History DarkAndTroubledPast / AnimeAndManga

** This trope is probably why certain countries, such as Israel, will never show up in this series, as it would quickly destroy the very comedic nature of the series itself.

* In ''Manhwa/WestwoodVibrato'', many of Cornelia's customers have these. [[spoiler:As well as Cornel herself.]]

* Anime / "Unlimited Psychic Squad": Kyousuke Hyoubu and Momotarou have a social dynamic where they always see the worst of normal people and behave as if the word of an esper always takes precedence over the word of a normal person—with which they both have had several dysphoric experiences.[[spoiler:They each have been mistreated because of their abilities. For Kyousuke that meant being used as a child solider and watching his fellow teammates be killed or used as scapegoats in war.]]

* "Anime / Unlimited Psychic Squad": Kyousuke Hyoubu and Momotarou have a social dynamic where they always see the worst of normal people and behave as if the word of an esper always takes precedence over the word of a normal person—with which they both have had several dysphoric experiences.[[spoiler:They each have been mistreated because of their abilities. For Kyousuke that meant being used as a child solider and watching his fellow teammates be killed or used as scapegoats in war.]]

* "Anime / Unlimited Psychic Squad" :[[Character / Kyousuke Hyoubu] He and Momotarou have a social dynamic where they always see the worst of normal people and behave as if the word of an esper always takes precedence over the word of a normal person—with which they both have had several dysphoric experiences.[[spoiler:They each have been mistreated because of their abilities. For Kyousuke that meant being used as a child solider and watching his fellow teammates be killed or used as scapegoats in war.]]

* "Anime/Unlimited Psychic Squad" :[[Character/Kyousuke Hyoubu] He and Momotarou have a social dynamic where they always see the worst of normal people and behave as if the word of an esper always takes precedence over the word of a normal person—with which they both have had several dysphoric experiences.[[spoiler:They each have been mistreated because of their abilities. For Kyousuke that meant being used as a child solider and watching his fellow teammates be killed or used as scapegoats in war.]]

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': Good grief, seem like ''everyone'' here has a tragic backstory that led to where they are now, be it human or demon.
** Humans:
*** The series' premiere/first chapter starts off happily; Tanjiro Kamado is out selling charcoal for his tightly-knit family despite the loss of their father due to illness. Then when he comes back, ''all'' the Kamados are slaughtered, leaving Nezuko as the SoleSurvivor, but to add insult to the injury, she is turned into a demon. This triggers Tanjiro into embarking on a quest to cure Nezuko, while at the same time avenge his family from the demon responsible: [[BigBad Muzan Kibutsuji]].
*** Zenitsu Agatsuma, like almost everyone in the series, was an orphan. However, he was taken under the wing by the former Thunder Hashira, Jigoro Kuwajima, after him using money to appeal to a girl he fell in love put him in debt after she left him for someone else. Even then, his cowardice severely hindered his training progress, gaining the ire of his fellow trainee, Kaigaku, who repeatedly antagonized him despite Zenitsu having respect for his superiority. Zenitsu, like Tanjiro, Inosuke, Kanao, and Genya, survives the Final Selection, but it takes a lot for him to fully overcome his repeated cowardice throughout the entire series.
*** Inosuke Hashibira is just one of a handful of characters whose lives were tragically altered by Doma, the Upper Rank Demon Two. Originally living with a loving mother, Kotoha, but an abusive father, both him and his mother escaped from the father's wrath and eventually found some form of solace in Doma's Paradise Faith cult. However, when Kotoha finds out about Doma's true nature, she attempts to escape alongside Inosuke, but is forced to throw him off a cliff in an attempt to save him before Doma finds and devours her.
*** Kanao Tsuyuri grew up in an abusive household from ''both of her parents'', resulting in her mind and emotions stopped from functioning to cope with her situation. She would eventually be sold off into slavery before being bought by the Kocho sisters and raised as their adopted sister. Even that isn't enough to experience further tragedy, as Kanae is murdered by Doma, all the while Kanao fails to even mentally function without being given orders or flipping a coin.
** Demons:
*** '''Muzan Kibutsuji''' of all beings, is tragic to some degree (even though it does ''NOT'' excuse his action one bit). As a human, he was in a constant struggle of survival in account to his frailty, being deemed stillborn when entering the world (and nearly cremated before giving out his first cries), continuing to struggle with illness as he grew, and eventually contacting a disease that would kill him before reaching 20. The doctor treating Muzan gave him a special experimental medicine that appeared to have failed, with Muzan killing him in a rage of his condition worsening, before realizing that it worked and ultimately turning him into the first flesh-eating demon (not that it really mattered to him much). Realizing the side effect of not being able to safely walk in the sun, he becomes obsessed with finding the Blue Spider Lily, while also spreading his influence by creating more demons, with the hope that one of them has the power to survive in sunlight so he could consume them and ultimately gain immortality.

** Inosuke Hashibira is just one of a handful of characters whose lives were tragically altered by Doma, the Upper Rank Demon Two. Originally living with a loving mother, Kotoha, but an abusive father, both him and his mother escaped from the father's wrath and eventually found some form of solace in Doma's Paradise Faith cult. However, when Kotoha finds out about Doma's true nature, she attempts to escape alongside Inosuke, but is forced to throw him off a cliff in an attempt to save him before Doma finds and devours her.

* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise has quite a bit of this. From characters growing up as orphaned {{Child Soldier}}s in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' to ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', where one character manages to have a past that includes [[CloningBlues knowing she's a clone]] and [[RapeAsDrama being used as an underage sex slave in a brothel]]. Apparently, to put across the WarIsHell message, one must use soldiers who have messed-up pasts.

** Since most of the cast aren't [[ArtificialHuman technically human]], most of them have [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman these kinds of pasts before someone finally took them in and raised them as people]]. To give some examples, [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots the Wolkenritter]] spent most of their existence being treated as little more than tools, [[CloningBlues Erio]] and [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Agito]] spent years in illegal labs, caged and experimented on like animals, and [[AntiAntiChrist Ixpellia]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld spent her long life]] being forced to fight in pointless wars that seemed to never end.

* It's not revealed until about a third of the way into the series, but ''Anime/KiddyGrade'' protagonist Eclair ended up so [[OutDamnedSpot tortured by the things she did as an ES Agent]] that she had her memories sealed. The seal also served as a PowerLimiter. The reveals start coming when events start to unravel the mental block.

* In ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016'', Link reveals to Rusl that he was the only survivor of his hometown, a desert border town that protected Hyrule by watching over the Arbiter's Grounds. When he pulled Gaurof's Sword from its stone pedestal on a dare from his fellow trainees, the entire town was dragged into the Twlight Realm (which Link didn't know at the time), leaving only him behind in the Light Realm because the Hero's Shade grabbed him.