History Main / UsedToBeASweetKid

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS32E19PanicOnTheStreetsOfSpringfield Panic on the Streets of Springfield]]": Largely subverted. [[Characters/TheSimpsonsLisaSimpson Lisa Simpson]] becomes enamored with an '80s musician and adopts both his grungy aesthetic and cynical, world-weary philosophy. A dismayed Marge claims that Lisa used to be such a happy little girl, but Lisa, who has always been defined by angst, activism, and moral outrage, dismisses her mother's BS with a single word ("When?"). Marge quickly admits that she was looking through rose-colored glasses, but still doesn't approve of the level of nihilism Lisa is currently operating under ([[StatusQuoIsGod which Lisa herself dispenses with by the episode's end]]).

* As flashbacks in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheTwilightChild'' show, the main character was an almost painfully [[CheerfulChild cheerful foal]], a far cry from the emotionally broken teenager she's become when we first see her.

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* ''Fanfic/TheSilverRaven'' (''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' & ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''): {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Growing up, Nero was an adorable, exuberant CheerfulChild. As he grew into his teenage years, while he remained a fundamentally good person at his core, he lost his cheerfulness and became an aloof, vulgar-tongued JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* ''[[Fanfic/JusticeLeagueOfEquestria Mare of Steel]]''; Princess Celestia mentions that [[PrinceCharmless Prince Blueblood]] used to be much more respectful when he was younger. [[spoiler: This is a plot point, as it turns out that [[BigBad General Zod]] replaced Blueblood several years prior to the story's beginning.]]

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* Several characters are this in the ''Pokémon'' fangame ''VideoGame/PokemonRejuvenation'':

* Fanfic/InTheKingdomsService : Roman Torchwick used to be Oobleck's team leader before Oobleck sacrificed them and thousands of others to seal the tunnel to Mountain Glenn. When Jaune sees a picture of Oobleck's old team, he notes the sheer joy and pride in his team on Roman's face and is awed by how much the man has changed in the last twenty-odd years.

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* The whole point of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2775417/1/Of-Ramen-and-Wooden-Skates Of Ramen and Wooden Skates]]'' is showing Orochimaru from the perspective of someone outside his team who knew him before his StartOfDarkness.
* Unsurprisingly, Frieza's [[StartOfDarkness backstory]] in ''Fanfic/SaviorOfDemons'' shows that he was, as a child, not the psychotic killer he is at present. However, [[ZigZaggedTrope there are a few hints]] that he was [[AmbiguousInnocence manipulative and self-interested,]] as when he lied to his father about going with Kooler to see the Saiyans. He was not an EnfanteTerrible from the very start, though.
* In ''Fanfic/TheSwarmOfWar'', Alena (the new Queen of Blades) was taken into the Swarm when she was ''five''.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' crossover fic ''Fanfic/{{Kage}}'', Miranda is an untrustworthy and jaded shapeshifter teenager who hates both Queen Elyon and Prince Phobos vehemently, and her main concern is her own survival. However, it's revealed that when she was five years old and more innocent, her parents were burned [[ForcedToWatch right in front of her]] by [[KnightTemplar Kur]] after she [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo tried in vain to save them by revealing herself]]. She was afterwards recruited by Phobos, becoming cynical about trust and embittered at those she regards responsible for her parents' death, including Elyon.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ResurrectedMemories'': The original Amberline Mclain was implied to have been a very shy, but still decent person, who truly loved her little sister and just wanted friends and a chance to achieve her dream, but severe bullying at school, being raised by neglecting and controlling parents and being stood up by her crush, topped off by dying young had jaded and embittered the girl into becoming the vengeful Ember [=McLain=].

* ''Fanfic/WeightOffYourShoulder'': Adrien claims that [[AlphaBitch Chloé]] is this as he scolds his classmates for celebrating when her KarmaHoudiniWarranty finally runs out. [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse His classmates think otherwise]].

* ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'': Stinger/Sasori Orange is introduced as a jaded and withdrawn person, who only works with the team [[IneffectualLoner out]] of [[ImNotHereToMakeFriends necessity]]. The feelings are mostly mutual but then they start finding out bits about his past. He was raised by his kind older brother, who protected him from the older tribesmen bullying him. Stinger had to watch as his BloodKnight tendencies slowly eclipsed his good nature and as if that was not enough, Scorpio later joined Jark Matter and led the assault on his former tribe, killing everyone else but Stinger. Needless to say, Stinger is ''very'' messed up person.

* ''Fanfic/HonokasBizarreAdventure'': Zig-zagged with [Anime/LoveLive Nozomi Tojo]]. Initially, she a sweet girl with a strained relationship with her parents who always moved them but a close bond with her grandfather, particularly with their interests in fortune telling. After her grandfather's death and her father refusing to let her go to his funeral, Nozomi ran away to the streets of Cairo, using her Stand [Ace of Space] to run a gang of children. She ruled the streets for two years until she was confronted by [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Mohammed Avdol]] who not only defeats her but also saves her from a massive fire at her base and nurses her back to health. This reminded her of her late grandfather, forcing Nozomi to realize [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone how far she fallen from his teachings]]. Once she recovered, Avdol trained her in both fortune telling and using her Stand, before she returned to her parents in Japan, eventually becoming the kind-hearted TeamMom for µ's.

** [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]] was very much a sweet kid when he sought out Batman to try and save him from himself. The TraumaCongaLine that has followed has noticeably changed him to the point that he's willing to use [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]]'s fear toxin and has a hit list that includes large swaths of the ComicBook/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} as a precaution alongside the expected villains.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/39/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'': Roman Torchwick used to be Oobleck's team leader before Oobleck sacrificed them and thousands of others to seal the tunnel to Mountain Glenn. When Jaune sees a picture of Oobleck's old team, he notes the sheer joy and pride in his team on Roman's face and is awed by how much the man has changed in the last twenty-odd years.

* In ''Film/{{Shazam|2019}}'', [[BigBad Thaddeus Sivana]] used ti be a polite, sensitive boy before his rejection by Shazam and the car accident turned him into a villainous MadScientist. It's worth noting that, at some point, Shazam's magic deemed him [[spoiler:worthy enough to be a ''contender'' as a champion. even though Shazam himself ultimately didn't seem completely pure enough.]]

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** As seen by one film reel in ''Film/IronMan2'' Tony Stark was once a playful little boy who innocently wandered into his father Howard’s film shoot and played with the scale model of the Stark Expo, at which his father growled at him and had a member of the film crew take Tony away to his mother out of frame. With this glimpse of his childhood, coupled with getting shipped off to boarding school, is it any real wonder Tony grew up to be such a jerky egotistical, womanising InsufferableGenius in his adult life? He does take a major level in kindness and heroism though.
** Judging from [[AMinorKidroduction the flashback]] at the beginning of ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Loki had a good relationship with his brother Thor and their father and had a penchant for mischief before the jealousy settled in. Loki was much the same in original Myth/NorseMythology, sans the jealousy issues. Thor and Loki were frequently involved in mischievous pranks, and nobody thought too much of Loki's shenanigans until one of them got Baldr, the incredibly popular god of beauty, killed.
** From what we see in [[DistantPrologue the flashback]] in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', BigBad [[Characters/MCUErikStevens Erik "Killmonger" Stevens]] was a curious boy who loved listening to his father's stories about Wakanda and playing basketball with his friends. But when his father died and he was abandoned in Oakland, he became embittered and grew up to be a vengeful terrorist who wants to unleash a massacre all over the world.
** [[Characters/MCUGamora Gamora]] as seen in a {{flashback}} in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' was once an innocent girl. Thanos and his army arrived on her planet and killed half her race along with her mother and abducted Gamora training her as a TykeBomb from an early age. When we first see her as an adult in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', she’s an aloof and violent DarkActionGirl although she does become a DefectorFromDecadence. Teammate [[Characters/MCUPeterQuill Peter Quill]] as seen in his [[AMinorKidroduction minor kidtroduction]] was a sweet kid who loved his mom and music and only got into a fight with some other kids because they squashed a frog. Having watched his mother pass away from brain cancer in front of him and was subsequently raised by SpacePirates, who turned Peter into a thrill-seeking outlaw and GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe womaniser. Peter did manage to retain his love of music and better nature, however, buried underneath his immature jerkass behaviour.
** As extensively shown in TheTeaser to ''Film/BlackWidow2021'' Natasha and Yelena were once cheerful and happy little girls living comfortably in Ohio in the '80s with loving (non-biological) parents Alexei and Melina. Getting forced back to Russia, taken away from said parents, shoved in cargo containers with many other girls, surgically having their uteruses cut out and rendered infertile, [[TrainingFromHell brutally trained]] and disgustingly abused in the Red Room by Dreykov in order to be Black Widows — all unsurprisingly turned Natasha and Yelena into depressed, brutal, sarcastically jaded adult women. Although Nat like the aforementioned Tony was able to alter the course of her life and become a hero instead, which given the circumstances of her past is a miracle in itself.
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' shows that [[spoiler:Rocket was once this. He started life as an ordinary baby raccoon from Earth but then was painfully genetically and cybernetically modified, but even then was a very innocent and child-like kit who was eager to impress his father figure, wanted to fly on rockets in the blue sky with his friends in the new world and had hope that he would do so. Then said friends die at the hands of said father figure, and moments before that man said he wasn't worth anything other than his unique brain and was definitely not going to the new world. It's no wonder Rocket became a bitterly, even bitingly sarcastic, foul-mouthed, cynical, and generally misanthropic jerkass by the time we see him in the first movie.]]