliated and demoted to [[TheFool Court Jester]] all the while plagued by the knowledge that this is all his fault.
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* Terra from the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' started out cracked, then met Slade, who did his best to finish breaking her.
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* Terra [[Characters/TeenTitans2003Terra Terra]] from the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' started out cracked, then met Slade, who did his best to finish breaking her.
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* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' episode "Failsafe" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
to:
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' episode "Failsafe" "[[Recap/YoungJusticeS1E16Failsafe Failsafe]]" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
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** In "Misplaced" it's [[spoiler:Zatanna]]'s turn to be broken [[spoiler:when her father takes her place as Nabu's host (effectively killing him). One of the last scenes of the episode is Zatanna sitting alone in her new room at Young Justice headquarters crying her heart out.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through "Depths" and several episodes afterwards where she [[spoiler: commits MindRape against Aqualad, discovering that he was TheMole all along, but destroying his mind in the process.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through "Depths" and several episodes afterwards where she [[spoiler: commits MindRape against Aqualad, discovering that he was TheMole all along, but destroying his mind in the process.]]
to:
** In "Misplaced" "[[Recap/YoungJusticeS1E19Misplaced Misplaced]]" it's [[spoiler:Zatanna]]'s turn to be broken [[spoiler:when her father takes her place as Nabu's host (effectively killing him). One of the last scenes of the episode is Zatanna sitting alone in her new room at Young Justice headquarters crying her heart out.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through"Depths" "[[Recap/YoungJusticeS2E7Depths Depths]]" and several episodes afterwards where she [[spoiler: commits MindRape against Aqualad, discovering that he was TheMole all along, but destroying his mind in the process.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through
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** Chloe again, only a lot worse, from the end of Season 7 to all of Season 8, and extending to Season 9. She actually had a LampshadeHanging moment at her birthday party when she recounted some of the things she went through, but it was dropped somewhat by the end of the episode, [[FromBadToWorse only to have more of it piled on her]]. Fired for protecting Clark, wedding ruined by Doomsday's attack, Jimmy being grievously injured, Doomsday kidnapping her to allow Brainiac to possess her, Jimmy making a scene and divorcing her influenced by Doomsday's manipulation and saying marrying her is the biggest mistake of his life, new friend and one ray of sunshine in this mire is a serial killer. At the end of the season, she is a frightened, trembling wreck. In a deleted scene in ''Injustice'', she is seen sitting, hugging herself, shivering, in the bathroom when Clark comes in, wraps a towel around her and hugs her. [[spoiler:Actually an imposer, but it is a very reasonable guise. In ''Doomsday'', Davis and Jimmy kill each other in front of her and Jimmy dies in her arms. Clark tells her that Clark Kent is dead and decides to sever ties with humanity and walks out of her life, and Lois goes missing. In ''Savior'', a grief-stricken Chloe begs Clark to use the Legion ring to go back and save Jimmy, which he refuses. Chloe tells Emil she has been haunted by her ghosts so much lately she had to carry a gun to fall asleep. She is pretty much broken by now.]] Here is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS4pCBiLBaE rough summary]] of her many heartbreaks in Season 8, obviously with spoilers.
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** Of course, this, like many other events in the comic, is meant as a meta-commentary on UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks that had started a year or so after.
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** Of course, this, like many other events in the comic, is meant as a meta-commentary on UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks that had started a year or so after.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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** Taken UpToEleven in ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam'', in which Freddy is a complete paraplegic, was injured as a result of Captain Marvel's negligence, and is so embittered that he becomes Black Adam's sidekick. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
to:
** Taken UpToEleven in In ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam'', in which Freddy is a complete paraplegic, was injured as a result of Captain Marvel's negligence, and is so embittered that he becomes Black Adam's sidekick. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
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Updating Link
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* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': "Julia" was a Daxamite who abandoned her violently prejudiced people during ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}'', only to end up captured by the Sangtee Empire when she tried to free the slaves on one of their horrific prison planets. She was subsequently tortured to the point that her name was lost and she stopped speaking, then hung up in a system designed specifically to depower Daxamites (and Kryptonians) so that her now eyeless defeated form could serve as an example to the slaves of what happens to those who try to rebel.
to:
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': "Julia" was a Daxamite who abandoned her violently prejudiced people during ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}'', ''[[Comicbook/InvasionDCComics Invasion!]]'', only to end up captured by the Sangtee Empire when she tried to free the slaves on one of their horrific prison planets. She was subsequently tortured to the point that her name was lost and she stopped speaking, then hung up in a system designed specifically to depower Daxamites (and Kryptonians) so that her now eyeless defeated form could serve as an example to the slaves of what happens to those who try to rebel.
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* Tim Drake, ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III now ComicBook/RedRobin, started out quite differently from his predecessors. Initially he had two living parents and a large supporting cast at his school, though his mother was tragically murdered soon after he took on the role. Overall, he was portrayed more as a realistic teenager than the usual vigilante. That was until his school was shot up and his girlfriend [[spoiler:was brutally tortured to death by Black Mask.]] Within a month, his father was [[spoiler:killed by Captain Boomerang.]] Less than a year later his two best friends, Conner Kent (ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}}) and Bart Allen (ComicBook/{{Impulse}}[=/=]Kid Flash), [[spoiler:died saving the world making Tim the last surviving ComicBook/YoungJustice founder.]] Then his adoptive father went missing in time, and Tim's attempts to convince his siblings of the fact convinced them he'd lost his mind to grief. He has since taken up far more ruthless crime fighting techniques and become more serious and less likely to joke or laugh in or out of costume.
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* Tim Drake, ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} III now ComicBook/RedRobin, started out quite differently from his predecessors. Initially he had two living parents and a large supporting cast at his school, though his mother was tragically murdered soon after he took on the role. Overall, he was portrayed more as a realistic teenager than the usual vigilante. That was until his school was shot up and his girlfriend [[spoiler:was brutally tortured to death by Black Mask.]] Within a month, his father was [[spoiler:killed by Captain Boomerang.]] Less than a year later his two best friends, Conner Kent (ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}}) and Bart Allen (ComicBook/{{Impulse}}[=/=]Kid Flash), [[spoiler:died saving the world making Tim the last surviving ComicBook/YoungJustice founder.]] Then his adoptive father went missing in time, and Tim's attempts to convince his siblings of the fact convinced them he'd lost his mind to grief. He has since taken up far more ruthless crime fighting techniques and become more serious and less likely to joke or laugh in or out of costume.
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--->"What do you suppose something like that ''does'' to a kid?"
--->-- Alexander Knox, ''Film/Batman1989''
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
--->-- Alexander Knox, ''Film/Batman1989''
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
to:
--->-- Alexander Knox,
---->-- '''Alexander Knox''', ''Film/Batman1989''
*
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** Nuala was sent by Oberon and Titania as a gift to Dream as part of a diplomatic mission to keep Hell closed (LongStory). No one expected this mission to be successful, and Nuala was allowed to believe she'd be returning to Faerie when it was done. Cluracan reluctantly informs her when he leaves that Titania will not allow the gift to be rejected win or lose, and so she would not be welcomed back to her home. When Dream accepts her into his employ, he strips her of her beautiful and dignified {{Glamour}}, returning her to her gawky, awkward and mousey natural appearance. She spends a lot of time afterwards miserable. Dream doesn't even give her a position in his court -- she begins acting as a housekeeper out of a need for something to do.
to:
** Nuala was sent by Oberon and Titania as a gift to Dream as part of a diplomatic mission to keep Hell closed (LongStory).(ItsALongStory). No one expected this mission to be successful, and Nuala was allowed to believe she'd be returning to Faerie when it was done. Cluracan reluctantly informs her when he leaves that Titania will not allow the gift to be rejected win or lose, and so she would not be welcomed back to her home. When Dream accepts her into his employ, he strips her of her beautiful and dignified {{Glamour}}, returning her to her gawky, awkward and mousey natural appearance. She spends a lot of time afterwards miserable. Dream doesn't even give her a position in his court -- she begins acting as a housekeeper out of a need for something to do.
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* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:
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* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
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** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl''. Two examples: Kara Zor-El -''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''- was an nice, innocent, naive woman. Then she found out that her father figure -someone who she thought was a very good person- [[spoiler:murdered her baby cousin several years before]], and was manipulating her all along. Barbara Gordon -''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}''- was a sweet, smiling child until she saw her parents being murdered by a punk with a gun. She became a harsh, cynical, paranoid person.
* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', who loses a piece of herself when she has to break her own lasso to save Superman.
* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', who loses a piece of herself when she has to break her own lasso to save Superman.
to:
** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl''. Two examples: Kara Zor-El -''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''- was an nice, innocent, naive woman. Then she found out that her father figure -someone -- someone who she thought was a very good person- person -- [[spoiler:murdered her baby cousin several years before]], and was manipulating her all along. Barbara Gordon -''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}''- -- ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' -- was a sweet, smiling child until she saw her parents being murdered by a punk with a gun. She became a harsh, cynical, paranoid person.
*Franchise/WonderWoman ComicBook/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', who loses a piece of herself when she has to break her own lasso to save Superman.
*
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* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Failsafe" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
to:
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' episode "Failsafe" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
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!!Franchise/TheDCU
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!!Comic Books
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* Both played straight and for comedy with DCU's Miss Martian, M'gann M'orzz. After ''One Year Later'', it's said she left the Teen Titans due to something Ravager did to her; while fans wonder as to the implications, it's later revealed that Ravager just yelled at her, making her cry, when M'gann threw a pie in her face. Eventually, she is nearly broken when her Future Evil Self's body is destroyed and their minds merge. M'gann eventually wins the mental war by using bunnies and cute images in her mindscape to keep her evil future self at bay.
to:
* Both played straight and for comedy with DCU's Miss Martian, M'gann M'orzz. After ''One Year Later'', it's said she left the Teen Titans due to something Ravager did to her; while fans wonder as to the implications, it's later revealed that Ravager just yelled at her, making her cry, when M'gann threw a pie in her face. Eventually, she is nearly broken when her Future Evil Self's body is destroyed and their minds merge. M'gann eventually wins the mental war by using bunnies and cute images in her mindscape to keep her evil future self at bay.bay.
!!Films
* ''Film/Batman1989'': Alicia was physically and psychologically tortured by Joker, then killed when he lost interest in her.
!!Live-Action TV
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks Laurel is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Throughout the first season, Edward Nigma evolved from an innocent geek to a murderer.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Chloe Sullivan for most of Seasons 2 and 3 as Clark gets closer to Lana and the temptation of [[MagnificentBastard Lionel]]'s [[DealWithTheDevil offer]] growing stronger and stronger.
** Chloe again, only a lot worse, from the end of Season 7 to all of Season 8, and extending to Season 9. She actually had a LampshadeHanging moment at her birthday party when she recounted some of the things she went through, but it was dropped somewhat by the end of the episode, [[FromBadToWorse only to have more of it piled on her]]. Fired for protecting Clark, wedding ruined by Doomsday's attack, Jimmy being grievously injured, Doomsday kidnapping her to allow Brainiac to possess her, Jimmy making a scene and divorcing her influenced by Doomsday's manipulation and saying marrying her is the biggest mistake of his life, new friend and one ray of sunshine in this mire is a serial killer. At the end of the season, she is a frightened, trembling wreck. In a deleted scene in ''Injustice'', she is seen sitting, hugging herself, shivering, in the bathroom when Clark comes in, wraps a towel around her and hugs her. [[spoiler:Actually an imposer, but it is a very reasonable guise. In ''Doomsday'', Davis and Jimmy kill each other in front of her and Jimmy dies in her arms. Clark tells her that Clark Kent is dead and decides to sever ties with humanity and walks out of her life, and Lois goes missing. In ''Savior'', a grief-stricken Chloe begs Clark to use the Legion ring to go back and save Jimmy, which he refuses. Chloe tells Emil she has been haunted by her ghosts so much lately she had to carry a gun to fall asleep. She is pretty much broken by now.]] Here is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS4pCBiLBaE rough summary]] of her many heartbreaks in Season 8, obviously with spoilers.
** The series began by breaking 3-year-old Lana while in her fairy princess costume. Every so often we hear about the hole in her heart where her parents used to be. However, it is only a one scene appearance and Lana's endless {{Wangst}}ing ruined the effect.
!!Western Animation
* The Joker did this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' where during Bruce's time he [[spoiler:kidnaps Tim Drake and tortures/{{MindRape}}s him into giving up Batman's secrets (including SecretIdentity) as well as making him into a miniature version of The Joker known as J.J (Joker Jr.) to fit into a sick excuse of a family unit with Harley Quinn and him.]] This is shown as enough to convince Batman to try and kill Joker, (meaning the Joker finally broke Batman, too) [[spoiler:which he fails to do... but is saved by the still-broken Tim killing the Joker after Joker tries to get him to kill the subdued Batman. This only further adds to his trauma.]] Although he does get better, Tim is forever traumatized and never again becomes Robin in the DCAU.
* From ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' there's the episode "Emperor Joker" where the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] Batmite tries to help {{Franchise/Batman}} without breaking an earlier promise he made about not using his powers. He resolves to lend Batman his powers but misses, hitting Joker instead and giving the villain the power to bend reality to his will. As a result of this the Joker [[ApocalypseHow destroys the universe]]. Now powerless Batmite is tormented by an Imp version of the Joker, [[NightmareFuel Jokermite]]; ForcedToWatch his hero be killed mercilessly over and over again in different painful methods and be humiliated and demoted to [[TheFool Court Jester]] all the while plagued by the knowledge that this is all his fault.
* Aya from ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', in the episode: "Cold Fury", Razer rejects her and it causes her pain, she then shuts down her emotions and decides she wants nothing to do with organics. [[spoiler:After coming to her senses and while healing Razer, she begins showing remorse for her actions.]]
* Terra from the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' started out cracked, then met Slade, who did his best to finish breaking her.
** Some villains attempt to do this a few other Titans, but they usually recover and/or defeat the villain tormenting them.
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Failsafe" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
** The [[spoiler:HolodeckMalfunction]] a pretty good job of breaking [[spoiler:Robin]], too. It's not really touched upon until the following episode, but the burden of [[spoiler:sending his friends to their deaths]] took its toll on him, and made him realize [[spoiler:that he didn't want to become the Batman]].
** In "Misplaced" it's [[spoiler:Zatanna]]'s turn to be broken [[spoiler:when her father takes her place as Nabu's host (effectively killing him). One of the last scenes of the episode is Zatanna sitting alone in her new room at Young Justice headquarters crying her heart out.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through "Depths" and several episodes afterwards where she [[spoiler: commits MindRape against Aqualad, discovering that he was TheMole all along, but destroying his mind in the process.]]
----
!!Films
* ''Film/Batman1989'': Alicia was physically and psychologically tortured by Joker, then killed when he lost interest in her.
!!Live-Action TV
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In flashbacks Laurel is shown to be sweet and a little naive. By the time the series starts she's understandably bitter about how her sister, Sarah, died while sleeping with her boyfriend, Oliver. She does forgive Oliver but she is still very changed by what happened.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Throughout the first season, Edward Nigma evolved from an innocent geek to a murderer.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Chloe Sullivan for most of Seasons 2 and 3 as Clark gets closer to Lana and the temptation of [[MagnificentBastard Lionel]]'s [[DealWithTheDevil offer]] growing stronger and stronger.
** Chloe again, only a lot worse, from the end of Season 7 to all of Season 8, and extending to Season 9. She actually had a LampshadeHanging moment at her birthday party when she recounted some of the things she went through, but it was dropped somewhat by the end of the episode, [[FromBadToWorse only to have more of it piled on her]]. Fired for protecting Clark, wedding ruined by Doomsday's attack, Jimmy being grievously injured, Doomsday kidnapping her to allow Brainiac to possess her, Jimmy making a scene and divorcing her influenced by Doomsday's manipulation and saying marrying her is the biggest mistake of his life, new friend and one ray of sunshine in this mire is a serial killer. At the end of the season, she is a frightened, trembling wreck. In a deleted scene in ''Injustice'', she is seen sitting, hugging herself, shivering, in the bathroom when Clark comes in, wraps a towel around her and hugs her. [[spoiler:Actually an imposer, but it is a very reasonable guise. In ''Doomsday'', Davis and Jimmy kill each other in front of her and Jimmy dies in her arms. Clark tells her that Clark Kent is dead and decides to sever ties with humanity and walks out of her life, and Lois goes missing. In ''Savior'', a grief-stricken Chloe begs Clark to use the Legion ring to go back and save Jimmy, which he refuses. Chloe tells Emil she has been haunted by her ghosts so much lately she had to carry a gun to fall asleep. She is pretty much broken by now.]] Here is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS4pCBiLBaE rough summary]] of her many heartbreaks in Season 8, obviously with spoilers.
** The series began by breaking 3-year-old Lana while in her fairy princess costume. Every so often we hear about the hole in her heart where her parents used to be. However, it is only a one scene appearance and Lana's endless {{Wangst}}ing ruined the effect.
!!Western Animation
* The Joker did this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' where during Bruce's time he [[spoiler:kidnaps Tim Drake and tortures/{{MindRape}}s him into giving up Batman's secrets (including SecretIdentity) as well as making him into a miniature version of The Joker known as J.J (Joker Jr.) to fit into a sick excuse of a family unit with Harley Quinn and him.]] This is shown as enough to convince Batman to try and kill Joker, (meaning the Joker finally broke Batman, too) [[spoiler:which he fails to do... but is saved by the still-broken Tim killing the Joker after Joker tries to get him to kill the subdued Batman. This only further adds to his trauma.]] Although he does get better, Tim is forever traumatized and never again becomes Robin in the DCAU.
* From ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' there's the episode "Emperor Joker" where the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] Batmite tries to help {{Franchise/Batman}} without breaking an earlier promise he made about not using his powers. He resolves to lend Batman his powers but misses, hitting Joker instead and giving the villain the power to bend reality to his will. As a result of this the Joker [[ApocalypseHow destroys the universe]]. Now powerless Batmite is tormented by an Imp version of the Joker, [[NightmareFuel Jokermite]]; ForcedToWatch his hero be killed mercilessly over and over again in different painful methods and be humiliated and demoted to [[TheFool Court Jester]] all the while plagued by the knowledge that this is all his fault.
* Aya from ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', in the episode: "Cold Fury", Razer rejects her and it causes her pain, she then shuts down her emotions and decides she wants nothing to do with organics. [[spoiler:After coming to her senses and while healing Razer, she begins showing remorse for her actions.]]
* Terra from the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' started out cracked, then met Slade, who did his best to finish breaking her.
** Some villains attempt to do this a few other Titans, but they usually recover and/or defeat the villain tormenting them.
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Failsafe" breaks [[spoiler: Miss Martian, after she loses control of her powers and accidentally pulls a HolodeckMalfunction on the team during a training exercise, rewriting their memories to make them believe the simulation was real and leaving them all in comas when they "died." She collapses in tears at the end of the episode when she learns what happened.]]
** The [[spoiler:HolodeckMalfunction]] a pretty good job of breaking [[spoiler:Robin]], too. It's not really touched upon until the following episode, but the burden of [[spoiler:sending his friends to their deaths]] took its toll on him, and made him realize [[spoiler:that he didn't want to become the Batman]].
** In "Misplaced" it's [[spoiler:Zatanna]]'s turn to be broken [[spoiler:when her father takes her place as Nabu's host (effectively killing him). One of the last scenes of the episode is Zatanna sitting alone in her new room at Young Justice headquarters crying her heart out.]]
** Miss Martian, again, starting about 1/3 of the way through "Depths" and several episodes afterwards where she [[spoiler: commits MindRape against Aqualad, discovering that he was TheMole all along, but destroying his mind in the process.]]
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* ''ComicBook/{{Anarky}}'': [[spoiler: Anarky gets this at the end of his "Metamorphosis" storyline, where he is confronted with a hallucinatory vision of his successful plan leading to the formal institution of "parasite tests", with failures being ghettoized and left to rot, a state of affairs that promotes MightMakesRight brutality and ruthlessness amongst the imprisoned until the strongest, meanest, most savage individuals are left and these promptly roll out of the ghetto, unleashing such barbarism against the "enlightened" that they end up reverting back to the "old ways" of authority in return for guaranteed safety against them.]]
* Buddy from ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' starts off as an idealistic funny person, but after [[spoiler:his wife and children ''die'', he goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and ''kills'' people]].
** Of course, this, like many other events in the comic, is meant as a meta-commentary on UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks that had started a year or so after.
* This is essentially what happens in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' when [[spoiler:Carrie sees the bodies of the Cub Scouts who took the poisoned cotton candy from the Joker]]. Batman's internal dialogue lampshades it.
* It's quite a shock to see Nelson Gardner, previously a neurotic wreck in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' proper, as a fit and self-assured younger man in ''ComicBook/BeforeWatchmen''. His relationship with HJ probably had a lot to do with it. Byron is following a [[TheAlcoholic similar downward trajectory.]]
* Ice's meeting with Guy Gardner in ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' post-mindwipe by Max Lord; to keep the JLI from recruiting their Green Lantern friend, Max alters Guy's memories so that a fake post-ComicBook/BlackestNight meeting between the two happened, where Ice tried to kill Guy Gardner for no good reason. Given that this came after the two began dating again after Ice's resurrection, as well as Judd Winnick proclaiming that the point of the scene was to [[ShipSinking sink the Guy/Ice ship]], it makes it a major moment of sadness.
** And then Ice suddenly manifests "repressed memories" of belonging to a UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} tribe (of the stereotyped "mostly thieves and conmen" type) and killing her father and grandfather trying to escape. Her previously revealed family of magical ice people [[strike:were supposedly her imagination, despite the fact that other people in the Justice League have met them]] existed, but were not her birth family. After about two issues of angst, Ice puts these developments on the back-burner, however, as [[FromBadToWorse she has other things to worry about]].
* Mario Falcone in ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'' honestly believes that he can make the Falcone family a legitimate and respected part of Gotham City's upper crust, much like the Wayne's, [[spoiler: and even helps the DA's office take down the remainder of his family's criminal organization]]. It does not end well.
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Adrianna Tomaz, aka Isis from ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''. She starts as AllLovingHero, determined to see the good in the world despite all of the horrible things she had endured up to that point (being kidnapped to be used as a bargaining chip by Intergang for starters). As Isis, she brings light to Kahndaq and convinces her new husband Black Adam that he doesn't have to be a violent AntiVillain anymore. Then it all goes to hell in [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke One Bad Day]]. [[spoiler: Her brother is eaten alive by their TeamPet Sobek, who was really a member of a group of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s sent by Intergang to destroy the Marvels. Then she gets a mouthful of plague and dies a painful death in Black Adam's arms]]. Adrianna is so broken that she renounces her idealism, tells Black Adam that he had been right all along about the world, and with her last breath asks him to "avenge us". Believe it or not, it went FromBadToWorse. [[spoiler: Being resurrected and brainwashed by an EvilSorcerer who used her to free himself from a prison and subsequently being constantly raped by said sorcerer]] sent her soaring over the DespairEventHorizon. When Black Adam eventually frees her, Adrianna's first act is to [[spoiler: [[GroinAttack castrate]] the sorcerer with her bare hands]]. Finally, she crosses the MoralEventHorizon into full-blown villainy when [[spoiler: she declares the people of Kahndaq, the people who worship her as a goddess, to be [[HumansAreBastards just another bunch of bastards]], and starts turning them into dirt statues]]. Even Black Adam is [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified by this]]!
* Issue #5 of ''ComicBook/{{Lazarus}}'' featured a flashback to Forever as a young girl, being forced to fight and defeat a woman at least ten years her senior to be given the family sword. Not surprsingly, she fails, and Malcom coldly reprimands her. The look on her face is heartwrenching.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'':
** v4 did this with a number of characters, but particularly harshly with the White Witch. Previously depicted as a slightly shy, bookish type in a (platonic?) relationship with teammate Blok. At the start of v4, she was shown to be in an abusive marriage with former archnemesis Mordru. She was rescued by the reconstituted Legion just in time to discover that Blok had been brutally mutilated by genocidal pirate Roxxas the Butcher.
** Cera Kesh from the Glorithverse ''Legionnaires'', a rejected Legion applicant who showed everyone WhosLaughingNow when the Eye chose her. Also, Shrinking Violet.
*** Ingria Olav, Leland [=Mc=]Cauley's girlfriend, had no idea what she was getting herself into when Leland let her become the Empress in his new Fatal Five.
* Almost everyone in ''ComicBook/PunkRockJesus'' who isn't Slate gets this at some point. Most notably [[spoiler:Gwen (who at one point nearly gets DrivenToSuicide)]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Epstein]].
* Tim Drake, ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III now ComicBook/RedRobin, started out quite differently from his predecessors. Initially he had two living parents and a large supporting cast at his school, though his mother was tragically murdered soon after he took on the role. Overall, he was portrayed more as a realistic teenager than the usual vigilante. That was until his school was shot up and his girlfriend [[spoiler:was brutally tortured to death by Black Mask.]] Within a month, his father was [[spoiler:killed by Captain Boomerang.]] Less than a year later his two best friends, Conner Kent (ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}}) and Bart Allen (ComicBook/{{Impulse}}[=/=]Kid Flash), [[spoiler:died saving the world making Tim the last surviving ComicBook/YoungJustice founder.]] Then his adoptive father went missing in time, and Tim's attempts to convince his siblings of the fact convinced them he'd lost his mind to grief. He has since taken up far more ruthless crime fighting techniques and become more serious and less likely to joke or laugh in or out of costume.
** Oddly enough, [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]] is a mirror image of Bruce. Despite the TrainingFromHell, she was a true innocent who thought the mastery of combat arts was as much a game as anything and the painful parts (two for flinching, with light caliber handguns) were "normal" to her. Then she reduced a living, thinking, man to a large mass of inert meat with her own 8 year old hand... seeing the horror in his eyes as life faded from them... and it was suddenly not fun anymore.
** Jason Todd was broken by ''dying'', even after he was [[KilledOffForReal killed off for real]], when he became Red Hood.
** Batman himself. Watching his parents get shot dead right in front of him at the age of eight (or ten, depending on the continuity)... you didn't think a guy in an armored bat costume swinging from the rooftops on a nightly basis to beat up crooks was ''sane'', did you?
--->"What do you suppose something like that ''does'' to a kid?"
--->-- Alexander Knox, ''Film/Batman1989''
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
** Delirium was originally Delight, until something caused her to change. Most likely when she realized that she's older than the universe, but she's forever the youngest of the Endless.
** Nuala was sent by Oberon and Titania as a gift to Dream as part of a diplomatic mission to keep Hell closed (LongStory). No one expected this mission to be successful, and Nuala was allowed to believe she'd be returning to Faerie when it was done. Cluracan reluctantly informs her when he leaves that Titania will not allow the gift to be rejected win or lose, and so she would not be welcomed back to her home. When Dream accepts her into his employ, he strips her of her beautiful and dignified {{Glamour}}, returning her to her gawky, awkward and mousey natural appearance. She spends a lot of time afterwards miserable. Dream doesn't even give her a position in his court -- she begins acting as a housekeeper out of a need for something to do.
* Happens to quite a few of Dian's friends in ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre''. Also, [[spoiler:poor, poor Emily...]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Freddy Freeman, who has the distinction of: A) being the only superhero to gain his powers thanks to a hate crime; B) being orphaned as a result of said hate crime; C) being left with a permanent disability as another result of that hate crime, which -- despite the fact that he knows an all-powerful wizard -- can't be magically healed for reasons that are never fully explained; and D) losing his athletic prowess (and subsequently all of his friends) thanks to that disability. While all of the Shazam! kids have a rough lot in life, Freddy has traditionally portrayed as being more "broken" by his experiences than everyone else. He's the most cynical member of the Marvel family, and has a temper that oftentimes gets him into trouble and exacerbates his problems.
** Taken UpToEleven in ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam'', in which Freddy is a complete paraplegic, was injured as a result of Captain Marvel's negligence, and is so embittered that he becomes Black Adam's sidekick. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:
** Kara Zor-El always goes through this, not matter the universe. She is a genuinely nice, sweet teen girl who loses her family and her whole world when her parents launch her off Argo City to save her life. She crash-lands into a strange, alien, primitive world where she doesn't blend in and strangers want to kill her or capture her and examine her.
** In the Pre-Crisis universe, Superman -her only living relative- sent Kara to an orphanage because he feared that his enemies would do if they found out about her, telling her to keep her existence a secret while he trained her. Kara hated the Midvale Orphanage but she had to live there during her training, performing heroic deeds anonymously and avoiding to be adopted. Finally her cousin is about to make her -Supergirl's- existence public when she loses her powers.
** Post-Crisis Kara was getting used to live on Earth when Superman retrieves the Bottle City of Kandor -in which were imprisoned her parents and several thousands of Kryptonians- from ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}. However, one of her villains -Reactron- kills her parents and blows New Krypton up, exterminating the last survivors of Krypton. So she lost her family and world ''twice''.
** Post-Flashpoint Kara didn't trust her cousin, felt lonely and stranded in a strange world and was manipulated by most of people until she flew off the handle.
** ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'': Kara loses her parents and her entire world when they launch her off Argo City to save her life. Her rocket changes course and she crashes into the post-Crisis universe instead of Earth-One. Everyone yells at her, hurts her, thinks she is an idiot or crazy. Her only living relative turns her down before she can explain she is his cousin because he believes her to be an obsessed fan. She tries to go school and make friends but she is treated as a freak. And then a cosmic being turns up and tells her that she has to return to her universe... where she will eventually get killed.
-->'''Kara:''' It's nice. It's... peaceful. Not like here. Here people yell at you... or hurt you... or think you're an idiot or crazy... Or let you down. I've never hated anyone or anything in my life. But I hate this world. I hate it.
** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl''. Two examples: Kara Zor-El -''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''- was an nice, innocent, naive woman. Then she found out that her father figure -someone who she thought was a very good person- [[spoiler:murdered her baby cousin several years before]], and was manipulating her all along. Barbara Gordon -''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}''- was a sweet, smiling child until she saw her parents being murdered by a punk with a gun. She became a harsh, cynical, paranoid person.
* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', who loses a piece of herself when she has to break her own lasso to save Superman.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': "Julia" was a Daxamite who abandoned her violently prejudiced people during ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}'', only to end up captured by the Sangtee Empire when she tried to free the slaves on one of their horrific prison planets. She was subsequently tortured to the point that her name was lost and she stopped speaking, then hung up in a system designed specifically to depower Daxamites (and Kryptonians) so that her now eyeless defeated form could serve as an example to the slaves of what happens to those who try to rebel.
* Both played straight and for comedy with DCU's Miss Martian, M'gann M'orzz. After ''One Year Later'', it's said she left the Teen Titans due to something Ravager did to her; while fans wonder as to the implications, it's later revealed that Ravager just yelled at her, making her cry, when M'gann threw a pie in her face. Eventually, she is nearly broken when her Future Evil Self's body is destroyed and their minds merge. M'gann eventually wins the mental war by using bunnies and cute images in her mindscape to keep her evil future self at bay.
* ''ComicBook/{{Anarky}}'': [[spoiler: Anarky gets this at the end of his "Metamorphosis" storyline, where he is confronted with a hallucinatory vision of his successful plan leading to the formal institution of "parasite tests", with failures being ghettoized and left to rot, a state of affairs that promotes MightMakesRight brutality and ruthlessness amongst the imprisoned until the strongest, meanest, most savage individuals are left and these promptly roll out of the ghetto, unleashing such barbarism against the "enlightened" that they end up reverting back to the "old ways" of authority in return for guaranteed safety against them.]]
* Buddy from ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' starts off as an idealistic funny person, but after [[spoiler:his wife and children ''die'', he goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and ''kills'' people]].
** Of course, this, like many other events in the comic, is meant as a meta-commentary on UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks that had started a year or so after.
* This is essentially what happens in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' when [[spoiler:Carrie sees the bodies of the Cub Scouts who took the poisoned cotton candy from the Joker]]. Batman's internal dialogue lampshades it.
* It's quite a shock to see Nelson Gardner, previously a neurotic wreck in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' proper, as a fit and self-assured younger man in ''ComicBook/BeforeWatchmen''. His relationship with HJ probably had a lot to do with it. Byron is following a [[TheAlcoholic similar downward trajectory.]]
* Ice's meeting with Guy Gardner in ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' post-mindwipe by Max Lord; to keep the JLI from recruiting their Green Lantern friend, Max alters Guy's memories so that a fake post-ComicBook/BlackestNight meeting between the two happened, where Ice tried to kill Guy Gardner for no good reason. Given that this came after the two began dating again after Ice's resurrection, as well as Judd Winnick proclaiming that the point of the scene was to [[ShipSinking sink the Guy/Ice ship]], it makes it a major moment of sadness.
** And then Ice suddenly manifests "repressed memories" of belonging to a UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} tribe (of the stereotyped "mostly thieves and conmen" type) and killing her father and grandfather trying to escape. Her previously revealed family of magical ice people [[strike:were supposedly her imagination, despite the fact that other people in the Justice League have met them]] existed, but were not her birth family. After about two issues of angst, Ice puts these developments on the back-burner, however, as [[FromBadToWorse she has other things to worry about]].
* Mario Falcone in ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'' honestly believes that he can make the Falcone family a legitimate and respected part of Gotham City's upper crust, much like the Wayne's, [[spoiler: and even helps the DA's office take down the remainder of his family's criminal organization]]. It does not end well.
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Adrianna Tomaz, aka Isis from ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''. She starts as AllLovingHero, determined to see the good in the world despite all of the horrible things she had endured up to that point (being kidnapped to be used as a bargaining chip by Intergang for starters). As Isis, she brings light to Kahndaq and convinces her new husband Black Adam that he doesn't have to be a violent AntiVillain anymore. Then it all goes to hell in [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke One Bad Day]]. [[spoiler: Her brother is eaten alive by their TeamPet Sobek, who was really a member of a group of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s sent by Intergang to destroy the Marvels. Then she gets a mouthful of plague and dies a painful death in Black Adam's arms]]. Adrianna is so broken that she renounces her idealism, tells Black Adam that he had been right all along about the world, and with her last breath asks him to "avenge us". Believe it or not, it went FromBadToWorse. [[spoiler: Being resurrected and brainwashed by an EvilSorcerer who used her to free himself from a prison and subsequently being constantly raped by said sorcerer]] sent her soaring over the DespairEventHorizon. When Black Adam eventually frees her, Adrianna's first act is to [[spoiler: [[GroinAttack castrate]] the sorcerer with her bare hands]]. Finally, she crosses the MoralEventHorizon into full-blown villainy when [[spoiler: she declares the people of Kahndaq, the people who worship her as a goddess, to be [[HumansAreBastards just another bunch of bastards]], and starts turning them into dirt statues]]. Even Black Adam is [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified by this]]!
* Issue #5 of ''ComicBook/{{Lazarus}}'' featured a flashback to Forever as a young girl, being forced to fight and defeat a woman at least ten years her senior to be given the family sword. Not surprsingly, she fails, and Malcom coldly reprimands her. The look on her face is heartwrenching.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'':
** v4 did this with a number of characters, but particularly harshly with the White Witch. Previously depicted as a slightly shy, bookish type in a (platonic?) relationship with teammate Blok. At the start of v4, she was shown to be in an abusive marriage with former archnemesis Mordru. She was rescued by the reconstituted Legion just in time to discover that Blok had been brutally mutilated by genocidal pirate Roxxas the Butcher.
** Cera Kesh from the Glorithverse ''Legionnaires'', a rejected Legion applicant who showed everyone WhosLaughingNow when the Eye chose her. Also, Shrinking Violet.
*** Ingria Olav, Leland [=Mc=]Cauley's girlfriend, had no idea what she was getting herself into when Leland let her become the Empress in his new Fatal Five.
* Almost everyone in ''ComicBook/PunkRockJesus'' who isn't Slate gets this at some point. Most notably [[spoiler:Gwen (who at one point nearly gets DrivenToSuicide)]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Epstein]].
* Tim Drake, ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III now ComicBook/RedRobin, started out quite differently from his predecessors. Initially he had two living parents and a large supporting cast at his school, though his mother was tragically murdered soon after he took on the role. Overall, he was portrayed more as a realistic teenager than the usual vigilante. That was until his school was shot up and his girlfriend [[spoiler:was brutally tortured to death by Black Mask.]] Within a month, his father was [[spoiler:killed by Captain Boomerang.]] Less than a year later his two best friends, Conner Kent (ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}}) and Bart Allen (ComicBook/{{Impulse}}[=/=]Kid Flash), [[spoiler:died saving the world making Tim the last surviving ComicBook/YoungJustice founder.]] Then his adoptive father went missing in time, and Tim's attempts to convince his siblings of the fact convinced them he'd lost his mind to grief. He has since taken up far more ruthless crime fighting techniques and become more serious and less likely to joke or laugh in or out of costume.
** Oddly enough, [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]] is a mirror image of Bruce. Despite the TrainingFromHell, she was a true innocent who thought the mastery of combat arts was as much a game as anything and the painful parts (two for flinching, with light caliber handguns) were "normal" to her. Then she reduced a living, thinking, man to a large mass of inert meat with her own 8 year old hand... seeing the horror in his eyes as life faded from them... and it was suddenly not fun anymore.
** Jason Todd was broken by ''dying'', even after he was [[KilledOffForReal killed off for real]], when he became Red Hood.
** Batman himself. Watching his parents get shot dead right in front of him at the age of eight (or ten, depending on the continuity)... you didn't think a guy in an armored bat costume swinging from the rooftops on a nightly basis to beat up crooks was ''sane'', did you?
--->"What do you suppose something like that ''does'' to a kid?"
--->-- Alexander Knox, ''Film/Batman1989''
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
** Delirium was originally Delight, until something caused her to change. Most likely when she realized that she's older than the universe, but she's forever the youngest of the Endless.
** Nuala was sent by Oberon and Titania as a gift to Dream as part of a diplomatic mission to keep Hell closed (LongStory). No one expected this mission to be successful, and Nuala was allowed to believe she'd be returning to Faerie when it was done. Cluracan reluctantly informs her when he leaves that Titania will not allow the gift to be rejected win or lose, and so she would not be welcomed back to her home. When Dream accepts her into his employ, he strips her of her beautiful and dignified {{Glamour}}, returning her to her gawky, awkward and mousey natural appearance. She spends a lot of time afterwards miserable. Dream doesn't even give her a position in his court -- she begins acting as a housekeeper out of a need for something to do.
* Happens to quite a few of Dian's friends in ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre''. Also, [[spoiler:poor, poor Emily...]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Freddy Freeman, who has the distinction of: A) being the only superhero to gain his powers thanks to a hate crime; B) being orphaned as a result of said hate crime; C) being left with a permanent disability as another result of that hate crime, which -- despite the fact that he knows an all-powerful wizard -- can't be magically healed for reasons that are never fully explained; and D) losing his athletic prowess (and subsequently all of his friends) thanks to that disability. While all of the Shazam! kids have a rough lot in life, Freddy has traditionally portrayed as being more "broken" by his experiences than everyone else. He's the most cynical member of the Marvel family, and has a temper that oftentimes gets him into trouble and exacerbates his problems.
** Taken UpToEleven in ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam'', in which Freddy is a complete paraplegic, was injured as a result of Captain Marvel's negligence, and is so embittered that he becomes Black Adam's sidekick. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:
** Kara Zor-El always goes through this, not matter the universe. She is a genuinely nice, sweet teen girl who loses her family and her whole world when her parents launch her off Argo City to save her life. She crash-lands into a strange, alien, primitive world where she doesn't blend in and strangers want to kill her or capture her and examine her.
** In the Pre-Crisis universe, Superman -her only living relative- sent Kara to an orphanage because he feared that his enemies would do if they found out about her, telling her to keep her existence a secret while he trained her. Kara hated the Midvale Orphanage but she had to live there during her training, performing heroic deeds anonymously and avoiding to be adopted. Finally her cousin is about to make her -Supergirl's- existence public when she loses her powers.
** Post-Crisis Kara was getting used to live on Earth when Superman retrieves the Bottle City of Kandor -in which were imprisoned her parents and several thousands of Kryptonians- from ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}. However, one of her villains -Reactron- kills her parents and blows New Krypton up, exterminating the last survivors of Krypton. So she lost her family and world ''twice''.
** Post-Flashpoint Kara didn't trust her cousin, felt lonely and stranded in a strange world and was manipulated by most of people until she flew off the handle.
** ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'': Kara loses her parents and her entire world when they launch her off Argo City to save her life. Her rocket changes course and she crashes into the post-Crisis universe instead of Earth-One. Everyone yells at her, hurts her, thinks she is an idiot or crazy. Her only living relative turns her down before she can explain she is his cousin because he believes her to be an obsessed fan. She tries to go school and make friends but she is treated as a freak. And then a cosmic being turns up and tells her that she has to return to her universe... where she will eventually get killed.
-->'''Kara:''' It's nice. It's... peaceful. Not like here. Here people yell at you... or hurt you... or think you're an idiot or crazy... Or let you down. I've never hated anyone or anything in my life. But I hate this world. I hate it.
** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl''. Two examples: Kara Zor-El -''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''- was an nice, innocent, naive woman. Then she found out that her father figure -someone who she thought was a very good person- [[spoiler:murdered her baby cousin several years before]], and was manipulating her all along. Barbara Gordon -''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}''- was a sweet, smiling child until she saw her parents being murdered by a punk with a gun. She became a harsh, cynical, paranoid person.
* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', who loses a piece of herself when she has to break her own lasso to save Superman.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': "Julia" was a Daxamite who abandoned her violently prejudiced people during ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}'', only to end up captured by the Sangtee Empire when she tried to free the slaves on one of their horrific prison planets. She was subsequently tortured to the point that her name was lost and she stopped speaking, then hung up in a system designed specifically to depower Daxamites (and Kryptonians) so that her now eyeless defeated form could serve as an example to the slaves of what happens to those who try to rebel.
* Both played straight and for comedy with DCU's Miss Martian, M'gann M'orzz. After ''One Year Later'', it's said she left the Teen Titans due to something Ravager did to her; while fans wonder as to the implications, it's later revealed that Ravager just yelled at her, making her cry, when M'gann threw a pie in her face. Eventually, she is nearly broken when her Future Evil Self's body is destroyed and their minds merge. M'gann eventually wins the mental war by using bunnies and cute images in her mindscape to keep her evil future self at bay.
