History Main / TragicMonster

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'' of course has the titular hero. He used to be Alex Murphy until he was murdered and then brought back to life as a cyborg cop. He has been stripped of his humanity treated as just a property of OCP.

* ''Series/{{Community'' parodies this with Troy and Abed's movie creation "Kickpuncher". Right down to giving him a sense of phony pathos.

* Chrysalis from ''FanFic/DiariesOfAMadman'' was originally a kind alicorn midwife who loved children. After being corrupted by Discord, she's well aware of what kind of monster she's become.
* Dissy, in ''FanFic/DivineJealousyAndTheVoiceOfReason''. Dissy UsedToBeASweetKid; he was kind, caring and beloved by many of the Paradise Estate Ponies, especially Celestia and Luna -- before his [[FaceMonsterTurn Awakening]] to his true identity as an [[PhysicalGod Avatar]] of the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Cosmic Concept]] [[GodOfEvil Discord]].
* ''FanFic/GameOfTouhou'':
** Soga no Tojiko. [[spoiler:She was turned into a sentient wight by Seiga in order to serve her better, but after her downfall, she has no purpose until she participates the assault on Gengetsu's fortress, and encounters Futo leading to a heartbreaking moment before her death.]]
** Selenion is another example, due to his violent dragon nature, [[spoiler:and for dying following a bad order from her master, Yorihime. He was still loyal to her.]]
* In ''FanFic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'' [[spoiler:Adagio Dazzle]] becomes this after she makes a HeroicSacrifice that ends with her being turned into a Hollow, [[spoiler:though it becomes {{subverted}} when she's able to keep her reason thanks to her innate magic and eventually acclimate to her new life. She even ends up becoming one of the most ''heroic'' people on the Arrancar's side of the conflict.]]
** This happened in the backstory with [[spoiler:Applejack's father as well, who suffered a similar fate. Still, he went on to get a new home and family in Las Noches as the Fourth Espada, so he seems to have made the best out of a bad situation. That being said it's implied he hates life as a Hollow, with his reiatsu oozing regret for his new life.]]
* Rin Satsuki in ''Fanfic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'', she was mutated after years of Eirin's experiments, and then [[spoiler:she absorbed and almost unleashed a FallenAngel. In the end, she [[DeathSeeker just wants to die.]]]]
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis''. When Bruce breaks it to Jennifer Walters that she'll never be able to return to her human form, Jen just relates that she loves now being a green-skinned powerhouse.

* The 2023 conic ''Asterios the Minotaur'' is about, take a guess, telling his life story from his perspective to Theseus in his labyrinth. Raised by Daedalus and Naucrate alongside Icarus, he was plagued with immense self-loathing as a monster and a HairTriggerTemper that overtook his rational mind. Knowing he could never know love of one like him, the one woman who sought him out [[BestialityIsDepraved left him feeling mortified at her interest in laying with a monster]]. Ultimately he died from an infected wound after a lifetime of persecution and isolation, his death celebrated by all but the very few who loved him.
* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "Pastoral", brushed on. Team Carnivore overtly states that they are abducting Roustabout so their bosses can take him apart and figure out why he worked -- and so fix them. They are all BeastMan using HulkSpeak.

* Pvt. Elliot "Lucky" Taylor in ''ComicBook/CreatureCommandos'' (the other members also being monsters but not tragic). He was blown to pieces by a land mine, but army intelligence decided to use him for their "Project M", sewing him back together -- ''wrong''. This left him a mute, hideous FrankensteinsMonster. He attempted suicide once out of disgust for the creature he'd become.

* The ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' incarnation of Spider-Man fits this to a T. While he's just as ravenous and disgusting as the other zombies when hungry, he's nonetheless plagued by grief and guilt at his actions and HorrorHunger, but unable to stop himself. He's particularly tormented by the fact that he ate his Aunt May and Mary Jane, to the extent that he refuses to take off his mask so he can't look himself in the eyes again.
* In ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} the titular heroine]] fights Lar-On, a Kryptonian werewolf who suffers from lycanthropy due to Red Kryptonite poisoning. He's dangerous and uncontrollable, but has committed no crime and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Nonetheless, he's quarantined to the PhantomZone where Kryptonians dump their worst criminals, and when he escapes that place, his family is gone and he's stranded in an alien world and attacked by hostile forces.

* ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' has [[FrankensteinsMonster the Patchwork Man]] and the Unmen, extremely grotesque [[WasOnceAMan formerly human]] quasi-undead horrors whose very existence is [[AndIMustScream an unending nightmare]], made/modified and enslaved by MadScientist and EvilSorcerer Anton Arcane, one of the most depraved monsters of all fiction. That the Patchwork man was [[CainAndAbel his own brother]] is just the tip of the iceberg.

* It doesn't get more tragic than [[FrankensteinsMonster the Creature]] from ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''. Created and immediately abandoned by its creator for being ugly, before it even really wakes up. Made innocent, his nature is soon twisted by circumstance into something horrible and evil, alone, wretched and violent. The worst part, however, is that he knows exactly how wicked he has become but knows he cannot change. [[spoiler:After he has succeeded in destroying his creator during a hunt in the frozen wastes of the Arctic, he mourns the doctor's death. The Creature decides to end his own existence by building a funeral pyre for himself and climb on top of it.]]

Nothing can [[TearJerker wrench the gut]] of any character like being forced to fight a loved one or ally (especially if said loved one is [[ApologeticAttacker weeping uncontrollably and begging for death as he/she tries to kill you]]). This isn't BrainwashedAndCrazy, this is forcing the unlucky character to become a terrible beast or other nasty critter with ''[[CantStayNormal no means of changing them back]]''. Not that it stops the heroes from trying. In any case, the hero will do everything they can to avoid StakingTheLovedOne. Even if it means keeping them contained for their own safety while they hunt for a cure. To twist the knife even further, [[MercyKill killing them might be the only way to grant them peace]].

In many works, this can amount to a form of PlayerPunch. It's par for the course for any ZombieApocalypse, since doubtless ''somebody'' important is going to get turned into a zombie.

* The [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime1999 manga version]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has Volvagia, who underwent a great deal of AdaptationalHeroism. He was an ordinary baby dragon that Link bought and befriended, who was corrupted by Ganondorf and forced to [[FightingYourFriend fight Link]]. The corruption only wears off once Volvagia is [[OffWithHisHead reduced to a head]], and Link's failure to save him ends up being [[MyGreatestFailure a massive chip on his shoulder]].

* ''Film/{{Savageland}}'' has [[spoiler:Salazar, the sole survivor of the Sangre de Cristo massacre. He is painted by the racist white media as a madman who somehow murdered 57 people by himself. He is seen as a Latino martyr after his execution but his corpse rises from its grave and joins the horde of monsters which killed the town.]]

* ''Film/{{Savageland}}'' has [[spoiler:Salazar, the sole survivor of the Sangre de Cristo massacre. He is blamed for the massacre and painted by the racist white media as a madman who somehow murdered 57 people by himself. He is seen as a Latino martyr after his execution but his corpse rises from its grave and joins the horde of monsters which killed the town.]]
* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'': When his best friend is turned into a zombie and can't be turned back, Shaun, instead of killing him, locks him up in the storage shed and plays UsefulNotes/PlayStation with him. It's toyed with in this case: the implication is that Ed (the aforementioned best friend) is really no worse off than when the movie started.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[WasOnceAMan The Hound]] only exists because of the experimentation that [[BigBad Salem]] inflicted upon it. [[spoiler:Salem trapped a silver-eyed Faunus inside the body of a Grimm; the Grimm has human-like intelligence and the ability to speak, but the Faunus looks like it has been tortured, skin is stretched and torn across muscle and there is massive scarring across one eye.]]

* ''Film/TheIncredibleMeltingMan'': Dr. Steve West seemed to be a nice-enough guy before his mutation, especially given Nelson's positive statements about his friend. But his space voyage to Saturn caused his skin to start melting and forced West to hunt down and eat people to stave off the pain.
* The zombies from ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'' are revealed to be still sentient. Consuming human flesh is the only way to relieve the pain of living decay.

* This happens to [[spoiler:[[RogueProtagonist Lance Bean]]]] in ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Shattered Soldier'' after he injects the [[BigBad Devil Emperor Gava]] DNA into his body.

* The zombies from ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'' are revealed to be still sentient. Consuming human flesh is the only way to alleviate the pain of living decay.

* The zombies of ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' are revealed to be still sentient. Consuming human flesh is the only way to alleviate the pain of living decay.