History JerkassWoobie / OtherMedia

* Wrestling/MandyRose. From losing her older brother Richie back in October 2022 to her recent RoleEndingMisdemeanor, how can you not show her a little sympathy?

* Wrestling/{{Edge}} is arguably one of the best examples in modern wrestling history. True, his character did evolve a great deal over the course of his 2004-2010 heel run, but there was always one constant: an athlete who had worshipped the wrestling business since he was a boy and was determined to dedicate his entire life to achieving excellence in that field. Many of the things he said and did, while despicable in the most morally traditional sense, were actually quite reasonable, such as his justification for attacking Wrestling/JohnCena after Cena had just barely survived a chamber match against five other men:

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin is constantly picked on at school, either [[BarbaricBully aggressively by Moe]] or [[PassiveAggressiveKombat verbally by Susie]], roughed up a lot by Hobbes, and is ignored or [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastically responded to]] by his own parents. He's also quite lazy, self-centered, and [[SmallNameBigEgo has an ego the size of a planet]], which in turn has him become a KarmicButtMonkey due to his BrattyHalfPint tendencies causing him to often bring his misfortune onto himself.

* Myth/NorseMythology: The Fenris Wolf was chained up because it was prophesized that he would kill Odin during the Ragnarok while helping destroy the world, even though he hasn't done anything yet. When he ''does'' get free and eats Odin at Ragnarok, it seems more like a literal case of TheDogBitesBack than anything evil on his part.

[[folder: Myths & Religion]]

%%Good Evening Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1

* ''Franchise/EvilliousChronicles'': Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche is the last princess of Lucifenia. When she was young, she was separated from her twin brother and suffered from memory loss as a result of exorcism. After the deaths of her parents, she was LonelyAtTheTop and only became further isolated as her tyrannical rule made her enemies. When the revolution breaks out, she's abandoned by all of her servants except for her twin brother, who reveals his true identity before [[TwinSwitch getting executed in her place]]. Once she matures and realizes the depth of her cruelty, she spends the rest of her life regretting everything she's done and trying to atone. Despite her misdeeds, the sheer amount of [[BreakTheHaughty humbling experiences]] she goes through [[spoiler:and the fact that a lot of her tyrannical rule was due to DemonicPossession]] makes her a sympathetic figure.

* Myth/NorseMythology: The Fenris Wolf was chained up because it was prophesized that he would kill Odin during the Ragnarok while helping destroy the world, even though he hasn't done anything yet.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': [[http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2008/may/v5748dyo5la02 Seltyiel]], a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elven]] PrettyBoy (or even borderline CaptainErsatz of [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric]]) [[MagicKnight magus]] who's canonically [[AntiHero the paladin's pet project]]. Yes, he's also canonically ''[[LawfulEvil evil]]''...but [[FreudianExcuse with a backstory like that]], you almost can't ''blame'' him.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': It's hard not to feel at least a bit sorry for Eye and Seven Despairs, who, in the First Age, found himself teamed with a group of Curse-maddened sadists and ended up DrivenToSuicide. As a Deathlord, he'd be a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds if he wasn't so easily distracted by tormenting a handful of people who look like his former Circlemates.

* Nightmare's Angel of ''TabletopGame/ChuubosMarvelousWishGrantingEngine'' is relentlessly arrogant, selfish, rude and opinionated. On the other hand, Nightmare's Angel is also a desperately lonely teenager haunted by nightmares, cursed with forebodings of doom, and unable to express any desire for friendship without being literally physically weakened by it.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': According to an interview, Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't like the fact that history books were either too defensive of Burr or painted him as the villain, so made him a smarmy ditherer who nevertheless has a lot of tragic and sweet moments. In fact, when Miranda did ''Drunk History'', he made it quite clear that he doesn't consider Burr a monster, but a tragic and complicated man who made a mistake that cost him his reputation forever.
* The eponymous character of ''Theatre/OedipusAtColonus'' is a former great king who [[SelfMadeOrphan killed his father]], [[ParentalIncest married his mother]], blinded himself when he discovered this, and is reviled by all but his two daughters, who get abducted midway through the play in an attempt to [[IHaveYourWife force him to return to Thebes]]. On the other hand, he's still immensely stubborn and calls down a curse on his own sons so that they may die in the coming civil war (and it works).
* Gabe from ''Theatre/NextToNormal'' just wants his family to love him. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:he expresses it by trying to [[DrivenToSuicide drive his mentally ill mother to suicide]].]] That is, if you actually believe his presence exist or he's just a manifestation in the character's head.

* The eponymous Theatre/{{Medea}}. She literally gave up ''everything'' to be with Jason -- her country, her family, her position...she even arranged her own brother's death so they could get away. Then Jason turns around and ditches her for a younger, prettier Greek girl, primarily for her father's prestige and money. He [[SarcasmMode ever-so-magnanimously]] says that Medea can still be his mistress. [[WomanScorned She flips the hell out]], and while [[MurderTheHypotenuse her]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge actions]] are horrible (particularly in the most common version, where she [[OffingTheOffspring murders her children]] to get back at Jason), it's hard not to feel sorry for her.
* Sure, [[{{Seneca}} Thyestes]] stole his brothers wife and attempted to usurp the throne. But Atreus' revenge is sheer evil. He pretends to pardon Thyestes and then serves him his own sons for dinner. Thyestes is a broken man at the end of the play.

* Mr. Zero in ''Theatre/TheAddingMachine''. Being a LazyHusband at home and an unimaginative drudge at work, as well as an all-around bigot prone to fits of murderous rage doesn't overshadow all the suffering he's endured in one {{reincarnation}} after another.
* Freddie (aka The American) in ''{{Theatre/Chess}}'' is at best brash, deeply obnoxious, and unstable. He becomes more and more pathetic as he [[SanitySlippage unravels over the course of the story]] and his VillainSong, ''Pity the Child,'' reveals how his abusive upbringing shaped his personality.

[[folder: Mythology and Religion]]

* Myth/NorseMythology: The Fenris Wolf was chained up because it was prophesized that he help destroy the world and kill Odin during Ragnarok, even though he hasn't done anything yet.

* ''Myth/ClassicalMythology'': Myrrha/Smyrna, who [[ParentalIncest falls in lust with her father]], and [[BedTrick tricks him into having sex with her.]] While this is undeniably a fucked up thing to do, most version of the myth strongly imply (or state outright) that it's not her fault she's this way, and was made to have such feeling due to a curse of some kind. One version even says Aphrodite cursed her because her mother said that she (Myrrha) was more beautiful than the goddess, meaning she's getting punished for something her mother did that she had no control over.
* The [[Myth/NorseMythology Fenris Wolf]], he's been chained to a rock since he was born just because he ''Might'' become a problem otherwise, even though he hasn't done anything yet (other than bite off Tyr's hand, but that was all because Tyr was trying to chain him up in the first place). He [[TheDogBitesBack gets free and kills Odin and Ragnarok, however.]]

* The eponymous character of ''Theatre/OedipusAtColonus'' is a former great king who [[SelfMadeOrphan killed his father]], [[IncestIsRelative married his mother]], blinded himself when he discovered this, and is reviled by all but his two daughters, who get abducted midway through the play in an attempt to [[IHaveYourWife force him to return to Thebes]]. On the other hand, he's still immensely stubborn and calls down a curse on his own sons so that they may die in the coming civil war (and it works).

* The eponymous Theatre/{{Medea}}. She literally gave up ''everything'' to be with Jason -- her country, her family, her position...she even arranged her own brother's death so they could get away. Then Jason turns around and [[YourCheatingHeart ditches her for a younger, prettier Greek girl]], primarily for her father's prestige and money. He [[SarcasmMode ever-so-magnanimously]] says that Medea can still be his mistress. [[WomanScorned She flips the hell out]], and while [[MurderTheHypotenuse her]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge actions]] are horrible (particularly in the most common version, where she [[OffingTheOffspring murders her children]] to get back at Jason), it's hard not to feel sorry for her.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': [[http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2008/may/v5748dyo5la02 Seltyiel]], a [[HalfHumanHybrid half]]-[[OurElvesAreBetter elven]] PrettyBoy (or even borderline CaptainErsatz of [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric]]) [[MagicKnight magus]] who's canonically [[AntiHero the paladin's pet project]]. Yes, he's also canonically ''[[LawfulEvil evil]]''...but [[FreudianExcuse with a backstory like that]], you almost can't ''blame'' him.

! Music
* {{Music/Gorillaz}}'s Murdoc rapidly grew out of Woobie status of any kind, but in his preteen days, he definitely fell into this category. According to ''Rise of the Ogre'', he was a horrible child, but given that he was a victim of FinancialAbuse and public humiliation by his father, suffered regular beatings from his brother, and [[UnreliableNarrator claims to have lost his virginity at the age of nine, and it's horribly possible that he's not making that up]], you can't help but pity him. His pitiable status resurfaces a little in his Pirate Radio broadcasts, during which he's [[DrowningMySorrows perpetually drunk]] and rambling about how lonely he is.

* {{Music/Eminem}}'s stage persona definitely comes off as one of these, and the man himself has not had an easy life. Sure, he threatens to kill his wife ''repeatedly'', but there's no doubt that his life has ''sucked''.

* Pink from [[Music/TheWall The Wall]] beats his wife and essentially becomes a Nazi-wannabe, but songs like "Bring the Boys Back Home" and "Hey You" remind us that there is a decent, redeemable person underneath all of that.

--> "[[TearJerker The child has grown, the dream has gone. I have become comfortably numb.]]"

! ProfessionalWrestling

! Radio

! Tabletop RPG
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''

! Theatre

-->'''Le Bret:''' Well, but so much the better! Tell her so!\\

'''Cyrano:''' Look well at me -- then tell me, with what hope\\

'''Le Bret:''' ''(tenderly)'' My friend!...\\
'''Cyrano:''' My friend, at times 'tis hard, 'tis bitter,\\

* Freddie (aka The American) in ''{{Theatre/Chess}}'' is at best brash, deeply obnoxious, and unstable. He becomes more and more pathetic as he [[SanitySlippage unravels over the course of the story]] and his VillainSong, ''Pity the Child,'' reveals how his abusive upbringing shaped his personality.

! ProfessionalWrestling
* Wrestling/{{Edge}} is arguably one of the best examples in modern wrestling history. True, his character did evolve a great deal over the course of his 2004-2010 heel run, but there was always one constant: an athlete who had worshipped the wrestling business since he was a boy and was determined to dedicate his entire life to achieving excellence in that field. Many of the things he said and did, while despicable in the most morally traditional sense, were actually quite reasonable, such as his justification for attacking Wrestling/JohnCena after Cena had just barely survived a chamber match against five other men:
-->'''Edge''': I had a year-long contract for a [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE Championship]] match, was patient and [[CombatPragmatist bided my time until the moment was right, and now I reap the rewards]]. And sure, a lot of people didn't like it, but it was my right as Money in the Bank winner and [[LoopholeAbuse there's nothing in the rulebook]] [[LawfulEvil saying I can't do it]].
** Later, when he betrayed his {{Kayfabe}} wife Wrestling/VickieGuerrero, it was easy to see that his motivation was not simply that he was a {{Jerkass}} but because he honestly couldn't keep his lustful desires in check (never mind that his RealLife affair with [[{{Wrestling/Lita}} Amy "Lita" Dumas]] broke up his second marriage[[note]]The first was to Alanah Morley, the RealLife sister of Sean "Val Venis" Morley[[/note]] in five years). Admit it: you were sad when Vickie (initially) refused to forgive him and, instead, basically sentenced him to death at the hands of Wrestling/TheUndertaker.
* Alex Riley, Wrestling/TheMiz's personal attendant who is pretty much a ButtMonkey. He got blamed for everything that went wrong for Wrestling/TheMiz and got humiliated repeatedly. When Miz finally fired him, it looked like Alex was about to cry. But then he just attacked Miz instead.
* Ricardo Rodriguez, personal announcer of Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio. While he joins in on any of Del Rio's malicious antics and even intervenes on his behalf, this also often leads to him acting as Rio's meat shield whenever he needs a diversion, with pretty much the entire roster taking sadistic pleasure in beating the living snot out of him, either to make a message to his boss or just because they hate the smug little weasel. Since he is an announcer, unlike other examples here, he can't really dish it back either, [[OhCrap the pants shitting terror]] whenever he is cornered by a vengeful opponent is very evident.
* [[{{Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon}} Stephanie [=McMahon=]]] could qualify for this, as she's constantly and repeatedly been humiliated for ''years'' now. The biggest such moment being the promo where Wrestling/ChrisJericho ''and'' [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] teamed up to make fun of her, which causes her to burst out screaming for them to stop and runs away crying.
* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs of Wrestling/RingOfHonor fame is arguably a mix of AntiVillain, ByronicHero, and straight-up JerkassWoobie, but mostly the latter. Jacobs crossed the DespairEventHorizon after falling in love with his manager, Lacey, and discovering that LoveRedeems doesn't always work. He, along with several like-minded individuals, formed The Age of the Fall, half-cult, half-wrestling stable, dedicated to violently correcting what they perceived as injustices in ROH and society. They brutally beat Jay Briscoe and hung him upside down so that Jacobs could stand underneath him pontificating on his philosophy, all the while Briscoe's blood dripped down onto him. When Lacey fell in love with [[Wrestling/AustinAries another man]], Jacobs attempted to attack her on multiple occasions with a metal railroad spike. Jimmy Jacobs may appear to be an adorable emo boy, but he is actually a bloodthirsty hate machine.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' Darklords have the potential to be this, though many are just shining examples of {{Ignored Epiphan|y}}ies.

* The AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio "The Boy That Time Forgot" simultaneously upgrades Adric to JerkassWoobie and AGodAmI: timey-wimey stuff leaves him stranded in an alternate universe of his own mind's making after the events of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''Earthshock'', eventually driving him to madness from loneliness, isolation, lack of humanoid contact, and a pretty massive sense of abandonment. By the time the Doctor and Nyssa find him, he's become an egomaniacal, old ([[spoiler: read, ''over 500 years old'']]) man who thinks that the world should be at his beck and call (which, thanks to crazy math reasons, it kinda ''is''), throws the Doctor into a giant spider pit just for fun, tries to force Nyssa to marry him, and has almost complete disregard for his genius insectoid subordinates' lives, even sending a squadron to ''kill'' the one he named after Tegan. Oh, and also there's the whole "wanting revenge on the Doctor for leaving him to die" bit. By the end, though, he's fully redeemed himself, [[spoiler: even managing to pull off another HeroicSacrifice.]]