History DarkAndTroubledPast / Film

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'', Spinel was abandoned by Pink Diamond, leading to her DescentToDarkness and thirst for revenge.

* In ''Film/ManchesterByTheSea'', the protagonist Lee was once a cheerful and outgoing, if somewhat irresponsible, father and husband. Then, [[spoiler: while he was high and drunk one night, he accidentally started a fire that burned down his house and killed all of his children. After being questioned at the police station, he attempted suicide, forcing him to leave town and become a recluse.]] As a result, he's been reduced to a shell of a man and a
{{jerkass woobie}} by the start of the film, unable to forgive himself.

* ''Film/ListenToYourHeart'': Ariana's father died from meningitis, which she caught and became deaf as a result. The loss quite clearly weighs on her still. Danny's mother died of cancer, and he was there at her death, which clearly

* In ''Film/ManchesterByTheSea'', the protagonist Lee was once a cheerful and outgoing, if somewhat irresponsible, father and husband. Then, [[spoiler: while he was high and drunk one night, he accidentally started a fire that burned down his house and killed all of his children. After being questioned at the police station, he attempted suicide, forcing him to leave town and become a recluse.]] As a result, he's been reduced to a shell of a man and a

caused a severe trauma [[spoiler:since he kills himself rather than have anyone else witness him dying later]].
* The emotional turmoil brought on by the childhood abuse of Tim Robbins' character is the main crux of
'Film/MysticRiver''.

* In ''Film/DesktopDesperadoes'' [[spoiler: While it may be possible to sympathise with the main antagonist Pointer 95's feelings of rejection in his field of employment, to orchestrate the attempted fratricide of the superior employee is without question morally reprehensible and instantly eliminates any initial sympathy the audience may have briefly felt for him. ]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc1tr1cwiZs
* ''Film/JohnnyGuitar'''s main characters Vienna and Johnny "Guitar" Logan have dark pasts dealing with their former lives as a prostitue and a ruthless gunslinger.
* The emotional turmoil brought on by the childhood abuse of Tim Robbins' character is the main crux of \
* ''Film/Kin2018'': Milly's and Elijah's parents had abused them (though Elijah doesn't remember this, since he was just a baby). She ran away from her parents, he was adopted by another family.
* The eponymous ''Film/MaxPayne'' has one, his family was killed in a mysterious robbery. Made extra saccharine thanks to the {{Flash Back}}s being in a warm ember tone compared to the rest of the film's drab winter blues and grays.
** To be even more specific, in [[VideoGame/MaxPayne the game]] the movie is based upon, his family got killed by V-head junkies [[spoiler:as part of an attempt to silence Max's wife for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]] about Project Valhalla]]. Tragically, [[spoiler:Max's wife didn't have a clue what the memo meant and wanted to talk to Max about it, but he didn't listen to her because he had to go to work for the day]].
* ''Film/MissMeadows'': It's revealed that Miss Meadows became a vigilante because [[spoiler:her mother]] was killed in a drive-by shooting as they were attending a friend's wedding.
''Film/MysticRiver''.
* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Captain James T. Kirk lost his father [[BirthDeathJuxtaposition just minutes after his birth]]. He was [[AbusiveParents frequently abused]] by his stepfather while his mother was working off-planet, his brother ran away when he was still young, and he was already a repeat offender long before enlisting in Starfleet.
* O-Ren Ishii from ''Film/KillBill'' lost both of her parents to vicious {{Yakuza}} gangsters at the age of seven and then getting her revenge just four years later.
* The main character of ''Film/{{Hoosiers}}'', Norman Dale, moves to the small town of Hickory, Indiana to take one last shot at redemption as a basketball coach after [[spoiler:ruining his coaching career many years earlier when he lost his temper and punched one of his own players]].
* ''Film/TheStrangeLoveOfMarthaIvers'': Martha killed her EvilAunt (her parents being dead, leaving her aunt as her guardian), and Walter witnesses it when they were kids.

* ''Film/TheTerminal'': Gupta explains to Victor why he is so obsessed with keeping his janitor job: he was a poor tobacco dealer in India who was shaken down by a [[DirtyCop corrupt police officer]]. Eventually, Gupta stabbed the bastard in the chest after several days of extortion, and fled India and his family to not be charged with assault. By working as a janitor, [[BeneathSuspicion he can remain off of anybody's radar]]. [[spoiler: Dixon threatens to have Gupta deported if Viktor doesn't leave]].
* The first five minutes of the ''Film/PromNight2008'' remake feature the protagonist coming home to find her father and brother dead, and watch her mother get killed, all because the killer was looking for her. For her character, this doesn't really come into play much for the rest of the movie, even when the killer comes back.
* Given that the main characters in ''Film/TheWayBack'' are seven [[TheGulag gulag]] escapees and an orphan, this is something of a given. None of the men will tell each other their stories, but they all tell the girl, who, in turn, passes them on to the others. When she asks why they don't talk to one another, she's told that, in the gulag, the less you say, the better off you are.
* Will in ''Film/SnowWhiteATaleofTerror'' still has nightmares about the events that led to his banishment and scars.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In the 2011 film ''Film/{{Warrior}}'': Why Tommy left Iraq. %% This entry was added automatically by FELH2. In case the wording doesn't make sense, rewrite it as you like, remove this comment and tell this troper.
* Jack/Kyra during the TimeSkip between ''Film/PitchBlack'' and ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''. She ran away to search for Riddick and signed up with a bunch of mercs, only to be enslaved, with a heavy implication as to [[SexSlave what kind]]. Made worse in that she was only ''twelve'' at the time! Riddick is understandably ''[[BerserkButton pissed]]'' to learn this, as well as furious at her for ignoring his single instruction when they parted ways;
--> '''Riddick''': I told you to ''stay'' on New Mecca. '''Did you not listen!'''
* Something that happened "in Chicago" to Lucien Carr in ''Film/KillYourDarlings'' is repeatedly alluded to, much to his displeasure.

* In Sidney Lumet's ''The Pawnbroker (1964)'', the main character is traumatized by what happened to him and his family in a WWII Nazi concentration camp. He hasn't been able to work through his issues, which causes those unpleasant memories to regularly flood his mind.
* In ''Film/TheHungerGames'' Katniss' father died when she was 11 in an accident that she suspects the [[PresidentEvil government]] to have orchestrated. Without the father's income, the family starved and Katniss nearly died, which is why she is so survival-focused.
* ''Film/TheWolfman2010'': You've had quite a nice little messed up childhood, haven't you, Lawrence? What with witnessing your mother's death and all, and being sent to a mad-house where you underwent all sorts of nasty treatments and then shipped off to live with a distant relative in America.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** Magneto. "Holocaust survivor" is about as dark and troubled as it gets. [[Film/XMenApocalypse He eventually settles down]] with a wife and daughter, only for ''them'' to die as well. It's no surprise Erik isn't exactly a ray of sunshine these days.
** Wolverine's past history of fighting in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and his past work with Team X. How much of it still happened after the CosmicRetcon is unclear, but we do get to see him escape from the Weapon X project in a flurry of adamantium and rage, so it's clear that the BroadStrokes of most versions of his origin still stand, and it ain't pretty.
** In ''Film/TheWolverine'', Yukio’s first premonition was her parent's death, and after she was forced to watch it come true, she became a street urchin scavenging for food until Ichiro Yashida found her and adopted her under his wing.

* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Eggsy's father died in action, and his mother remarried a {{jerkass}} {{domestic abuse}}r who liked to beat the crap out of Eggsy and his mom. At some point, Eggsy resorted to drugs and petty crimes. By extension his half-sister Daisy has this too, despite not even being old enough to speak yet: her own father is the domestic abuser and [[spoiler:her own mother nearly killed her during the Valentine's Day Massacre.]]
* ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'': Callum Lynch's father killed his mother [[spoiler: according to the Creed to preserve the secret of the Eden Apple of Granada as modern-day Templars led by Alan Rikkin were coming for them]]. Little Cal didn't know any of that so he grew up an orphan hating his father and drifted in and out of correctional facilities.

* In ''Film/ManchesterByTheSea'', the protagonist Lee was once a cheerful and outgoing, if somewhat irresponsible, father and husband. Then, [[spoiler: while he was high and drunk one night, he accidentally started a fire that burned down his house and killed all of his children. After being questioned at the police station, he attempted suicide, forcing him to leave town and become a recluse.]] As a result, he's been reduced to a shell of a man and a {{jerkass woobie}} by the start of the film, unable to forgive himself.
* In ''Film/DeathGrip'', Kenny and Mark lost their mother in a house fire. They both have unresolved guilt over it. The fire was started when Kenny was playing flammable material outside and the mother died because Mark locked the door behind him due to his AmbiguousDisorder, trapping his mother in the burning house.
* ''Film/FastColor'': Ruth ran away from home due to her uncontrolled abilities, was hooked on drugs and then got pregnant (without knowing who the father is). Then she came home with her daughter Lila, but left when her powers endangered the baby, becoming a wanderer for years before finally returning.

* In ''Film/HorseGirl'', Sarah seems quiet and content at first, but she has a number of dark details in her past life, many of which are only alluded to. It's implied that her mother suffered from a mysterious ailment, and that there was some accident involving her horse Willow that led to Sarah no longer owning Willow. [[spoiler: Eventually it's revealed that Sarah's mother committed suicide only a year ago.]]
* ''Film/ListenToYourHeart'': Ariana's father died from meningitis, which she caught and became deaf as a result. The loss quite clearly weighs on her still. Danny's mother died of cancer, and he was there at her death, which clearly caused a severe trauma [[spoiler:since he kills himself rather than have anyone else witness him dying later]].

* ''Film/TheVoices'': Jerry unsurprisingly had one. He had a mentally ill mother who had hallucinations, which Jerry shared. To stop this, his stepfather tried abusing it out of him. This of course didn't work, and only made him want an escape with them even more. His mother tried to kill herself rather than be committed to an institution, and Jerry ended it at her request. Because the police found him with a bloody knife in his hand, Jerry was locked up (his psychiatrist mentions that he's on parole later).

* Kovu from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' was raised by his vengeful mother to become Scar's successor and trained to be a hateful war machine so he can kill Simba.
* Manny in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ice Age}}'': his wife and son were slaughtered by human hunters, which is why he's so grumpy and cynical. Even after he falls in love with Ellie in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge2TheMeltdown'', he becomes overprotective of her in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs'' for the exact same reason. And after Peaches' birth in said threequel, he becomes EXCEEDINGLY overprotective of her in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge4ContinentalDrift'' for the same reason as well.

* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': Sergeant Calhoun "Was programmed with the most tragic back-story ever." [[spoiler:Her lover was killed in front of her by Cy-Bugs on their wedding day, and she blames herself because she forgot to do a perimeter check for enemies.]] It's part of why she's usually so on edge about the Cy-Bugs and aggressive.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'':
** Queen Elsa goes through [[MyGreatestFailure her greatest failure]] [[HarmfulToMinors as a child]]. She strikes her sister Anna in the head with her icy powers, causing her to fall unconscious. The trolls heal Anna and remove her memory of the event and her sister's magic, but she still comes out with a [[SkunkStripe white stripe]] in her hair, thanks to the ice magic. In case you thought that seeing your sister's white stripe of hair and being reminded of your largest mistake wasn't bad enough, the trolls also warn her about the potential of mobs attacking her if she doesn't learn control, which also makes her fear for her life. Then her father tries to protect her from such a fate by keeping the magic a secret (even from Anna) and isolating her, locking her up in the castle. This essentially drives the entire plot and is the reason why Elsa is so detached from her sister and avoidant in general.
** Anna is a naturally extroverted person who is forced to be isolated from others for the majority of her childhood. To make matters worse, she doesn't know why it happened, and from her perspective, her older sister suddenly cut off their friendship and then ignored her for no apparent reason. Her parents are implied to focus on her sister, and then they die when she is fifteen, and again she has no emotional support. Her sister still shows no interest in talking to her or even attending their parents' funeral.[[note]]Unbeknownst to Anna, this is because of Elsa's PowerIncontinence, but Elsa keeps this a secret, so Anna doesn't know why her sister seems so uninterested in her.[[/note]] It's obviously left some scars on her, and is a big reason why she agrees to a quick engagement, because she's starved for affection and isn't familiar with what a healthy loving relationship looks like.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning'' reveals how King Triton's beloved wife Queen Athena was accidentally struck to her death by the ship's hull, which led to him banning music from Atlantica and the merpeople from going up to the surface in grief. After the incident, King Triton became over-protective of his daughters - especially Ariel - and displays his racism towards humans for his wife's death.
* In ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'', Garrett reveals to Kayley in the past, he was accidentally blinded by one of the horses that he was rescuing from the stable fire. Thankfully, Sir Lionel still believed in him and taught him to adapt. Unfortunately, his situation worsened when he heard of Sir Lionel's death, prompting Garrett to go into self-exile into the Forbidden Forest.
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInAChristmasCarol'': Eden used to love Christmas, until her Aunt Marie's toxic advice took root.

* The emotional turmoil brought on by the childhood abuse of Tim Robbins' character is the main crux of ''Film/MysticRiver''.
* Gabriel in ''Film/VanHelsing'' also has Wolverine Amnesia, it's implied by {{Dracula}} they both share "a history" together, and even hints at Gabriel being an immortal "tripped" angel or the like, but nothing concrete ever comes of it. SequelHook?

* ''Film/JohnnyGuitar'''s main characters Vienna and Johnny "Guitar" Logan have dark pasts dealing with their former lives as a prostitue and a ruthless gunslinger.

* ''Film/TheVoices'': Jerry unsurprisingly had one. He had a mentally ill mother who had hallucinations, which Jerry shared. To stop this, his stepfather tried abusing it out of him. This of course didn't work, and only made him want an escape with them even more. His mother tried to kill herself rather than be committed to an institution, and Jerry ended it at her request. Because the police found him with a bloody knife in his hand, Jerry was locked up (his psychiatrist mentions that he's on parole later).

* ''{{Film/Compulsion}}'': Saffron suffered from an abusive mom who had pushed her toward stardom no matter what, causing Saffron's anorexia over anxiety as she constantly chided her to keep her weight low. [[spoiler:Worst of all, she even had Saffron be raped by a casting director for her to get a role.]] As a result, Saffron is not only still anorexic decades on, but also wishes to die.
* ''Film/Kin2018'': Milly's and Elijah's parents had abused them (though Elijah doesn't remember this, since he was just a baby). She ran away from her parents, he was adopted by another family.
* ''{{Film/Bit}}'':
** Duke worked as a prostitute after she came to LA while still human. After that she was {{made a slave}} by Vlad after she caught his eye through his {{mind control}} powers, and was [[SexSlave forced to serve]] in his harem for years before finally being able to escape.
** Laurel is indicated to have had a very difficult time in earlier years, apparently having attempted suicide multiple times. This appears to be a result of bullying over being transgender, gender dysphoria or both.
* ''Film/MissMeadows'': It's revealed that Miss Meadows became a vigilante because [[spoiler:her mother]] was killed in a drive-by shooting as they were attending a friend's wedding.

** Laurel is indicated to have had a very difficult time in earlier years, apparently having attempted suicide multiple times. This appears to be a result of bullying over being transgender, gender dysphoria or both.

* ''Film/Kin2018'': Milly's and Elijah's parents had abused them (though Elijah doesn't remember this, since he was just a baby). She ran away from her parents, he was adopted by another family.

* ''{{Film/Compulsion}}'': Saffron suffered from an abusive mom who had pushed her toward stardom no what, causing Saffron's anorexia over anxiety as she constantly chided her to keep her weight low. [[spoiler:Worst of all, she even had Saffron be raped by a casting director for her to get a role.]] As a result, Saffron is not only still anorexic decades on, but also wishes to die.

** Tigress. She was left by her parents in an orphanage, called a monster by adult and child alike and was not shown any signs of parental love by her foster father, Shifu.

* Princess Leia from ''Franchise/StarWars''. She remembers her (presumably adoptive) mother always being unhappy when she was young, saw her homeworld destroyed as a YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo, has (in the Legends continuity) seen [[spoiler:one son KIA]] and [[spoiler:the other do a FaceHeelTurn -- his twin sister was forced to kill him]]; the Disney continuity also has [[spoiler:her son do a FaceHeelTurn]], which ends with him [[spoiler:killing his father and taking control of the First Order]].

** Vasquez is wanted for a Texan ranger but no details are given except Vasquez suggesting he had it coming.

* ''Film/ListenToYourHeart'': Ariana's father died from meningitis, which she caught and became deaf as a result. The loss quite clearly weighs on her still. Danny's mother died of cancer, and he was there at her death, which clearly caused a severe trauma [[spoiler:since he kills himself rather than have anyone else witness him dying later]].

* ''Film/TheVoices'': Jerry unsurprisingly had one. He had a mentally ill mother who had hallucinations, which Jerry shared. To stop this, his stepfather tried abusing it out of him. This of course didn't work, and only made him want an escape with them even more. His mother tried to kill herself rather than be committed to an institution, and Jerry ended it at her request. Because the police found him with a bloody knife in his hand, Jerry was locked up (his psychiatrist mentions that he's on parole later).

* In ''Film/HorseGirl'', Sarah seems quiet and content at first, but she has a number of dark details in her past life, many of which are only alluded to. It's implied that her mother suffered from a mysterious ailment, and that there was some accident involving her horse Willow that led to Sarah no longer owning Willow. [[spoiler: Eventually it's revealed that Sarah's mother committed suicide only a year ago.]]

* ''Film/MyDaysOfMercy'': Lucy reveals hers to Mercy. Her mother was murdered, and her father is now on death row for doing it (but she doesn't believe he's guilty). His date for execution is only months away.

* Kovu from ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' was raised by his vengeful mother to become Scar's successor and trained to be a hateful war machine so he can kill Simba.

* Megara in ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'': she sold her soul to Hades in order to save her boyfriend, and he dumped her shortly after that. Also, it's hinted that she probably had more problems to face in life besides that.
* Lampshaded in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': Sergeant Calhoun "Was programmed with the most tragic back-story ever." [[spoiler:Her lover was killed in front of her by Cy-Bugs on their wedding day, and she blames herself because she forgot to do a perimeter check for enemies.]] It's part of why she's usually so on edge about the Cy-Bugs and aggressive.

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'':

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIII'' reveals how King Triton's beloved wife Queen Athena was accidentally struck to her death by the ship's hull, which led to him banning music from Atlantica and the merpeople from going up to the surface in grief. After the incident, King Triton became over-protective of his daughters - especially Ariel - and displays his racism towards humans for his wife's death.

* Princess Leia from ''Franchise/StarWars''. She remembers her (presumably adoptive) mother always being unhappy when she was young, saw her homeworld destroyed as a YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo, has seen [[spoiler:one son KIA]] and [[spoiler:the other do a FaceHeelTurn -- his twin sister was forced to kill him]].

* ''Film/FastColor'': Ruth ran away from home due to her uncontrolled abilities, was hooked on drugs and then got pregnant (without knowing who the father is). Then she came home with her daughter Lila, but left when her powers endangered the baby, becoming a wanderer for years before finally returning.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', where the Joker likes telling stories about his Dark and Troubled Past to explain his scars...but every story is different.
** This is a tribute to Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', wherein The Joker has the following line; "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be [[MultipleChoicePast multiple choice!]]"

* In ''Film/DeathGrip'', Kenny and Mark lost their mother in a house fire. They both have unresolved guilt over it. The fire was started when Kenny was playing flammable material outside and the mother died because Mark locked the door behind him due to his AmbiguousDisorder, trapping his mother in the burning house.

** Anna is a naturally extroverted person who is forced to be isolated from others for the majority of her childhood. To make matters worse, she doesn't know why it happened, and from her perspective, her older sister suddenly cut off their friendship and then ignored her for no apparent reason. Her parents died when she was fifteen, and again she had no emotional support. Her sister still shows no interest in talking to her or even attending their parents' funeral.[[note:Unbeknownst to Anna, this is because of Elsa's PowerIncontinence, but Elsa keeps this a secret, so Anna doesn't know why her sister's being so aloof.]] It's obviously left some scars on her, and is a big reason why she agrees to a quick engagement, because she's starved for affection and isn't familiar with what a healthy loving relationship looks like.

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIII'' reveals how King Triton's beloved wife Queen Athena was accidentally struck to her death by the ship's hull, which led to him banning music from Atlantica and the merpeople from going up to the surface in grief. After the incident, King Triton became so over-protective for his daughters - especially Ariel - and displays his racism towards humans for his wife's death.

* The eponymous ''Film/MaxPayne'' had one, his family was killed in a mysterious robbery. Made extra saccharine thanks to the {{Flash Back}}s being in a warm ember tone compared to the rest of the film's drab winter blues and grays.

* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Captain James T. Kirk lost his father [[BirthDeathJuxtaposition just minutes after his birth]]. He was [[AbusiveParents frequently abused]] by his stepfather while his mother was working off-planet, his brother ran away when he was still young, and he was already a repeat offender long before enlisting in Starfleet. It is also possible that he survived [[FinalSolution Tarsus IV]] (if future movies keep with [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]]).

* In the 2011 film ''Film/{{Warrior}}'': Why Tommy left Iraq. %% This entry was added automatically by FELH2. In case the wording doesn't make sense, rewrite it as you like, remove this comment and tell this troper.

* In ''Film/TheHungerGames'' Katniss' father died when she was 11 in an accident that she suspects the [[PresidentEvil government]] to have orchestrated. Without the father's income, the family starved and Katniss nearly died.

It turns out that ''[[AllLovingHero Po]]'' of all people has one, though he doesn't learn about it in full until just before the climax. It involves [[spoiler: the attempted massacre of his entire species by [[BigBad Lord Shen]] and his birth mother [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing herself]] to save him]].

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Queen Elsa goes through [[MyGreatestFailure her greatest failure]] [[HarmfulToMinors as a child]]. [[spoiler: She strikes her sister Anna in the head with her icy powers, causing her to fall unconscious. The trolls heal Anna and remove her memory of her sister's magic, but she still comes out with a [[SkunkStripe white stripe]] in her hair, thanks to the ice magic. In case you thought that seeing your sister's white stripe of hair and being reminded of your largest mistake wasn't bad enough, the trolls also warn her about the potential of mobs attacking her if she doesn't learn control, which also makes her fear for her life. Then her father tries to protect her from such a fate by isolating her, locking her up in the castle. This essentially drives the entire plot and is the reason why Elsa is so detached from her sister and avoidant in general.

** Also Cruz Ramirez from ''WesternAnimation/Cars3''. She wanted desperately to be a racer just like Lightning [=McQueen=] and took up classes with much bigger cars, but by the time of her first race when the other cars were starting, she simply left the race behind and lost her only chance.

* Spoofed in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': Sergeant Calhoun "Was programmed with the most tragic back-story ever."
* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', it turns out that ''[[AllLovingHero Po]]'' of all people has one, though he doesn't learn about it in full until just before the climax. It involves [[spoiler: the attempted massacre of his entire species by [[BigBad Lord Shen]] and his birth mother [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing herself]] to save him]].-Tigress can also be an example. She was left by her parents in an orphanage, called a monster by adult and child alike and was not shown any signs of parental love by her foster father, Shifu.

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Queen Elsa goes through [[MyGreatestFailure her greatest failure]] [[HarmfulToMinors as a child]]. [[spoiler: She strikes her sister Anna in the head with her icy powers, causing her to fall unconscious. The trolls remove Anna's memory of all the events and her sister's magic, but she still comes out with a [[SkunkStripe white stripe]] in her hair, thanks to the ice magic. In case you thought that seeing your sister's white stripe of hair and being reminded of your largest mistake wasn't bad enough, her parents decide to separate the two sisters to allow Elsa to gain control of her powers. Then, when they grow older, their parents die, which finishes off their TraumaCongaLine.]]

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIII'' reveals how King Triton's beloved wife Queen Athena was accidentally struck to her death by the ship's hull, which led to him banning music from Atlantica and the merpeople from going up to the surface in grief. After the incident, King Triton became a GrumpyBear (until the end of the prequel) and displays his racism towards humans for his wife's death.
* In ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'', Garrett reveals to Kayley in the past, he accidentally blinded by one of the horses that he was rescuing from the stable fire. Thankfully, Sir Lionel still believed in him and taught him to adapt. Unfortunately, his situation worsened when he heard of Sir Lionel's death, prompting Garrett to go into self-exile into the Forbidden Forest.

* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Eggsy's father died in action, and his mother remarried a {{jerkass}} {{domestic abuser}} who liked to beat the crap out of Eggsy and his mom. At some point, Eggsy resorted to drugs and petty crimes. By extension his half-sister Daisy has this too, despite not even being old enough to speak yet: her own father is the domestic abuser and [[spoiler: her own mother nearly killed her during the Valentine's Day Massacre.]]