History Main / FreudianExcuse

Unfortunately, just like a PetTheDog moment, the Freudian Excuse sometimes fails to give a villain any depth at all. If the villain is particularly evil, it can come across as an illogical and lame NonSequitur: "his [[AbusiveParents father]] beat him, and [[DisproportionateRetribution that's why he's an]] OmnicidalManiac." Even if the villain's crimes are proportionate, the writers have to strike a hard balance. Too much emphasis on the excuse, and it looks like they're attorneys justifying the villain. Too little, and it is a fallacious [[UsefulNotes/LogicalFallacies Appeal to Pity]] that looks like a ridiculously gratuitous scene of {{Wangst}}. However, this can in turn be highlighted in-story if the other characters point out that FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse. In the case of the CompleteMonster, it fails to justify anything, merely explaining their origins and nothing more. It could even be used to make the character ''worse'', since they know how awful it is to be treated horribly yet inflict pain on others anyway while rejecting the possibility of ever getting over their trauma and changing their ways.

Most importantly, the Freudian Excuse does not involve the character growing or changing; it explains why they haven't changed, and in fact, often serves as a [[BeyondRedemption signal that they cannot and never will]]''. Bad writers often think that the excuse can substitute for CharacterDevelopment, but it does the exact opposite. Good writers know the excuse has limits, and watch them. If done well enough, it may lead the audience to CryForTheDevil or even straight-up turn a near-CompleteMonster into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. A Freudian Excuse is often invoked to explain how someone who UsedToBeASweetKid became such a monster instead - again, much writerly skill is generally needed to pull this off and make it poignant rather than pathetic.

Most importantly, the Freudian Excuse does not involve the character growing or changing; it explains why they haven't changed, and in fact, often serves as a [[BeyondRedemption signal that they cannot and]] ''[[BeyondRedemption never will]]''. Bad writers often think that the excuse can substitute for CharacterDevelopment, but it does the exact opposite. Good writers know the excuse has limits, and watch them. If done well enough, it may lead the audience to CryForTheDevil or even straight-up turn a near-CompleteMonster into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. A Freudian Excuse is often invoked to explain how someone who UsedToBeASweetKid became such a monster instead - again, much writerly skill is generally needed to pull this off and make it poignant rather than pathetic.

Most importantly, the Freudian Excuse does not involve the character growing or changing; it explains why they haven't changed, and in fact, often serves as a signal that they cannot and ''never will''. Bad writers often think that the excuse can substitute for CharacterDevelopment, but it does the exact opposite. Good writers know the excuse has limits, and watch them. If done well enough, it may lead the audience to CryForTheDevil or even straight-up turn a near-CompleteMonster into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. A Freudian Excuse is often invoked to explain how someone who UsedToBeASweetKid became such a monster instead - again, much writerly skill is generally needed to pull this off and make it poignant rather than pathetic.

Unfortunately, just like a PetTheDog moment, the Freudian Excuse sometimes fails to give a villain any depth at all. If the villain is particularly evil, it can come across as an illogical and lame NonSequitur: "his [[AbusiveDad father]] beat him, and [[DisproportionateRetribution that's why he's an]] OmnicidalManiac." Even if the villain's crimes are proportionate, the writers have to strike a hard balance. Too much emphasis on the excuse, and it looks like they're attorneys justifying the villain. Too little, and it is a fallacious [[UsefulNotes/LogicalFallacies Appeal to Pity]] that looks like a ridiculously gratuitous scene of {{Wangst}}. However, this can in turn be highlighted in-story if the other characters point out that FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse. In the case of the CompleteMonster, it fails to justify anything, merely explaining their origins and nothing more. It could even be used to make the character ''worse'', since they know how awful it is to be treated horribly yet inflict pain on others anyway while rejecting the possibility of ever getting over their trauma and changing their ways.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jokermadlovecouch_8.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MultipleChoicePast Let's just say you should take this one with a grain of salt.]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jokermadlovecouch.png]]]]

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* ''WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': Most followers of Chaos didn't become so exactly willingly; after the Chaos gods defeated Sigmar's armies, Sigmar was forced to close off his realm of Azyr to save it, and anyone who didn't manage to get to a Realmgate in time was left to fend for themselves in the ensuing Age Of Chaos. For those people, swearing loyalty to one Chaos God or another was the only way to survive the post-apocalyptic hellscape the other seven Realms were turning into and more than a few were understandably angry at Sigmar for abandoning them. Now that Sigmar has started reclaiming the Realms from Chaos, he's openly acknowledged that a lot of Chaos worshippers are just desperate people trying to survive, and he's tried to [[TheRedeemer save as many of them as he can]].

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sketch_1683213184198_6.png]]]]

[[quoteright:250:[[Manga/{{Saki}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Saki_-_the_king_who_hated_tacos.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:And so, he harnessed the power of corn to wage war...]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{Chadam}}'': Viceroy was abandoned by his parents and ostracized by the rest of the community for being born deformed and with no imagination, so he turned to studying, and thus got started on the path to being a MadScientist.
* The ''WebAnimation/FatherTucker'' short "Rest for the Wicked" has a scene where Father Tucker warmly reminisces on going camping with a priest named Father Taper when he was young. We then see a flashback of a clearly traumatized Tucker being told by Father Taper not to tell anyone what had happened, which implies that Father Tucker is a PedophilePriest because he himself was a victim of one.

* ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth'': The leader of [[GangOfBullies the Hatzgang]], Roy, sends Skid and Pump to the spooky abandoned mansion and nonchalantly remarks "That's where my uncle takes me". Ross and Robert can only awkwardly shift away from him after thinking about it, and the next scene with the trio has Roy angrily ask "What do you mean it's ''wrong?!''", indicating Ross and Robert tried to tell him what his uncle was doing wasn't okay. Considering what dwells under that manor and what kinds of people visit it, the implications beyond that are all the more concerning.

However, not all examples of Freudian Excuses have to involve evil or villainous characters. It can also be used to explain the neurotic behaviors of even heroic or otherwise neutral characters.

Unfortunately, just like a PetTheDog moment, the Freudian Excuse sometimes fails to give a villain any depth at all. If the villain is particularly evil, it can come across as an illogical and lame NonSequitur: "his father beat him, and [[DisproportionateRetribution that's why he's an]] OmnicidalManiac." Even if the villain's crimes are proportionate, the writers have to strike a hard balance. Too much emphasis on the excuse, and it looks like they're attorneys justifying the villain. Too little, and it is a fallacious [[UsefulNotes/LogicalFallacies Appeal to Pity]] that looks like a ridiculously gratuitous scene of {{Wangst}}. However, this can in turn be highlighted in-story if the other characters point out that FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse. In the case of the CompleteMonster, it fails to justify anything, merely explaining their origins and nothing more. It could even be used to make the character ''worse'', since they know how awful it is to be treated horribly yet inflict pain on others anyway while rejecting the possibility of ever getting over their trauma and changing their ways.

* Most of the Traitor Primarchs of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' possess one: