History Main / BrokenAngel

* Literature/{{Skellig}} is implied to be an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angel]] exiled to earth, hopeless and miserable but [[{{Immortality}} unable to die]]. In the beginning he lives in an abandoned shed, covered in filth and in such bad shape that he can't fly or even walk, with nothing but insects to eat.
** Perhaps a subversion in that his condition (and [[{{Jerkass}} personality]]) elicit revulsion rather than sadness and sympathy.

* The Mexican graphic novel ''Operación Bolivar'' by Edgar Clemens, stars a man who, being born with the ability of seeing and touching angels, works as an angel hunter, since their body parts are good for a very wide array of uses (the meat is medicinal, the eyes can be used in robotics, the feathers make you an amazing writer, the bones are powdered into an incredibly potent drug, etc). In the story's introduction he narrates:

** At least one of the {{Revised Ending}}s to the infamous ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'' has this [[spoiler:happen to Rainbow Dash. She's saved, but her wings are not.]]

* ''Haunted'' of Kelley Armstrong's ''Literature/TheOtherworld'' series has Janah, an angel who was driven insane by the Nix.

* The dead body of the Kraken in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' is a surefire sign that Beckett is an existential threat to the age of pirates.

* The destruction of the Plant Elemental in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' is treated this way.

* ''Film/MermaidDown'' is about a mermaid whose tail is cut off by fishermen, causing her to grow legs that look like a human's. She is placed in a mental facility with other patients who think she's an insane, catatonic human. Later she tells them through a sign language interpreter that sailors used to take mermaids for their wives by cutting their tales off, and that there are people alive today who are descended from merfolk and don't know it. [[spoiler:When the mermaid gets to be in non-chlorinated water, her tail grows back.]]

* ''Film/MermaidDown'' is about a mermaid whose tail is cut off by fishermen, causing her to grow legs that look like a human's. She is placed in a mental facility with other patients who think she's an insane, catatonic human. Later she tells them through a sign language interpreter that sailors used to take mermaids for their wives by cutting their tales off, and that there are people alive today who are descended from merfolk and don't know it. [[spoiler:When the mermaid gets to be in non-chlorinated water, her tail grows back.

* In the film ''Film/{{Noah}},'' the [[spoiler: titular character is helped]] by the [[TheBookOfEnoch Watchers,]] fallen angels who have been encased in stone for disobeying god by aiding humans, who later betrayed them. They understandably distrust humans.

* The Wounded, Blind Angel in Music/{{Nightwish}}'s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdZn7k5rZLQ Amaranth]]", based off a Finnish painting called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Wounded_Angel_-_Hugo_Simberg.jpg The Wounded Angel]]".

* Quite similarly to the examples above, the [[spoiler: Organization]] is ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' was revealed to have two captured ''dragon people'' in their basement, which they all but ''harvested''. The sight of those undoubtedly majestic beings who look like some streamlined science-fiction monsters being chained, hooked up to tubes with half their bodies missing is certainly a textbook example, especially considering how they were being [[AndIMustScream kept just barely alive]] so their flesh remains fresh for the various uses they have for it... [[spoiler:Fortunately Miria grants them a MercyKill.]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* Near the end of ''Film/{{Constantine}}'' the angelic halfbreed [[spoiler:Gabriel]] has his wings blasted off by God. However, since [[AmbiguousGender s/he]] was TheManBehindTheMan he really had it coming.
** The ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} comic that inspired this event took this even further: after falling from grace and losing most of his wings, [[spoiler: Gabriel]] ends up having the tattered remains ''chainsawed off'' by Constantine. And then he's left to make the most of his newfound mortality as a homeless man.

* [[IndustrialMetal Deathstars]]' "Termination Bliss" is a somewhat [[{{Gorn}} gruesome]] example.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The angel [[TheHeavy Juggernaut Star]] was reforged into a [[ManOnFire flaming]] [[SpikesOfVillainy spiked]] skeleton when it joined the Thorn Knights, but its secret true form is revealed to be a gaunt [[spoiler:woman]] with amputated wing stumps. As angels' spiritual bodies shift to match their mindsets, this maiming is as likely to represent a mental trauma as a physical one.

** It should be noted that in the short animation ''Gift of the Night Fury'' that continues on from the film, Hiccup builds an automatic tail attachment, allowing Toothless to fly on his own once more. Near the end of the film, Toothless smashes the attachment, showing he ''prefers'' having Hiccup as a rider to flying on his own. However, by ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2,'' Hiccup has apparently modified the fin to allow him to lock it in position so Toothless can continue flying on his own while Hiccup jumps from his back to try out his new wingsuit. In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'' He rebuilds another automatic tail attachment for Toothless when it becomes clear that he is yearning to fly off on his own after meeting a female Lightfury.

** It should be noted that in the short animation ''Gift of the Night Fury'' that continues on from the film, Hiccup builds an automatic tail attachment, allowing Toothless to fly on his own once more. Near the end of the film, Toothless smashes the attachment, showing he ''prefers'' having Hiccup as a rider to flying on his own. However, by ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2,'' Hiccup has apparently modified the fin to allow him to lock it in position so Toothless can continue flying on his own while Hiccup jumps from his back to try out his new wingsuit.

* The ''Anime/AhMyGoddess'' fic, ''Ah! Archfall!'' is basically focused on this, when less than perfect human ends up as Master of an Archangel (following the assassination of her Mistress)whilst trying to maintain a relationship with the Valkyrie Lind, who has been banished for failing to recover said angel.

* [[http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/117 This image]] from the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=175079 Cruel Ultimatum.]]

* This was done to [[spoiler: Dawnstar]] during the DarkerAndEdgier Giffen run of the ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}''. [[spoiler: She]] seemed to be getting over it, until the entire universe was rebooted in Zero Hour.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': While earlier editions depicted them as a race of fiends on their own, 5th edition retconned the [[HellishHorse Nightmare]] to be pegasi that have had their wings ripped of in a vile ritual.

* There is a broken angel housed in the NERV basement in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', it's the one nailed to a cross. Also, [[spoiler:the [[HalfHumanHybrid part-Angel]] Rei]] might possibly count... [[MetaphoricallyTrue metaphorically speaking]]. For that matter, so could [[spoiler:Kaworu]] and all the [=EVAs=] depending on which interpretation you take. So does the literal "broken Angel" from the second ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie which was captured and experimented with until its bones were stripped bare of flesh.
* Quite similarly to the examples above, the [[spoiler: Organization]] is ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' was revealed to have two captured ''dragon people'' in their basement, which they all but ''harvested''. The sight of those undoubtedly majestic beings who look like some streamlined science-fiction monsters being chained, hooked up to tubes with half their bodies missing is certainly a textbook example, especially considering how they were being [[AndIMustScream kept just barely alive]] so their flesh remains fresh for the various uses they have for it...[[spoiler:Fortunately Miria grants them a MercyKill.]]
* From the fourth arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' on, a huge theme of the series is whether or not the magic that Beatrice weaves is truly bad or not. Serving to personify this conflict is Beatrice herself, [[spoiler:having been turned into an EmptyShell by Battler, who grieves over her until deciding to resurrect her]].

* While the renegade Shadow Angel Apollonius in ''Anime/GenesisOfAquarion'' is generally portrayed with his wings spread, one flashback to twelve thousand years ago had him rip his own wings off while escaping from [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucifixion]] to protect Celiane, the love of his life.
* Creator/HayaoMiyazaki made a music video set to ''WebAnimation/OnYourMark'' about two police officers who find a winged girl held (and mistreated) by a cult; and then mistreated by the government scientists.
** There's also the [[spoiler:Forest God]] in ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', appearing as [[spoiler:spritely and other-worldy stag with a vaguely anthropomorphic face that spreads life and fertility in its wake--basically a combination of a unicorn-like creature, a {{youkai}} and a {{primordial}} god. Until some fool cuts off its head, that is, at which point the body becomes a EldritchAbomination, mindlessly showering decay and destruction on epic scale until it is reunited with its head.]]

* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' has Crim, an angel that got his halo broken due to odd circumstances, which not only prevents him from using any angelic powers but also has resulted in him being stuck in the mortal plane. He's hoping to eventually get it fixed and return to Heaven, but as the story goes on he grows worried that it will never heal and he'll be stuck in the mortal realm for the rest of his life, even if he's found it's not as bad as he initially thought it would be (for one thing, normally angels with intact halos are incorporeal and invisible, practically incapable of interacting with the world, and several of Crim's contemporaries are actually jealous of his [[CursedWithAwesome newly-gained ability to eat food and -in particular- have sex]] as a charter member of the titular brothel-crawlers).

* Angel from ''Franchise/XMen'' has had this happen to him various times in various continuities.
** In the original comics, he has his wings cut off by a villain, leading to a period of depression. Apocalypse convinces him to do a FaceHeelTurn by promising to "give them back"... by upgrading him into the angel of death with metal wings. And eventually he manages to heal and regrow his wings naturally.
* This was done to [[spoiler: Dawnstar]] during the DarkerAndEdgier Giffen run of the ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}''. [[spoiler: She]] seemed to be getting over it, until the entire universe was rebooted in Zero Hour.
* In the more traditional terms of this trope, we have the Acanti, a race of SpaceWhale that have been enslaved by the Brood for generations. At least one arc of ''Uncanny Franchise/XMen'' in the '80s revolved around saving them.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
** Lucifer asks Dream to cut off his wings for him since this is the last thing that needs to be done before Lucifer can quit being the ruler of Hell. He was also Broken already. Probably as a side effect of either rebelling or living in Hell his beautiful white feathered wings had become blackened bat wings.
** In spin-off series ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', we discover that the ArchangelMichael has been imprisoned for millennia by [[SmugSnake Sand]][[MadScientist alphon]] and had his body cut open repeatedly. The human who sees him in this state narrates how the chains were "obscene" and the brutality even more sickening than it would otherwise be because the victim of it was so magnificent and beautiful, and that the sight of such beauty and ugliness together [[BrownNote hurt his eyes.]]

* In ''Franchise/DisneyFairies: Secret of the Wings'', Tinker Bell has her wings damaged to the point of being unable to fly when crossing over into the country/season of Winter (since her wings can't hold up in cold weather). It's supposed to be impossible to cure, but her twin ends up being a work-around to that.
** There's a story told earlier in the film about a Winter fairy that had his wings damaged while courting a Spring fairy. When the Winter fairy telling Periwinkle the story turns away from her at the end, we see that he's been telling his own story; his wings are missing.

* Lucifer, the TropeCodifier. As he said in ''Film/TheProphecy'' (1995): "I was the first angel, loved once above all others... ''(sings)'' But like all true love... one day it withered on the vine..."

* The angel in ''Film/DateWithAnAngel'' gets winged in a collision with a communications satellite.
* The felling of the Home Tree in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' has a dreadful sense of finality in it and prompts several characters who were hedging their bets to complete their {{Heel Face Turn}}s.
* The dead body of the Kraken in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' is a surefire sign that Beckett is an existential threat to the age of pirates.

* In the film ''Film/{{Noah}},'' the [[spoiler: titular character is helped]] by the [[TheBookOfEnoch Watchers,]] fallen angels who have been encased in stone for disobeying god by aiding humans, who later betrayed them. They understandably distrust humans.
* The titular character of ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'' after her wings are cut off while she's sleeping. The act is wholly responsible for her [[StartofDarkness start of darkness]].

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', the protagonists notice that a dragon-shaped rock has gone missing. They speculate that maybe someone has revived a dragon that was imprisoned in stone. [[spoiler: Turns out, no, it's a basilisk, which is about as intelligent as a dog, while dragons are human-level sentient.]] And then, which is the ''real'' twist of the story, [[spoiler: Oreg comes back after Ward killed him - turns out the body that was killed was not his real one, and he's half dragon, but couldn't shift into that form while he was enslaved and bound to castle Hurog.]]

* ''Uncle Einar Has Big Green Wings'' by Creator/RayBradbury is a similar story. Einar Elliott normally flies at night so he won't attract attention, but after running into electrical wires, his night vision/radar is damaged, perhaps permanently. His kids come up with an ingenious solution.
* In the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novels, the angels of Ravnica are the highest authority in the Boros Legion (the law enforcement guild). Then there's the angel [[SomeCallMeTim Feather]], who committed some unspecified crime and got demoted to wojek (essentially, street cop). Notably, she didn't actually have her wings broken off, just [[PowerLimiter bound by enchanted shackles]].

* ''Haunted'' of Kelley Armstrong's ''Literature/TheOtherworld'' series has Janah, an angel who was driven insane by the Nix.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy, the FairFolk have scars on their back where their wings were amputated after they were shut out of Heaven as fallen angels.
* Brom, the aged Dragon Rider from Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', lost nearly all of his power when his dragon Saphira was killed. Oromis, Brom's fellow Rider, lost nearly all of his physical and magical prowess due to an unknown injury and is nicknamed "The Cripple Who is Whole."

* Ray Cummings' ''TamaOfTheLightCountry'' (written in 1930) is about a young Mercutian woman leading a revolt against a hideous law laid down by the wingless males who run the government. Women on Mercury are born with wings -- but when they marry, the wings have to come off. As in hacked off without anesthesia. There are several moving descriptions of the victims.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' brings us Stilling/Gentling, (both also known as Severing,) a way to permanently cut a Channeler off from magic. [[spoiler: Nynaeve figures out how to cure it, something that was never known even before the last apocalypse.]]

* ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' has Raxtus the dragon, who is small and feeble due to being raised by fairies.
* Self-inflicted in ''Literature/DorothyMustDie,'' where some of the winged monkeys decide to cut their wings off rather than be enslaved and forced to pull [[TheCaligula Dorothy's]] royal chariot.
* The Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/TheTowerOfTheElephant" has such a creature, who is also an EldritchAbomination-- but one who is basically good and has been cruelly mistreated and exploited.
* The fourth ''Literature/AvalonWebOfMagic'' book is about healing a unicorn who had her horn sliced off. TheMentor says that it's not just the unicorn's body that was wounded, but her self-perception- however beautiful and inspiring she looks to the protagonists, she cannot get better because she is still stuck psychologically in that moment.

** The Ethros demon from first season also ends up as this--having corrupted and consumed human souls for millennia, it begs for death after trying to possess a [[EnfantTerrible child]] who turned out to be EvilerThanThou.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In a future timeline, the angel Castiel has lost his angelic powers and operates drugged 24/7 as a cheesy sex guru. He also slowly breaks in the main timeline over season 5, slowly losing his "angel mojo" to the point where he can't heal people and time travel leaves him seriously ill. He also later reveals that he cannot return to Heaven. He does still have his wings, though, and his ability to fly/teleport. [[spoiler:At least until the last couple episodes of the season, at which point he can't fly, can't heal himself, and even needs to sleep]].
** Even though he's been losing his powers, Castiel still held faith in his Father until late in season 5 when Joshua, the one angel who still talks to God, reveals that God [[spoiler:doesn't care about the Apocalypse and has no intentions of stopping it or helping anyone]], at which point Cas snaps completely. However, at the end of "Swan Song", [[spoiler:Cas's angel mojo is restored, with bonuses, when he is resurrected by God]].
** Castiel ''still'' can't catch a break after all of this. In Season 6 he becomes a WellIntentionedExtremist, loses the trust of his friends and eventually [[spoiler:abandons his morals and declares himself the new God]]. And in Season 7, he goes on a power trip, briefly tries to atone only to get killed from the inside, then returns to life sans memories, regains his memories only to perform a HeroicSacrifice that results in him going completely insane, and finally [[spoiler:gets zapped to Purgatory, where he spends the better part of a year fending off Leviathans. He eventually escapes, sanity and old outfit into the bargain. ''Now'' the only problem is Heaven's new management using him as an unwitting spy]].

** As of the season eight finale, [[spoiler:''every'' angel in the ''Supernatural'' universe has been cast from Heaven, apart from the vengeful one who caused it]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', adding cybernetics or modified organs to your body reduces your "Essence" by an amount based on how invasive or alien the part is, and losing essence also causes characters with Magical abilities to decrease their Magic by the same amount (or more, if they only lose part of a point). A magician whose Magic drops to zero due to this becomes "burnt out" - they no longer have access to magical abilities, any magic skills they have become strictly academic knowledge, and they can never regain them aside from extremely rare plot devices or getting a bug spirit shoved into their body (which is at least as bad as it sounds and might well destroy them utterly). The same happens to Technomancers whose Resonance drops to zero.

* ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'' claims that the ''entire freaking Creation'' has gotten this treatment from {{God}} during the War of Wrath. The modern [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness World of Darkness]] has very little to do with the wonders of the young Creation before the Fall, because in His fury at the rebellious angels, God smashed the world they created under His supervision and its current state is a long-term result of the damage sustained back then. (The game also offers a counter-perspective, that he was acting to ''save'' the world at the Fall - but even so, the damage had been done.)
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': While earlier editions depicted them as a race of fiends on their own, 5th edition retconned the [[HellishHorse Nightmare]] to be pegasi that have had their wings ripped of in a vile ritual.

-->I'll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less - freakish! Now he will feel more at home with the other horses, the ones that don't have horns.

* Ico's horns breaking at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'' probably falls under this, though It's open to interpretation.
* The cursed unicorn at the pool in Daventry in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestMaskOfEternity''.
* Ein from ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' is a literal example, in that he had to lose his angel wings in order to get his weapon. This might be a subversion, though, in that he honestly doesn't care about the fact that he has no wings.
** He is rather sensitive about it at the beginning of the game, though, and gets upset when Rose and Marietta point it out.
** From the [[VideoGame/DeptHeaven same series]], we also have Nessiah from the ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' games. Because [[WhoWantsToLiveForever worse things]] were done to him than his wings and power being taken away, and he's made [[EyeScream similar sacrifices]] voluntarily, not much attention is paid to his physical disfigurements in comparison. He does still seem to be self-conscious about it, though.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'''s Prologue ends with your hero becoming a Broken Angel, stranded in the mortal realm without their wings and halo and only retaining some of their Celestrial powers. [[spoiler: This ''pales'' in comparison with some of the ''other'' broken angels you meet later.]]
** The hero becomes ''even more broken'' near the end of the game [[spoiler: when they have to use a Fygg to become a mortal in order to defeat the BigBad.]] Fortunately, [[spoiler: the post-game gives the hero a chance to regain some of their abilities (i.e. being able to see Stella and Sterling again) using another Fygg.]]
* After ATasteOfPower in the prologue, the Horseman of War in ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' is stripped of nearly all of his powers by his superiors after being accused of prematurely triggering the Apocalypse. The rest of the game is spent finding out who is really responsible while rebuilding War's power (and then some since he gets new weapons too). War never regains the ability to maintain [[SuperMode Chaos Form]] indefinitely though.

%%* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Hoshino Yumemi]] in ''VisualNovel/{{Planetarian}}'', [[DownerEnding near the end of the game]].
%%* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had Kimahri. Hornless.

* Both the night elves and blood elves in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' have to deal with a great loss. The night elves had to sacrifice their immortality, their isolation and their territory to save the world from demonic invasion. The blood elves lost their allies, their source of magic and much of their homeland to the Scourge and had to turn to corruptive fel magic to sustain themselves. Luckily both races have made headway into fixing things. The night elves joined with the Alliance and become protectors of nature, while the blood elves have found new allies in the Horde and new purpose and magic in [[CrystalDragonJesus the Light.]]
* Trias from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' is an angel whose wings have been reduced to a skeletal husk during his long imprisonment, giving him a somewhat sinister appearance. [[spoiler: As it transpired, his wings burned off [[FallenAngel from his fall]]. Trias only notes that all the fury of the abyss pales in comparison to the force that did that to him.]]

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'':
** Janus Audron, the LastOfHisKind WingedHumanoid, who had [[BeatStillMyHeart his heart ripped out]] by [[spoiler:Raziel's past self]]. Raziel's attempt to revive him is a major plot point. Not that that helped any. Later in the series we see what happens to him after Raziel succeeds in reviving him; he's captured, caged, stuck full of tubes, and drained of blood(as an immortal vampire, this doesn't kill him, only weakens him) to the point where he degenerates into a hideous monstrosity that barely has the strength to stand up.
** Raziel himself was once the greatest of Kain's lieutenants. When he revealed his new magnificent wings, Kain jealously [[spoiler:though in reality his motives were far more complicated]] had Raziel executed. Raziel was revived by the Elder God, but he was left a mere shadow of his former self. His once beautiful wings were reduced to tatters, and he himself was a hideous soul sucking wraith.
* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', [[spoiler:Tyrael]] is a ''self-inflicted'' case. [[spoiler:He tore off his own wings to become a mortal when he could no longer tolerate his fellow angels' refusal to protect Sanctuary from the demons.]]
* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarAscension'', the Hecatonchires is a once mighty precursor to the Olympians who betrayed his blood oath to Zeus and suffered greatly for it. The Furies sealed him in stone, hollowed him out to make a dungeon, and allow Megaera's pet insects to slowly devour him from the inside. [[AndIMustScream He's still alive too.]]
* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2'', Dracula starts out as an invincible [[PhysicalGod Physical]] GodOfEvil who [[OneManArmy wipes out an army of half a million men all by himself]]. After spending centuries in a deep sleep deprived of blood [[spoiler:brought on by being impaled with a sword forged with a fragment of the one weapon that can kill him]], Dracula awakens a withered broken thing with barely any power at all. Restoring his full powers is a major part of the game.

* In ''VideoGame/Drakengard2'', the once mighty red Dragon Angelus from ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' is trapped in unbearable agony after Verdelet made her seal even more powerful.
* In ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'', Michael is the strongest Dragon. He is slain in the prologue by the Demon Dragon Gabriel [[spoiler:who is also arguably an example since it is the dragon Gabriella who sacrificed her own mind and even her gender to become a demonic abomination that could take on Michael]]. Michael's reincarnation Mikhael is a tremendous disappointment to Zero since he lacks Michael's maturity and power. It takes the rest of the game for Mikhael to regain the power he once possessed as Michael [[spoiler:and in the end he is left ''emotionally'' broken instead as he is forced to kill his mother figure Zero.]]
* Almost literal in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''. The [[WingedHumanoid Heron]] Rafiel was rendered permanently unable to fly due to trauma and exhaustion. He at least fared better than most of his people, [[EndangeredSpecies who fell victim to genocide. ]]
* The Final Boss of ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', [[spoiler: the titular character]], is in such a state when you confront them, having been badly ravaged by the Infection [[spoiler: after being made a [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan vessel for the Infection]] and [[LeakingCanOfEvil being unable to contain it properly]]]]. Their weapon is cracked (as is their mask), they're missing an arm, and the infection at times spews out of them and puppeteers their body. That they're still a dangerous challenge is more a testament to how powerful they were before. You can fight them in their prime (in the dreamworld) in the ''Godmaster'' DLC [[spoiler: as the Pure Vessel]], and it's a much tougher challenge as the boss has more hit points, a few new tricks, and their attacks do double damage as in the main fight.
* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'':
** [[spoiler:The Third Lamb]]. Once, a majestic hippogryph who soared the skies above the Dome of Light, protecting it from invaders and being the pride and joy of both the congregation and her owner. She had the praise of her master, a pride, and a name. But when [[spoiler:the Untouched Inquisitor, in his unrelenting zeal, came to see sin within the Dome and subjected it to several vicious purges]], she lost all of these, [[spoiler:as they were made sacrifices by the Inquisitor, who made her into his broken thrall]]. The effects of this will be quite clear once you find her, to the point the quote above about imagining if someone "took a sledgehammer to it" seems rather close to the truth.
** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in the penultimate dungeon, [[spoiler:the Crypt of Dead Gods. The Nameless God has been usurping the roles of every deity in history, locking them in the Crypt of Dead Gods and exploiting GodsNeedPrayerBadly by intercepting and answering their prayers in their place in order to starve them to death. You cannot find most of them, what with them having decayed to very little, but The Three, ''those'' Three that are the newest gods (possibly even ''your'' gods), have been killed recently enough that their mindless corpses will assault you in their sorry state. Deities reduced to shambling horrors is a long way to fall, in terms of this trope]].
* One ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fits the trope: [[spoiler:Necrozma. As shown in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'', it used to be a deity-like Pokémon called the "Blinding One", willingly sharing its light with all of [[TheMultiverse Ultra Space]] (light which would come to be known as Z-Power and fuel the Z-Moves still used today). Then the ancient humans of Ultra Megalopolis tried to control it, only to end up crippling it and destroying its ability to generate light - including the light that composed most of its body. Whereas the Blinding One was a brilliant armored dragon made of golden light, now Necrozma is just a pitch black prism creature haphazardly made from its original form's armor, left in a constant state of pain and hunger that can never be sated. While Necrozma can temporarily regain its true form with the player's help, it isn't a permanent solution, and Necrozma will be dependent on Nebby and the player to share their light and ease its pain.]]
* The [[GameMod ROM Hack]] ''VideoGame/PokemonClover'' features the Ruined Regi Trio, which are the legendary [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Regi Trio]] in what seems to be a decayed and undead state: Regirock has turned into Regirode, with huge chunks of its body missing and looking mismatched thanks to unsucsessful attempts to rebuild itself with any stones it can find, Regice turned into Regimelt, whose whole head and part of his arms have completely melted away and Registeel turned into Regirust, who is so rusted away that it has lost one arm and two legs and the only arm remaining is barely holding on via a few wires. In adition to their original Rock, Ice and Steel types, they all now recieve a secondary Ghost-type.
* A myth in ''VideoGame/SixAges'' describes the betrayal and mutilation of Hippogriff, who never regrew her wings. (It was written after the death of [[TopGod Yelm]] forced all Riders to leave their ShiningCity for the alien, dangerous mortal world.) But she did realize that she didn't need wings to be great. [[spoiler:She is now known as Gamari, the mother of all horses.]]
* This is ultimately why [[spoiler:Mr. Eaten]] is the way he is in ''VideoGame/FallenLondon''. Once known as [[spoiler:Mr. Candles]], he was subjected to a rather horrible RasputinianDeath, leaving only a concept behind - a concept of ''hunger''.
* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': In the Repentance expansion, one of the new characters, [[spoiler: Tainted Azazel]] is a broken ''demon''. His horns are broken and his wings are ripped, making him unable to fly, in exchange he gets a new attack called Hemoptysis, which allows him to release a short-ranged [[BloodFromTheMouth blood sneeze]] that pushes his enemies back if he releases his [[HighPressureBlood main attack]] before fully charged.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The angel [[TheHeavy Juggernaut Star]] was reforged into a [[ManOnFire flaming]] [[SpikesOfVillainy spiked]] skeleton when it joined the Thorn Knights, but its secret true form is revealed to be a gaunt [[spoiler:woman]] with amputated wing stumps. As angels' spiritual bodies shift to match their mindsets, this maiming is as likely to represent a mental trauma as a physical one.

* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' has the Grey Faerie, a faerie whose wings have been ruined and has lost her powers. Nothing has been done with her aside from her back story sadly.
** Though once on their short stories section in their "newspaper", someone wrote a story (maybe it was part of a short series?) that gave her a backstory. Well worth a read if they still do the news paper.
* Tan, a character in the RP group ''Heaven Hell Academy'', is a former guardian angel who sacrificed his wings, voice, and eyesight to save the girl he was supposed to be protecting.
* ''Roleplay/EquestriaChronicles'' has pegasi with torn wings and unicorns with broken horns... who actually seem not to care too much. They'll express their dislike of the situation, but they won't actually act as if they are doomed.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs''. The two unicorns on Noah's Ark get their horns chewed off by the little dog who sees their horns as nothing but tasty bones.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Rainbow Dash hurt her wings in "Read It And Weep". She goes stir-crazy with boredom due to being grounded and stuck in a hospital ward. She's still better off than her fellow patient who is stuck in a full body cast. Also happened in the season 2 premiere when Discord took away the wings and horns of the non-Earth Pony Mane Cast members to make his game more "fair". Twilight and Rarity FreakOut.

* The [[GameMod ROM Hack]] ''VideoGame/PokemonClover'' features the Ruined Regi Trio, which are the legendary [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Regi Trio]] in what seems to be a decayed and undead state: Regirock has turned into Regirode, with huge chunks of its body missing and looking mismatched in unsucsessful attempt to rebuild itself with any stones it can find, Regice turned into Regimelt, whose whole head and part of his arms have completely melted away and Registeel turned into Regirust, who is so rusted away that it has lost one arm and two legs and the only arm remaining is barely holding on via a few wires. In adition to their original Rock, Ice and Steel types, they all now recieve a secondary Ghost-type.

* The [[GameMod ROM Hack]] ''VideoGame/PokemonClover'' features the Ruined Regi Trio, which are the legendary [[PokemonRubyAndSapphire Regi Trio]] in what seems to be a decayed and undead state: Regirock has turned into Regirode, with huge chunks of its body missing and looking mismatched in unsucsessful attempt to rebuild itself with any stones it can find, Regice turned into Regimelt, whose whole head and part of his arms have completely melted away and Registeel turned into Regirust, who is so rusted away that it has lost one arm and two legs and the only arm remaining is barely holding on via a few wires. In adition to their original Rock, Ice and Steel types, they all now recieve a secondary Ghost-type.

* At least one of the {{Revised Ending}}s to the infamous ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'' has this [[spoiler:happen to Rainbow Dash. She's saved, but her wings are not.]]

** In fact, "Rainbow Dash loses/hurts her wings" is one of the single most common ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FiM]]'' fanfic plotlines, right up there with "Twilight messes up a spell".