History Main / SympatheticMurderBackstory

'''As this is a DeathTrope, beware unmarked spoilers.'''

!!Examples

** VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 is basically the story of Big Boss's [[StartOfDarkness Start Of Darkness]] where he's [[spoiler: manipulated into killing his mentor and mother figure, as part of the CIA's [[ZeroApprovalGambit Zero Approval Gambit]] when the Virtuous Mission went south.]]

* [[spoiler:Soran Ibrahim]], [[ThatManIsDead later Setsuna F. Seiei]], from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' was [[spoiler:coerced into becoming a ChildSoldier for a "holy war" and made to kill his own parents by a BloodKnight who didn't even believe in their god]]. This would haunt him for the rest of his life, [[EvilStoleMyFaith destroying his faith]], and driving him to become a Gundam Meister and put and end to war.

* The backstory for ComicBook/{{Storm}} has her killing a man who tried to rape her. And this is why she tries not to kill the rest of the time.
%%** There are a few other mutants whose power manifestation moments in their backstory resulted in someone dying.
* Also among the ComicBook/XMen, ComicBook/{{Gambit}} was once [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord "hired"]] by [[EvilutionaryBiologist Mr. Sinister]] to assemble a hit squad and lead them into the home of the Morlocks, a society of underground mutant refugees. Though he didn't personally kill anyone (in fact, he saved a few of the Marauders' intended victims!), the reactions of the X-Men when learning about this was virtually identical. His good name still hasn't fully recovered, in part because he can't seem to stop [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor switching sides.]]
* [[ComicBook/{{X23}} X-23]], a female clone of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, was created to be an assassin and murdered hundreds of people as a child. Her creators specifically raised her not to develop a conscience or sense of self, which she might not have had if not for her mother [[MotherlyScientist Sarah Kinney]]. Eventually, she EscapedFromTheLab and swore off killing when she became the ComicBook/AllNewWolverine.
* [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]]'s father, David Cain, raised her through a brutal training regime in which she was never taught to read and write and body language was her only form of language. When Cain had her kill a man at the age of eight, Cass read his body language and sensed what he was feeling as he died. This event traumatized her so much that she swore to never take a life again.

* In the Creator/JodieFoster film ''The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane'', protagonist Rynn hides the secret that [[spoiler: she poisoned her abusive mother.]] The details on just how she did this turn out to be significant for what happens in the rest of the movie, too.

* In ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', Edward Cullen confesses to murdering a whole bunch of people shortly after he was turned, while in the grip of [[HorrorHunger The Thirst]]: Being a VegetarianVampire in this setting takes ''enormous'' self-control, and living in constant fear of that self-control slipping on top of the guilt when it does happen is a large part of why Edward is so screwed up. The rest of the Cullen family, except Carlisle, have all experienced at least one lapse themselves (technically also applies to Rosalie; she ''did'' kill people after she was turned, but her victims were her former fiancé and his friends who raped her and left her for dead, and she trained herself beforehand so that she could be sure she wouldn't drink their blood in the process as she wanted nothing of them in her).
* Quillon, the protagonist in ''Literature/TerminalWorld'' by Creator/AlastairReynolds, murdered his angel cohorts in his backstory. It was cold-blooded but done in revenge because they murdered his love interest first, covered it up, and were planning on murdering him as well.
* Part of Kalix's backstory in ''Literature/LonelyWerewolfGirl'' is that she killed her father. It's part of the reason she is so lonely.
* ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'': The reader discovers [[spoiler: the title character was in fact a horrible person, whom Maxim killed]]. It was definitely murder, and the reader is absolutely meant to sympathize with [[spoiler:Maxim]] (although the revelation still has negative consequences for [[spoiler:his relationship with his new wife]]). Adding to the complexity is the heavy implication that [[spoiler:Rebecca deliberately goaded Maxim into killing her by taunting him with the suggestion that she was pregnant with another man's child (it's later revealed that Rebecca was sterile), because she knew she was dying slowly of cancer and wanted a quick, painless end.]]

* We find out fairly early on that Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' killed his mentor, Justin, and it was clearly self-defense (even if it takes thirteen books to find out the finer details, if you're killed when attempting to psychically enslave your sixteen-year-old foster son/apprentice and trying to kill him when he resists, it can safely be put under justifiable homicide). Unfortunately, Harry used magic, and using LifeEnergy to kill for any reason causes addictive BlackMagic. The Wardens do not see it as sympathetic, which is further complicated by the fact that in this setting, they're usually right.
* In ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Brightly Burning]]'', Lavan Chitward's power of Firestarting awakens [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening traumatically]] when a gang of bullies tie him up and whip him. The people investigating this incident are quite distrustful of Lan because of his actions, and a whole lot of psychological and legal problems are only avoided because 1) he was clearly acting in self-defense, ignorance of his powers, and under extreme emotional duress while committing the manslaughter (as the book debates in detail) and 2) Lan has been Chosen by [[BondCreature Companion]], one of the guardian spirits of their country, whose very presence provides incontrovertible proof of the Chosen's IncorruptiblePurePureness and who works very hard to ensure that nothing of the kind will happen again.
-->'''Lan:''' I still feel guilty about [the crime], though.\\
'''Tuck:''' Well, you'd be a pretty poor excuse for a human being if you didn't!
* ''Literature/TheAscendantKingdomsSaga'': Blaine [=McFadden=] at one point muses that most of the convicted murderers at the PenalColony of Velant are either innocent, or folks who killed [[AssholeVictim somebody who had it coming]] and aren't likely to be repeat offenders, since the most heinous criminals were generally executed instead of transported. This includes Blaine himself, who ran his father through for [[ParentalIncest raping Blaine's sister]]. The exception is Kestel Falke, who is a ProfessionalKiller, but she claims that the majority of her targets were abusive or adulterous husbands.
* Literature/JillKismet shot her pimp dead with his own gun in self-defense after he beat her black and blue one too many times. She was never investigated for the homicide, as her hunter mentor Mikhail Tolstoi found her and took her in shortly thereafter and evidently shielded her from the police.
* From ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': At the end of ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', we learn that [[spoiler:Shallan killed her father. ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'' expands upon this by showing that after her mother's death, Shallan's father became abusive to her brothers, the family was in deep debt and in danger of falling apart, with the eldest leaving really early on and eventually being disowned, all of which culminates in it showing Shallan killing her father in defense of one of her brothers and his girlfriend. And then Shallan remembers that the whole reason that her father went off the deep end in the first place is that [[SelfMadeOrphan she also killed her mother in self-defense]] and her father covered it up.]]

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Collateral Damage", Cameron Mitchell recalls a mission during which he bombed what he believed to be enemy targets only to learn that they were innocent refugees.
* ''Series/TerraNova'':
** Commander Taylor [[spoiler: killed his commanding officer when he arrived in the alternate past earth to relieve him of command of the Terra Nova colony shortly after he learned the truth about the project--that those behind Terra Nova were trying to find out how to make the portal go both ways so they can exploit the resources on the Terra Nova side. Taylor objected, the general pulled his gun, and Taylor fired first.]]
** This may have been set up as a background for Tim Curran in ([[CutShort never-materialized]]) following seasons. In the first season, he is sentenced to exile for a murder over gambling debts; later, he is recruited by Taylor to spy on the opposing faction and rescues a hostage. Taylor's own experience leads him to welcome Curran back to Terra Nova for [[TheAtoner a second chance]].
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' tries to portray the Evil Queen this way when she has to sacrifice that which she loves most for her Curse. She tried her beloved and prized stallion; that didn't work. It turned out to be [[spoiler: her father, after whom she named the boy she adopted.]]
* Lord John Roxton's past in ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld''. He and his brother William joined an expedition to Kenya because Roxton and his father thought it would make more of a man out of William. The older Roxton brother was attacked by an ape and John tried to save him. It went wrong... and left him a broken man. Especially when it all comes back to haunt him in the form of the expedition leader also appearing on the Plateau at one point.
* Ray Carling in ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'' and ''Series/AshesToAshes2008''. With the ultimate reveal that [[spoiler:the world of the series is an afterlife for deceased police officers]], it turns out that he [[spoiler:committed suicide out of guilt - unable to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by joining the army, his family disowned him and his sorrow and frustration led him to beat a man to death outside a pub, which Ray's superiors covered up in order to protect him.]]

* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'': Daniel Harrow is seen in a flashback at the end of the first episode disposing of a body by encasing it in cement and dumping it in a deep part of the river. Over the course of the season, we learn [[spoiler: that the dead man was his ex-wife's second husband, who had been raping and terrorizing Daniel's daughter Fern. When Daniel confronted him, he tried to kill Daniel; even though the death would likely be ruled self-defense, Daniel didn't want to risk being in jail when his daughter needed him, so he hid the body. Both his mentor and his protégé end up helping Daniel get away with it.]]

* In ''Show Boat'', Parthy tries (and fails) to stop Gaylord Ravenal from marrying her daughter because he once killed a man.

* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'', James eventually discovers that [[spoiler: he smothered his wife to death either to end her suffering, to get her out of his life or both,]] this presumably being the reason the Town is tormenting him. Depending on the ending you get, this could serve to make him more sympathetic or to make him look like a monster though.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Snake is tormented by [[spoiler: his murder of Big Boss and especially Gray Fox.]] Significantly, it's when he describes to Naomi how [[spoiler: his murder of Gray Fox]] was done with professionalism and with no hatred, and that they loved beating each other to death ("like a sport"), that Naomi begins to realise that Snake is a GoodIsNotNice and a Type III AntiHero.
** VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 is basically the story of Big Boss's [[StartOfDarkness Start Of Darkness]] where he's [[spoiler: manipulated into killing his mentor and mother figure, as part of the CIA's [[ZeroApprovalGambit Zero Approval Gambit]] when the Virtuous Mission went south.]]

* One of ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'''s biggest {{Tear Jerker}}s occurs when Lyon reveals [[spoiler: she was a former member of Nether Gate, an assassin's guild in service to Falena's royal family. They took her in while she was still a child and trained her. She was eventually rescued by the prince's father, Ferid, who gave her the name Lyon, and she goes on to become the prince's bodyguard as her way of repaying Ferid's kindness.]]
* In ''VideoGame/LastScenario'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:amnesiac party member Ethan killed a soldier when he was fourteen in defense of his brother]]. What makes this especially traumatic is that [[spoiler:the soldier in question was the son of one member of the party and the best friend of another, so Ethan got a huge helping of guilt along with his nasty childhood memories once he remembered]].

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', Kratos' regret for killing his family in a fit of bloodlust, intentionally orchestrated by his ''patron god'', is one of the few sympathetic aspects of his [[SociopathicHero personality]]... not that it stops him from murdering everyone else afterwards. Literally, ''[[NotHyperbole everyone]]''.

* In ''VideoGame/TatteredWorld'', [[spoiler: the Shady Character was once the Shadow Stage's Slasher, who was ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, but he was forced to become that in order to save the life of his dear companion, Club. Though he still takes on the role every Thursday the 13th, the only thing he still slashes is books.]]

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' has Shino Asada, AKA Sinon, a player from Gun Gale Online. As it turns out [[spoiler: she plays this game as a way to cope with the fact that she accidentally killed a criminal with his own gun when they fought for it. This happened when she was barely eleven years old, which left her severely traumatized.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Edward Cullen confesses to murdering a whole bunch of people shortly after he was turned, while in the grip of [[HorrorHunger The Thirst]]: Being a VegetarianVampire in this setting takes ''enormous'' self-control, and living in constant fear of that self-control slipping on top of the guilt when it does happen is a large part of why Edward is so screwed up. The rest of the Cullen family, except Carlisle, have all experienced at least one lapse themselves (technically also applies to Rosalie; she ''did'' kill people after she was turned, but her victims were her former fiancé and his friends who raped her and left her for dead, and she trained herself beforehand so that she could be sure she wouldn't drink their blood in the process as she wanted nothing of them in her).

* Suzaku from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' [[spoiler:killed his father in order to force his nation, Japan, into surrendering against Britannia in hopes of preventing more deaths. He's been [[DeathSeeker secretly suicidal]] ever since.]]

** There are a few other mutants whose power manifestation moments in their backstory resulted in someone dying.

* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'': [[spoiler:[[EmotionlessBoy Sasanoyuki]] turns out to have experienced extreme torment and self-hatred for being an AbsurdlySharpBlade that took and is meant to take countless lives, so much so that he decided to suppress his feelings and become a cold, ruthless killer in order to accept his intended purpose as a sword. His kiwame training re-triggers all this, leading him to ''[[DrivenToSuicide attempt suicide]]'' at one point.]]

* Literature/{{Rebecca}} definitely fits, and is in fact one of the most interesting examples of this trope. The reader discovers [[spoiler: the title character was in fact a horrible person, whom Maxim killed]]. It was definitely murder, and the reader is absolutely meant to sympathize with [[spoiler: Maxim]] (although the revelation still has negative consequences for [[spoiler:his relationship with his new wife]]).
** Adding to the complexity is the heavy implication that [[spoiler:Rebecca deliberately goaded Maxim into killing her by taunting him with the suggestion that she was pregnant with another man's child (it's later revealed that Rebecca was sterile), because she knew she was dying slowly of cancer and wanted a quick, painless end.]]

* From ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'':
** At the end of ''Literature/TheWayofKings'', we learn that [[spoiler:Shallan killed her father. ''Literature/WordsofRadiance'' expands upon this by showing that after her mother's death, Shallan's father became abusive to her brothers, the family was in deep debt and in danger of falling apart, with the eldest leaving really early on and eventually being disowned, all of which culminates in it showing Shallan killing her father in defense of one of her brothers and his girlfriend. And then Shallan remembers that the whole reason that her father went off the deep end in the first place is that [[SelfMadeOrphan she also killed her mother in self-defense]] and her father covered it up.]]

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Gibbs' wife and daughter were murdered by a Mexican drug dealer. When the ''federales'' weren't going to help find the killer, Gibbs followed him to Mexico and got his revenge.

* Daniel ''Series/{{Harrow}}'' is seen in a flashback at the end of the first episode disposing of a body by encasing it in cement and dumping it in a deep part of the river. Over the course of the season, we learn [[spoiler: that the dead man was his ex-wife's second husband, who had been sexually abusing (raping) and terrorizing Daniel's daughter Fern. When Daniel confronted him, he tried to kill Daniel; even though the death would likely be ruled self-defense, Daniel didn't want to risk being in jail when his daughter needed him, so he hid the body. Both his mentor and his protégé end up helping Daniel get away with it.]]

* In ''Theatre/SouthPacific'', "the Frenchman," Emile de Becque, had to flee his homeland because he killed a man. But it's okay because the victim was a bully!
** Actually, that was manslaughter. It was in a BarBrawl and he didn't intend to murder him.
** What wasn't okay was him having had children with a South Pacific Islander, because [[DoubleStandard interracial marriage seemed worse]] to his [[LoveInterest Love Interest]] than murder.
*** Which was [[{{Aesop}} one of the points of the movie]]. Though that kind of turned out to be a BrokenAesop when another of the characters cheated on his Girl Back Home and claimed it was OK because at least he wasn't being prejudiced.

* In VideoGame/MetalGearSolid, Snake is tormented by [[spoiler: his murder of Big Boss and especially Gray Fox.]] Significantly, it's when he describes to Naomi how [[spoiler: his murder of Gray Fox]] was done with professionalism and with no hatred, and that they loved beating each other to death ("like a sport"), that Naomi begins to realise that Snake is a GoodIsNotNice and a Type III AntiHero.

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' Craig Boone and many other members of the NCR military were traumatized by the incident at Bitter Springs, [[spoiler: in which they were ordered to fire upon fleeing civilians due to a miscommunication.]]

* Vriska from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', takes this to an extreme. In order to keep her lusus from eating her or dying from starvation (leaving her a defenseless orphan in a world where orphans are culled on the death of their lusus caretakers), she had to kill several thousands of trolls. A more specific example includes [[spoiler:her murder of Aradia, which she was manipulated into by the omniscient Doc Scratch.]] The trope also applies to Terezi, who assisted Vriska, although she did attempt to steer the violence towards trolls she viewed as immoral.

* Vriska from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', takes this to an extreme. In order to keep her lusus from eating her or dying from starvation (leaving her a defenseless orphan), she had to kill several thousands of trolls. A more specific example includes [[spoiler:her murder of Aradia, which she was manipulated into by the omniscient Doc Scratch.]] The trope also applies to Terezi, who assisted Vriska, although she did attempt to steer the violence towards trolls she viewed as immoral.

* ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'': Blake used to be a member of the White Fang with [[FantasticRacism a strong disdain towards humans]]. Before even having hit eighteen, she had killed several humans, both in self-defense and in cold blood. Blake has since turned her back on the White Fang and is trying to become a huntress to help others.

!Examples

** [[spoiler: He also had to kill his wife when she was captured by legion slavers to save her (and their unborn child) from a FateWorseThanDeath.]]

90% of the time, Bob was ''forced'' to commit the murder. He might have done it in self-defence, to save someone he loves, a Bad Guy might have put a gun to his head and ordered Bob to kill Alice, Alice might have [[MercyKill begged Bob for death]], Bob might have [[JustFollowingOrders just been following orders]], the list goes on. If the character ''wasn't'' forced into the murder by a third party, expect the victim to have been an [[AssholeVictim Asshole Victim]] (see also [[GoodVictimsBadVictims Good Victims Bad Victims]]).

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Edward Cullen confesses to murdering a whole bunch of people shortly after he was turned, while in the grip of [[HorrorHunger The Thirst]]: Being a VegetarianVampire in this setting takes ''enormous'' self-control, and living in constant fear of that self-control slipping on top of the guilt when it does happen is a large part of why Edward is so screwed up. The rest of the Cullen family, except Carlisle, have all experienced at least one lapse themselves.

* Literature/{{Rebecca}} definitely fits, and is in fact one of the most interesting examples of this trope. The reader discovers [[spoiler: the title character was in fact a horrible person, whom Maxim killed.]] It was definitely murder, and the reader is absolutely meant to sympathize with [[spoiler: Maxim]] (although the revelation still has negative consequences for [[spoiler:his relationship with his new wife]]).

* [[spoiler:Soran Ibrahim]], [[ThatManIsDead later Setsuna F. Seiei]], from ''[[MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' was [[spoiler:coerced into becoming a ChildSoldier for a "holy war" and made to kill his own parents by a BloodKnight who didn't even believe in their god]]. This would haunt him for the rest of his life, [[EvilStoleMyFaith destroying his faith]], and driving him to become a Gundam Meister and put and end to war.

Murder is serious business. Taking the life of a sentient being is a deeply ingrained taboo in the human psyche. In stories that do ''not'' frequently involve death (action, horror, thriller, etc.) the intentional extermination of another human being is a big fucking deal. Of all the troubled backstories Bob can have ([[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest dead]]/[[AbusiveParents abusive]]/[[ParentalAbandonment absent]] parents, CynicismCatalyst, [[RapeAsBackstory rape]], DoomedHometown, etc.) revealing him to be a murderer simultaneously makes him a killer and the woobie. The revelation may make his friends question just what makes a 'bad guy'.

* ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' is an odd example. The good ending is achieved not by ''directly'' killing [[TragicVillain Gregory]], but indirectly- by giving him the gun he needs to kill himself. Because Gregory is actively trying to murder the protagonist at this point, many players naturally did not realize doing this was an option (though, if one has paid really close attention to Gregory's characterization, ''horrific'' mental health, and the game's general philosophy, his actions [[GuideDangIt kind of]] make sense). And it only works if you do it during one of the fight's brief intervals where Gregory realizes what he's doing, stops fighting, and prays for forgiveness. The game wants you to be empathic, not suicidal.
* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', Kratos' regret for killing his family in a fit of bloodlust is one of the few sympathetic aspects of his [[SociopathicHero personality]]...not that it stops him from murdering everyone else afterwards. Literally, ''[[NotHyperbole everyone]]''.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', [[spoiler:Susan]] had to kill an Aberration back when she was in her freshman year of high school. It's made worse because the Immortals who asked her to do it basically tricked her into doing so, and made her think there was no one else who could and no alternative, both of which were not true. When another Immortal hears this story he's incredibly pissed and swears to help them to try and make up for it.'
* Vriska from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', takes this to an extreme. In order to keep her lusus from eating her or dying from starvation leaving her a defenseless orphan, she had to kill several thousands of trolls. A more specific example includes [[spoiler: her murder of Aradia, which she was manipulated into by the omniscient Doc Scratch.]] The trope also applies to Terezi, who assisted Vriska, although she did attempt to steer the violence towards trolls she viewed as immoral. The trope is played with when Caliborn claims to be torn up about the[[spoiler: tragic loss of his sister to murder]] as part of the reason he is a "tortured artist" but the fact he's never once showed regret for [[spoiler: killing Calliope]] in the past and never shows it again makes it hard for anyone, in universe or out, to offer genuine sympathy.