History Main / BrokenHero

** [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]]' home city was destroyed and he was possessed by Parallax.

** Franchise/{{Batman}}'s parents were killed by some mugger in a dark alley changing his outlook on life and convincing him as a child to dedicate his life to fighting and trying to prevent crime.

** [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]]' home city was destroyed and he was possessed by Parallax.
* Pretty much [[DysfunctionJunction everybody]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. There's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (grew up poor during the Great Depression, parents died when he was young, dead sidekick and identity issues), ComicBook/LukeCage (grew up in a bad part of New York, wrongly jailed for drug possession), ComicBook/IronMan (alcoholism, depression, self-worth issues, romantic issues, and massive survivor's guilt), ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (disfigured, partially reformed murderer, crazy), every single [[ComicBook/XMen X-Man]] (FantasticRacism and often some of the most stupidly dysfunctional families imaginable), the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastic "I promise I'll make you normal again someday, Ben!" Four]], a certain Dr. [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], Rick "the Hulk is my fault and I'm often trapped in the Negative Zone" Jones, the seething mass of neuroses that is Franchise/SpiderMan, everything that's wrong with [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and... yeah, pretty much everybody else.
** The [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Initiative]] in the Marvel Universe is a government-subsidized effort to train the next generation of superheroes, which includes some old characters and new ones. Those that weren't ''already'' broken when they went into the program...are quickly and ''brutally'' broken down by the events in the Initiative series.

->''"I see the sadness behind your eyes. It tells a story that makes me want to weep. Pain and loss. But it drives you, makes you strong."''
-->-- '''[[FortuneTeller Sha'ira]]''' to a '''[[DoomedHometown Colonist]] Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect''

* Although not the hero, Iroh of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' embodies this trope rather well. Introduced as Zuko's happy-go-lucky crazy old uncle, it's later shown that he was a badass general before [[spoiler:his father and son were both killed (Azulon was a major AssholeVictim, though)]] and his younger brother [[spoiler: took the throne instead of him]].
* Heavily {{deconstructed}} in ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman''. As it turns out, becoming a decent and caring person in spite of the horrid experiences suffered might bring rather dire implications if [[AngstWhatAngst the person doesn't deal directly with his psyche]]; as such, he could resort to becoming TheParagon and hollow himself as the happy façade he puts on becomes thinner and thinner (like [[StepfordSmiler Secretariat]]), he could keep the "helping and comforting" part by doing noble deeds out of selfish motives or a guilty conscience (like [[MightyWhitey Sebastian St. Claire]]) or without being a bad person themselves, he could let the pent-up fury and sadness leak through the surface until becoming outright nastiness (like [[SourOutsideSadInside [=BoJack=]]]). You can be a Broken Hero but without real help or support, ''it will cost you''.
* WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack becomes this trope by the time of the final season. Having spent literally decades trapped in the BadFuture and unable to find a way back home or to destroy EvilOverlord Aku due to having lost his sword, he has hit rock bottom and became a shell of his former self hallucinating with all the people that he failed to save. In fact, he expresses suicidal thoughts with a sinister version of himself inside of his head. Nevertheless, Jack still continues his journey, [[spoiler: overcomes his inner demons, and kills Aku for good, thanks to the help of Ashi.]]

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has most of its protagonists as this -- which is unsurprising, since it draws heavily from the Marvel Universe. It gets to the point where, by the sequel, the only protagonists who're ''not'' obviously neurotic or traumatised are Clark Kent, Thor (who's just deeply stressed by all the trouble Harry manages to find himself in), and Clint Barton -- and we don't see much of Clint's point of view, either. Harry, though, is a prize-winning example, thanks to functionally becoming a ChildSoldier despite the best efforts of the Avengers, going through a horrific TraumaCongaLine that leaves him with terrible [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and [[TookALevelInJerkass a slow recovery thereafter]]. However, unusually for this trope and setting, he -- and others -- gets therapy, recovering slowly and steadily, remaiining a fundamentally a kind and decent person and [[ChronicHeroSyndrome a hero down to the bone]] even [[KnightInSourArmor in his grumpier moods]]. He comes to believe that while [[TheAntiNihilist there's no justice or mercy in the universe... that just means he should make some.]] There's a reason that a suit of armour designed for him in the sequel is codenamed 'Project Galahad' - and that's before Book III completes the reconstruction process into a KnightOfFaith.

A hero who is a dropout, result of a failed experiment (in SciFi), or maybe just [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned]]/[[DarkAndTroubledPast abused as a child]]. Nonetheless, this character is [[ThePollyanna amazingly cheerful and optimistic]], and [[NiceGuy nice]] to even [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the people who don't appreciate them]]. May be introduced as a BigEater, [[TheDitz a ditz]], or some other [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} harmless personality]]. They may even [[SelfDeprecation make some ostensibly humorous jabs at themself]].

Their BackStory is usually learned in flashbacks sometime later in a show, sometimes without warning. This can shock the other characters, especially TheRival AntiHero, and earns them respect. By definition, they are usually also [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smilers]] or {{Sad Clown}}s.

* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': [[AllLovingHero Allen Walker]], the protagonist and one of the ''sweetest'' and most adorable characters you can find in the whole series. He's [[NiceGuy nice]], [[ThePollyanna cheerful]], [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], and [[{{Bishonen}} really]], ''[[BadassAdorable really]]'' cute, but his life has been kind of traumatic. By which we mean that his parents abandoned him, [[spoiler: he was beaten by ''clowns'' until he got adopted]], his foster father died, his mentor abused him, and he has to watch tormented Akuma souls screaming in pain. His whole life has been, and ''still continues to be'', a never-ending TraumaCongaLine, [[StepfordSmiler not that you'd realize by looking at him right away.]]
** And (in the anime) the very first Akuma he killed (besides Mana) was his best (and only) childhood friend.

* Sousuke Sagara from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' is a borderline example -- he is normally TheStoic but is a mentally well-adjusted and good-hearted person under it all, if [[NoSocialSkills somewhat socially awkward]]. For someone who has been a Mujahideen {{Child Soldier|s}} since the age of seven before moving on to work for a mercenary army and has literally never known normal civilian life, that's rather impressive. The sympathy this engenders for him from the school staff may explain in part [[SociopathicHero why he always seems to get away with bringing guns to and detonating parts of the school building on a regular basis.]]
** It also helps that Mithril [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney bribed the hell out of his school]] when he first enrolled.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', Duo Maxwell's seemingly self-congratulatory "God of Death" (Shinigami) nickname takes on a new light when it's revealed that he took it on given the fact that [[DoomMagnet anyone he cares about tends to die if they hang around him]].
** Done again with Sanders in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam''; he picked up the nickname given the unfortunate tendency of almost every unit he joined getting wiped out on their third mission together, except for Sanders himself.

* By the same author as the above, ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has most of its protagonists as this -- which is unsurprising, since it draws heavily from the Marvel Universe. It gets to the point where, by the sequel, the only protagonists who're ''not'' obviously neurotic or traumatised are Clark Kent, Thor (who's just deeply stressed by all the trouble Harry manages to find himself in), and Clint Barton -- and we don't see much of Clint's point of view, either. Harry, though, is a prize-winning example, with the trauma from frequent murder attempts and despite the best attempts of the Avengers to prevent it, functionally becoming a ChildSoldier, steadily building up into a TraumaCongaLine that triggers a horrible case of [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and a [[spoiler: stint as the Dark Phoenix]], and [[TookALevelInJerkass a slow recovery thereafter]]. However, unusually for this trope and setting, he -- and others -- gets therapy, which helps his recovery, and he's fundamentally a kind and decent person (if not always a nice one), [[ChronicHeroSyndrome a hero down to the bone]] even [[KnightInSourArmor in his grumpier moods]], comes to believe that while [[TheAntiNihilist there's no justice or mercy in the universe... that just means he should make some.]] There's a reason that a suit of armour designed for him in the sequel is codenamed 'Project Galahad'.

* EVERYBODY in ''Manga/GetBackers''.
* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': Kiba Yuuto is a calm, confident and skillful Knight. His [[StepfordSmiler perpetual smile]] and collected demeanor hide the fact that he is [[spoiler:the only survivor of the Church's Excalibur experiments, who were so brutal that left him traumatized and killed all his friends when he was a mere child]] and to top it off, he [[spoiler:is an artificial human without sense of self-worth; he is so deeply loyal to Rias simply because he has nothing else to hold on, something that Rias knows but is unable to fix]]. He even admits to it in the Kokabiel arc. Though it gets kinda fixed with Issei and Koneko's friendship (with a healthy dose of Rias' ToughLove to help).

* Vash the Stampede from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''.

* Judai Yuki from ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' turns out to be one of these by Season 3.

* Harry in ''Fanfic/TheWizardInTheShadows''. All the trauma of the Wizarding War, plus four years of constant and brutal warfare in Middle Earth with no prospect of return are implied to have driven him a little mad. At first, this seems to be only in the {{Cloudcuckoolander}} sense, with the darker side hinted only in respect to the fact that this is someone who hunts ''Ringwraiths'' for ''fun''. He becomes more cheerful and better adjusted as time goes on.
* By the same author as the above, ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has most of its protagonists as this -- which is unsurprising, since it draws heavily from the Marvel Universe. It gets to the point where, by the sequel, the only protagonists who're ''not'' obviously neurotic or traumatised are Clark Kent, Thor (who's just deeply stressed by all the trouble Harry manages to find himself in), and Clint Barton -- and we don't see much of Clint's point of view, either. Harry, though, is a prize-winning example, with the trauma from frequent murder attempts and despite the best attempts of the Avengers to prevent it, functionally becoming a ChildSoldier, steadily building up into a TraumaCongaLine that triggers a horrible case of [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and a [[spoiler: stint as the Dark Phoenix]], and [[TookALevelInJerkass a slow recovery thereafter]].
** However, unusually for this trope and setting, he -- and others -- gets therapy, which helps his recovery, and he's fundamentally a kind and decent person (if not always a nice one), [[ChronicHeroSyndrome a hero down to the bone]] even [[KnightInSourArmor in his grumpier moods]], comes to believe that while [[TheAntiNihilist there's no justice or mercy in the universe... that just means he should make some.]] There's a reason that a suit of armour designed for him in the sequel is codenamed 'Project Galahad'.

* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Shinji, Asuka, and Rei were abused as children. When they convert to ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Chaos]]'', though, they focus on the positive aspects of their dark gods, and although neither of them is nice, Shinji becomes optimistic and hopeful, Rei happy and mirthful, and Asuka courageous and passionate.
* In spite of everything that they endured in ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', the main characters -- Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Touji -- tried to remain optimistic and positive during and after the War.
* When Shinji and Asuka got together and befriended Rei in ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'', the Children became a bit happier due to their stronger emotional bonds. They're still traumatized teenagers, but they smile more often and they're actually hopeful about their future. And they've become better warriors, too.
* ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'': [[AfterTheEnd After Third Impact]], [[ChildSoldiers Shinji and Asuka]] managed to overcome their many psychological issues and insecurities and became a little happier and more upbeat.

* ''Fanfic/{{Lightwaves}}'': Hanna in a nutshell. [[OrphansOrdeal Parents dead]]. Kind of by his fault. [[PlayingWithSyringes Experimented upon.]] Horrifically. Part of (a pretty downtrodden) LaResistance in a {{Dystopia}} that makes ''flowers'' illegal. Living in an abandoned carpet factory with a DrJerk. AllLovingHero extraordinaire.

* Neville Longbottom of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books eventually evolves into a Broken Hero after the tragic insanity of his parents is revealed to Harry.

* All the Outcasts of ''Literature/{{Tasakeru}}'' in one way or another.

* Dr. Gregory House, from ''[[Series/{{House}} House, MD]]''. Minus the "nice" and "cheerful" bits.

* Really? [[PickACard Pick a]] Creator/BioWare [[PickACard game. ''Any'' Bioware game.]] If your PlayerCharacter isn't here already, they will be by game's end.

* Niko Bellic of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' once his full backstory is revealed.

* Commander Shepard of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series can fit this depending on how you play Him/Her. Two of the backstories, [[StreetUrchin Earthborn]] and [[DoomedHomeTown Colonist]] has Shepard being an orphan, the former has Shepard being a product of the streets while the latter had Shepard's entire family killed.
** [[IronWoobie Colonist Shepard can even admit to one character that s/he was totally broken for a while after his/her parents were killed and maybe still is.]]
** Regardless of background, by the time of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the [[TheChainsOfCommanding sheer weight of responsibility]] on Shepard's back has [[DeathSeeker pushed him/her to the breaking point]].

* Shirou in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. As his BackStory reveals, he lost his family, his friends, and his old life in the great fire 10 years ago, but is still extremely friendly and helpful towards almost everyone and never seems bothered by the event beyond some bad dreams. As one of the game paths later reveals, Shirou basically lost his entire existence and sense of self from the trauma as well, and his personality was 'rebuilt' around the fact that he was rescued when basically no one else was. Shirou is fundamentally broken on a mental level, in that he is unable to live for his own sake and can only find meaning in life through the act of saving others like he himself was once saved. [[spoiler:Kirei Kotomine is something of an inversion -- A Broken ''Villain''. Like Shirou, he has no sense of self and only defines himself through others. The trouble is, while Shirou finds his meaning in helping others, Kotomine finds his in the ''suffering'' of others.]]

* Beast Boy from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''. Especially considering his backstory in the original comics...

* Sousuke Sagara from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is a borderline example -- he is normally TheStoic but is a mentally well-adjusted and good-hearted person under it all, if [[NoSocialSkills somewhat socially awkward]]. For someone who has been a Mujahideen {{Child Soldier|s}} since the age of seven before moving on to work for a mercenary army and has literally never known normal civilian life, that's rather impressive. The sympathy this engenders for him from the school staff may explain in part [[SociopathicHero why he always seems to get away with bringing guns to and detonating parts of the school building on a regular basis.]]

* Pretty much EVERYBODY in ''Manga/GetBackers''.
* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': Kiba Yuuto is a calm, confident and skillful Knight. His [[StepfordSmiler perpetual smile]] and collected demeanor hide the fact that he is [[spoiler:the only survivor of the Church's Excalibur experiments, who were so brutal that left him traumatized and killed all his friends when he was a mere child]] and to top it off, he [[spoiler:is an artificial human without sense of self-worth; he is so deeply loyal to Rias simply because he has nothing else to hold on, something that Rias knows but is unable to fix]]. He even admits to it in the Kokabiel arc. Though it gets kinda fixed with Issei and Koneko's friendship (with a healthy dose of Rias' ToughLove to help).

* Pretty much [[DysfunctionJunction everybody]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. There's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (grew up poor during the Great Depression, parents died when he was young, dead sidekick and identity issues), ComicBook/LukeCage (grew up in a bad part of New York, wrongly jailed for drug possession), ComicBook/IronMan (alcoholism, depression, self-worth issues, romantic issues, and massive survivor's guilt), ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (disfigured, partially reformed murderer, crazy), every single [[ComicBook/XMen X-Man]] (FantasticRacism and often some of the most stupidly dysfunctional families imaginable), the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastic "I promise I'll make you normal again someday, Ben!" Four]], a certain Dr. [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], Rick "the Hulk is my fault and I'm often trapped in the Negative Zone" Jones, the seething mass of neuroses that is Franchise/SpiderMan, everything that's wrong with [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and... yeah, pretty much everybody else.

* ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' always appears to be a cheerful aristocrat and a MotorMouth, frequently compared in-universe to Bertie Wooster by both the narrator and other characters, however it is revealed that he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the War. We get literal flashbacks from him when he relives events of it after a particularly stressful case triggers him and also [[FlashbackNightmare Flashback Nightmares]].

* Rosario Hernandez in the ''Literature/UrbanDragon'' books is an obese homeless woman who managed to tame a dragon, befriend ghouls, and fight monsters

* Beast Boy from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. Especially considering his backstory in the original comics...

* ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' always appears to be a cheerful RichIdiotWithNoDayJob and a MotorMouth, frequently compared in-universe to Bertie Wooster by both the narrator and other characters, however it is revealed that he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the War. We get literal flashbacks from him when he relives events of it after a particularly stressful case triggers him and also [[FlashbackNightmare Flashback Nightmares]].

* Krista Renz from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. She's a sweet, beautiful girl adored by everyone because of her kindness and considered the "Goddess" of the 104th Trainees Squad. However, it turns out that she's [[spoiler:a HeroicBastard disowned by her noble family, with massive issues concerning her self-worth. She's a DeathSeeker so desperate to die in a way that will get her praised that she was willing to risk the life of an injured comrade, and joins the [[RedShirtArmy Recon Corps]] while crying]]. Ymir calls her on it numerous times, and she's begun to improve as a result.

** Tohru Honda lost her father at a very young age, her mother in her teens, and ended up living in a tent. Nevertheless, she is cheerful and bright -- so much that other characters who want to help and provide moral support have to figure out on their own that she's in need of it.

* Sousuke Sagara from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is a borderline example -- he is normally TheStoic, but is a mentally well-adjusted and good-hearted person under it all, if [[NoSocialSkills somewhat socially awkward]]. For someone who has been a Mujahideen {{Child Soldier|s}} since the age of seven before moving on to work for a mercenary army and has literally never known normal civilian life, that's rather impressive. The sympathy this engenders for him from the school staff may explain in part [[SociopathicHero why he always seems to get away with bringing guns to and detonating parts of the school building on a regular basis.]]

* [[HandsomeLech Miroku]] from ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' is an easygoing, carefree and cheerful guy who likes to joke and tease, even though he will die very young being consumed by the [[{{curse}} Wind Tunnel]] in his right hand.

* Oz Vessalius from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' pretty much ''embodies'' this trope. He's a CheerfulChild StepfordSmiler who was completely shunned by his father at a young age, despite wanting desperately to impress him. His pride/confidence pretty much gets ''crushed'' after failing to save a girl from [[spoiler: her own death -- illegal contractor]] and a little boy [[spoiler:who ends up losing his father and his own soul to chains.]] Nonetheless, he ''tries'' to act like he's fine and '''smiles to everyone'''. As of Retrace LXX, already pretty shaken up, he realizes that he is actually a freaking [[spoiler: stuffed bunny, the chain B-Rabbit who, one hundred years ago, was forced to murder countless innocent people.]] By the end of Retrace LXXIV, he is [[BreakTheCutie almost completely mentally and emotionally broken]] thanks to his memories resurfacing as well as [[BreakThemByTalking interference by]] [[spoiler: [[MagnificentBastard Jack]].]]

* The [[Creator/DCComics DC]] universe has its fair share of hard luck heroes:

** Dick Grayson (ComicBook/{{Robin}} I[=/=]ComicBook/{{Nightwing}})'s parents (and in some versions aunt, uncle and cousin) fell to their deaths in front of him, he was threatened by the mobsters responsible, separated from the circus he'd considered extended family, and thrown in a juvenile detention center because the Gotham Child Services workers were corrupt and overworked. He then escaped and tried to track down his parent's killers himself before becoming Bruce Wayne's ward.
** Jason Todd (ComicBook/{{Robin}} II[=/=]ComicBook/RedHood) watched his mother slowly succumb to her addictions while his deadbeat father died in jail and was forced to eek out a living as a homeless teen. Then he was placed in a home that turned out to be run by a criminal using the kids to commit crimes before being taken in by Bruce and becoming Robin. [[note]]His further misfortunes had him turn to murder rather than stay a hero, but given his violent death, the manipulation ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul put him through for years, and his forced dip in a mind altering Lazarus Pit this is understandable.[[/note]]
** Cass Cain (ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2000}} II[=/=]Black Bat) was raised as a human weapon by her father who didn't even allow her to learn to speak, and then ran away after her first kill as she saw the horror and pain of her victim and drifted homeless and without language to aid her until she came to Gotham determined to join the Bat's crusade due to Bruce's determination not to kill.

* Pretty much [[DysfunctionJunction everybody]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. There's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (grew up poor during the Great Depression, parents died when he was young, dead sidekick and identity issues), ComicBook/LukeCage (grew up in a bad part of New York, wrongly jailed for drug possession), ComicBook/IronMan (alcoholism, depression, self-worth issues, romantic issues and massive survivor's guilt), ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (disfigured, partially reformed murderer, crazy), every single [[ComicBook/XMen X-Man]] (FantasticRacism and often some of the most stupidly dysfunctional families imaginable), the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastic "I promise I'll make you normal again someday, Ben!" Four]], a certain Dr. [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], Rick "the Hulk is my fault and I'm often trapped in the Negative Zone" Jones, the seething mass of neuroses that is Franchise/SpiderMan, everything that's wrong with [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and... yeah, pretty much everybody else.
** The [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Initiative]] in the Marvel Universe is a government subsidized effort to train the next generation of superheroes, which includes some old characters and new ones. Those that weren't ''already'' broken when they went into the program...are quickly and ''brutally'' broken down by the events in the Initiative series.
** Then you have ComicBook/TheSentry, who makes the rest combined look well adjusted. And that's on his better days.

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Shinji and Asuka were severely traumatized due to deep childhood trauma and being children fighting a war they did not understand. They tried to save the world but at the end they were so broken that Shinji let it die. Their lives got worse during the next years while they tried survive in a devastated world ruled by warlords, but after getting help and an improved and more optimistic outlook they are again fighting to save their world.

* By the same author as the above, ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has most of its protagonists as this -- which is unsurprising, since it draws heavily from the Marvel Universe. It gets to the point where, by the sequel, the only protagonists who're ''not'' obviously neurotic or traumatised are Clark Kent, Thor (who's just deeply stressed by all the trouble Harry manages to find himself in), and Clint Barton -- and we don't see much of Clint's point of view, either. Harry, though, is prize-winning example, with the trauma from frequent murder attempts and despite the best attempts of the Avengers to prevent it, functionally becoming a ChildSoldier, steadily building up into a TraumaCongaLine that triggers a horrible case of [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and a [[spoiler: stint as the Dark Phoenix]], and [[TookALevelInJerkass a slow recovery thereafter]].

* ''Fanfic/Flashpoint2AdventSolaris'' shows us a Barry Allen that has lived through the events of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDarkApokolipsWar'' and he is not the same after what he went through, constantly fighting through bouts of PTSD as he tries to save the world from it's latest crisis.

* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei were abused children. When they convert to ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Chaos]]'', though, they focus on the positive aspects of their dark gods, and although neither of them is nice, Shinji becomes optimistic and hopeful, Rei happy and mirthful, and Asuka courageous and passionate.
* In spite of everything what they endured in ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', the main characters -- Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Touji -- tried to remain optimistic and positive during and after the War.

* ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' always appears to be a cheerful RichIdiotWithNoDayJob and a MotorMouth, frequently compared in universe to Bertie Wooster by both the narrator and other characters, however it is revealed that he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the War. We get literal flashbacks from him when he relives events of it after a particularly stressful case triggers him and also [[FlashbackNightmare Flashback Nightmares]].

** It should be noted, however, that Fox employed ExecutiveMeddling after viewing the pilot to make him more of a jokester; his portrayal in the pilot episode was ''somewhat'' more low-key and bitter. But in all versions there's still an element of this depending on the circumstances and Mal's mood.

** Actually subverted on nearly all counts. Teal'c only lost his father, not his mother, and while Daniel certainly did lose his biological parents, his foster parents were never mentioned in {{canon}}. If he did lose them, too, we didn't hear about it. And his backstory was alluded to since the original [[Film/{{Stargate}} Stargate movie]], as was Jack's particular tragedy -- Jack O'Neill having made his first appearance trying to commit suicide with a nuclear bomb. Daniel's being 'polite' is often strewn with pithy and/or patronizing comments, and his having faith in humanity could be considered gullibility. Jack's open hostility, sometimes snide cynicism and occasional moral pragmatism disqualify him completely, though in the [[DarkAndTroubledPast trauma stakes]] he could probably trump Daniel. Teal'c has a similar problem to Jack, and Sam was never broken enough to qualify.

** Castiel fits this trope perfectly; in "The Great Escapist" it was revealed that [[spoiler:Castiel repeatedly rebelled for mankind against whatever order he deemed too dangerous for them like the slaughter in Egypt, which lead his superiors to use torture, memory wiping and brainwashing to punish him and force him to be obedient again, which never lasted for long as Naomi complained about having to do it too many times]], and that's not counting all the times he was used, given up on by his so called friends [[spoiler:(when Dean kicked him out of the bunker right after he died to be homeless again without any help)]] and told over and over how useless and expandable he is by everyone. Nevertheless, he still finds it in him to help save people and show mercy even to the people who wronged him, [[spoiler:like how he decided to let Metatron go in Season 11 after he took his grace, and destroyed most of it to cause the fall, which made him a target to all the angels and hated by them]].

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Ragna the Bloodedge was a young man who lived happily with his [[{{Jerkass}} brother Jin]] and his sister Saya. Then a psychotic hipster named Yuuki Terumi burned down his home, killed his adoptive guardian and chopped his arm off. He gets a new arm called the Azure Grimoire from a girl who rescues him, which grants him awesome power but will probably one day kill him horribly. He's a man who has lost almost everything he's ever held dear to him, and it really shows in his attitude towards life. However, he's a source of much of the game's comedy moments, with most of the cast snarking at him and/or kicking his ass.

** [[TheBigGuy Big lovable goofball Snow]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is an orphan. You never find out about his past, per say, but there are moments where it's demonstrated just how much he really longs for the family he never had, and how devoted he is to his fiancee, slowly endearing him--uh, sort of -- to Lightning.
* Lucius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''. He was brutally tormented in an orphanage after his parents died when he was three, yet he still treats everyone with compassion and fairness, even going so far as to say that he wished that the man that abused him could still live well. He even forgives the man who murdered his father (and by proxy, his mother), and caused his terrible childhood.

* Commander Shepard of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series can fit this depending on you play Him/Her. Two of the backstories, [[StreetUrchin Earthborn]] and [[DoomedHomeTown Colonist]] has Shepard being an orphan, the former has Shepard being a product of the streets while the latter had Shepard's entire family killed.

** Leanne. Several times it's remarked how cute and sweet she is, and she is a perpetually upbeat, cheerful, determined and playful little thing. (At one point, a dorky, strange, not physically attractive possibly, uh, 'special' character hires her to go on a date with him as a job. At the end, she refuses the money and flirts honestly with him, saying 'It wouldn't be a date if I took that, now WOULD it?' With a wink and a sweet grin.) She's also totally girly, even when kicking ass and taking names in gun battles. Meanwhile, she's actually the only survivor out of twenty experimental children who were all supposed to die at set dates in an attempt to control the human lifespan. She is very aware of it, and, in fact, attempted to commit suicide immediately before her time was supposed to 'run out', so she would control her own fate. Only one person in her life cared for her, and she's not sure if he's even alive -- the last she saw of him, he was being dragged away after setting her free, assuming she had only a year left to live. Perhaps not as tragic as some examples here, but it certainly counts.
** Vashyron. He is often relied on for comic relief and comedic moments in the game, he is rarely very serious for long unless on a job, he seems to get along with pretty much everyone he comes across, he's a womanizer, [[PapaWolf protective]], and a fun-loving eccentric. He is another lone survivor, however, after his entire military squad was wiped out. By a lone little girl. Well, okay, so she only looked like a little girl. If you don't count the horns. [[spoiler: or the wings, or the creepy too-old woman's voice and super-ninja powers. Seriously, what IS this chick, any way?]] Two of them originally escaped the carnage, but after a rather heart wrenching sacrifice -- only Vashyron was left standing.

** Thoroughly subverted in the No Mercy path by both the Fallen Child themselves and [[spoiler:the ''true'' Fallen Child, [[DemonicPossession who is possessing poor Frisk's body.]] The true Fallen Child is implied even more heavily to have had a nightmarish past, and in the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds No Mercy path has decided to take it out on the entire world.]] [[YouBastard And they couldn't have done it without you...friend.]] ]]
* Gulcasa of the [[VideoGame/YggdraUnion Ancardia]] [[VideoGame/BlazeUnion series]] [[VideoGame/YggdraUnison of]] ''VideoGame/DeptHeaven'' games. You don't see as much of his normal disposition in ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' due to his [[HeroAntagonist fighting for the opposite side]], but in the other two games especially, he's revealed to be the sweetest, most idealistic and adorkable [[AntiAntiChrist demonic Christ figure]] you ever did see. His mother abandoned him when he was a toddler, his father brutally abused him all his life, and he grew up in extreme squalor. When his life finally started to turn around at age seventeen when he was a part of LaResistance, his father figure betrayed him, his childhood friend/surrogate mother/possibly first crush died because of it, he had to kill said father figure because of this, he was reunited with his mother only to be forced into a DuelToTheDeath with her, and then [[EtTuBrute his other childhood friend and his mentor backstabbed and deserted him]]. The TraumaCongaLine made him a lot more driven, but didn't put much of a dent in his wholehearted love for and trust in his TrueCompanions or his determination to create a peaceful world.

** As we learn in the Heaven's Feel route, [[spoiler:Sakura Matou]] is broken to an even greater degree than Shirou is. [[spoiler:Born as Sakura Tohsaka, she was given up for adoption to the Matou family to serve as their heir. Doing so involves tortured daily by her adoptive grandfather, and later on raped by her adoptive brother. By the time of Heaven's Feel, she's endured the former for eleven years, and the latter for three.]]

* Ben Park from ''Webcomic/WeakHero''. Throughout middle school he faced constant jeering by his peers who believed, due to his non-confrontational nature, that his strength was all for show. This ended with his best friend Alex becoming distanced from him and getting involved with the wrong crowd. When Alex got in trouble because of it, Ben came to his rescue and not only got thoroughly beaten by [[InvincibleVillain Donald Na]], but suffered from a severe arm injury while protecting Alex. Though he has every reason to angst about it, Ben is a constantly cheerful guy who barely seems to care, and instead it's Alex who blames himself for what happened and beats himself up over it.

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has more than a few aspects of this, being sad and/or pathetic most of the time. But when he's happy, he manages to get excited for a lot of things... even if it does [[YankTheDogsChain usually end up getting crushed.]]

* Although not the hero, Iroh of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' embodies this trope rather well. Introduced as Zuko's happy-go-lucky crazy old uncle, it's later show that he was a badass general before [[spoiler:his father and son were both killed (Azulon was a major AssholeVictim, though)]] and his younger brother [[spoiler: took the throne instead of him]].

* WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack becomes this trope by the time of the final season. Having spent literally decades trapped in the BadFuture and unable to find a way back home or to destroy EvilOverlord Aku due to having lost his sword, he has hit rock bottom and became a shell of his former self hallucinating with all the people that he failed to save. In fact, he expresses suicidal thoughts with an sinister version of himself inside of his head. Nevertheless, Jack still continues his journey, [[spoiler: overcomes his inner demons, and kills Aku for good, thanks to the help of Ashi.]]

* ''VideoGame/Halo4'': Dr Halsey's interrogator accuses ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''[='s=] Master Chief as this, as despite all of his Badass abilities, he is considered an empty shell, and Cortana is the only thing that's keeping him from falling apart.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Ragna the Bloodedge was a young man who lived happily with his [[{{Jerkass}} brother Jin]] and his [[IllGirl sister Saya]]. Then a psychotic hipster named Yuuki Terumi burned down his home, killed his adoptive guardian and chopped his arm off. He gets a new arm called the Azure Grimoire from a girl who rescues him, which grants him awesome power but will probably one day kill him horribly. He's a man who has lost almost everything he's ever held dear to him, and it really shows in his attitude towards life. However, he's a source of much of the game's comedy moments, with most of the cast snarking at him and/or kicking his ass.

* Pretty much [[DysfunctionJunction everybody]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. There's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (grew up poor during the Great Depression, parents died when he was young, dead sidekick and identity issues), ComicBook/LukeCage (grew up in a bad part of New York, wrongly jailed for drug possession), ComicBook/IronMan (alcoholism, depression, self-worth issues, romantic issues and massive survivor's guilt), ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (disfigured, partially reformed murderer, crazy), every single [[ComicBook/XMen X-Man]] (FantasticRacism and often some of the most stupidly dysfunctional families imaginable), the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastic "I promise I'll make you normal again someday, Ben!" Four]], a certain Dr. [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], Rick "the Hulk is my fault and I'm often trapped in the Negative Zone" Jones, the seething mass of neuroses that is Franchise/SpiderMan, everything that's wrong with [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and... yeah, pretty much everybody else.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}'': Ragna the Bloodedge was a young man who lived happily with his [[{{Jerkass}} brother Jin]] and his [[IllGirl sister Saya]]. Then a psychotic hipster named Yuuki Terumi burned down his home, killed his adoptive guardian and chopped his arm off. He gets a new arm called the Azure Grimoire from a girl who rescues him, which grants him awesome power but will probably one day kill him horribly. He's a man who has lost almost everything he's ever held dear to him, and it really shows in his attitude towards life. However, he's a source of much of the game's comedy moments, with most of the cast snarking at him and/or kicking his ass.

* Alexander Hamilton in ''Webcomic/TheDreamer'' certainly counts.
* [[spoiler: Eddie]] of ''Webcomic/EmergencyExit''.

* Almost ''all'' the kids from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''.
* ''Webcomic/{{MAG ISA}}'' -- Eman Cruz was abused [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119198 by his parents]] and by [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119177 bullies]]
* Der Trihs of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' gets revealed as one in his DayInTheLimelight arc.