History Main / BrokenHero

* The [[Creator/DCComics DC]] universe has its fair share of hard luck heroes, e.g. Franchise/{{Batman}} (his parents were killed by some mugger in a dark alley), [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] (an orphaned boy whose evil uncle stole his inheritance and was left on the streets on his own), [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] (his home city was destroyed and was possessed by Parallax).

* Chuck in ''Series/PushingDaisies'' is extremely upbeat and [[GenkiGirl enthusiastic]] for someone who has never known her mother, had her father die when she was nine, the moved in with her aunts only to die herself and then be resurrected in such a way that she can't see them again either.

** 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, wiping out his memory 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]] without 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 homless again without any help]] told over and over how useless and expandable he is by everyone, 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 on Season 11 after he took his grace, destroyed most of it to cause the fall which made him a target to all the angels and hated by them]]
Malcolm Reynolds of ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' qualifies.
* Even though his BackStory is revealed almost immediately in the pilot episode (or would have been if it hadn't been shown last...)
** It should be noted, however, that Fox employed ExecutiveMeddling after viewing the pilot to make him more of a jokester; his portrayal in the PilotMovie 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.

* Gon Freecs from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' lost his mother, his father is missing, and he has a knack for making enemies who want to gut him, but is still eternally cheerful. He's the BrokenHero and TheDitz rolled up in one.

* 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 BrokenHero but without real help or support, ''[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped it will cost you]]''.

** To a degree, every member of his crew qualifies, too. [[strike: Except maybe]] Especially Ratchet. If not literally because of the little bit taken off his helmet/head crest thingy, then because of the events that led to him [[spoiler: being put in control of Omega Supreme]]
* 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]] and his younger brother [[spoiler: took the throne instead of him.]]

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 also [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smilers]].

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.

* Lucius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''. 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.
** If I'm thinking of the same character here he also ''forgives the man who murdered his parents, and caused his terrible childhood.''
*** Well, technically the man he forgave had only killed his father, and his mother by proxy (she died later of grief and stress), but ... yes, Lucius is an absolute paragon of compassion (most people wouldn't forgive such a person, even though they [[TheAtoner felt remorse for their past sins]], so Lucius definitely stands out).

* Castiel fits this trope perfectly, in the great escapist it was revealed that [[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, wiping out his memory 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]] without counting all the times he was used, given up on by his so called friends [[When dean kicked him out of the bunker right after he died to be homless again without any help]] told over and over how useless and expandable he is by everyone, he still finds it in him to help save people and show mercy even to the people who wronged him [[like how he decided to let metatron go on Season 11 after he took his grace, destroyed most of it to cause the fall which made him a target to all the angels and hated by them]]

* Even though his BackStory is revealed almost immediately in the pilot episode (or would have been if it hadn't been shown last...), Malcolm Reynolds of ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' qualifies.

* 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 BrokenHero but without real help or support, ''it will cost you''.

** 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}} 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.

** Naruto, who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by nearly his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets, especially to those [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]. His {{Foil}}, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be if he was never acknowledged by (in chronological order, according to [[WordOfGod Kishimoto]]) [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]], the [[BigGood Third Hokage]], [[BigBrotherMentor Iruka]], and [[TrueCompanions Team 7]].

** Naruto, who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by nearly his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets, especially to those [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]. His {{Foil}}, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be if he was never acknowledged by the [[BigGood Third Hokage]], [[BigBrotherMentor Iruka]], [[TrueCompanions Team 7]], and [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]].

** Naruto, who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets, especially to those [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]. His {{Foil}}, [[AxCrazy Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be if he was never acknowledged by the [[BigGood Third Hokage]], [[BigBrotherMentor Iruka]], [[TrueCompanions Team 7]], and [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]].

** Obito was also this, considering that he was basically Uchiha Naruto, and lived a life similar to his. [[spoiler: Then he became Tobi.]]

** Naruto, who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets, especially to those [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]. His {{Foil}}, [[BetaBaddie Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be if he was never acknowledged by [[BigGood the Third Hokage]], [[ParentalSubstitute Iruka]], [[TrueCompanions Team 7]], and [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': The dialogue options and reactions of other characters to [[PlayerCharacter the Fallen Child]] in the Neutral and [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist]] endings seem to indicate that our main character is a cheerful goofball...a goofball that apparently climbed a mountain that no one has ever come back from alive. A few characters are troubled by [[DarkAndTroubledPast what exactly could drive a child to do that.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': The dialogue options and reactions of other characters to [[PlayerCharacter the Fallen Child]] in the Neutral and [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist]] endings imply that our main character is a bit of a cheerful goofball...a goofball that apparently climbed a mountain that no one has ever come back from alive. A few characters are troubled by [[DarkAndTroubledPast what exactly could drive a child to do that.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' The dialogue options and reactions of other characters to [[PlayerCharacter the Fallen Child]] in the Neutral and [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist]] endings imply that our main character is a bit of a cheerful goofball...a goofball that apparently climbed a mountain that no one has ever come back from alive. A few characters are troubled by [[DarkAndTroubledPast what exactly could drive a child to do that.]]

** Thoroughly subverted in the No Mercy path by both the Fallen Child themselves and [[spoiler:the ''true'' Fallen Child, who 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.]] ]]

** Thoroughly subverted in the No Mercy path by both the Fallen Child themselves and [[spoiler:the ''true'' Fallen Child, who is implied even more heavily to have had a nightmarish past, and in the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorld No Mercy path has decided to take it out on the entire world.]] [[YouBastard And they couldn't have done it without you...friend.]] ]]

** Naruto, who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets, especially to those [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]. His {{Foil}}, [[BetaBaddie Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be without [[BigGood the Third Hokage]], [[ParentalSubstitute Iruka]], [[TrueCompanions Team 7]], and [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]].
** [[TheDragon Nagato]] served as [[EvilCounterpart the example]] of [[FallenHero the alternate outcome]] should Naruto have chosen to give in to his anger instead.
** Obito was also this, considering that he was basically Uchiha Naruto, and lived a life not dissimilar to his. [[spoiler: Then he became Tobi.]]

** Naruto, who is [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned by his entire hometown]] because of the demon sealed inside him. He is nevertheless cheerfully nice and compassionate to anyone he meets. His {{Foil}}, [[BetaBaddie Gaara]], is basically what Naruto would be without [[TrueCompanions Squad Seven]], [[BigGood the Hokage]], and [[ParentalSubstitute Iruka]].

* Orihime Inoue, a girl with long orange hair and a very cheerful attitude, from ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/Bleach?from=Main.Bleach Bleach]]'' fits this trope pretty well, losing all her family members to accidents and having to see her dead brother turn into a horrific spiritual monster, who then tries to eat her.

* 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 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 BrokenHero but without real help or support, ''it will cost you''.

* Allen Walker of ''Manga/DGrayMan''. 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. He's one of the most {{Badass}} [[TheWoobie woobie]]s ever.