History Main / UsedToBeASweetKid

* ''Comicbook/FreedomFighters'': In the 2006 miniseries, Americommando is a sadistic BadBoss and BlackShirt. However, Uncle Sam recalls how when Americommando was ten, he wanted to be an astronaut like UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong (which Sam knows due to how he can sense everyone’s American dream). In the present, Sam makes that wish come true [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor by throwing Americommando into outer space, causing him to slam into the moon at high speed.]]

* Heroic example with [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]]. Anna Marie was the adorable daughter of Mississippi hippies, but the disappearance of her mother Priscilla led to her being raised by her mean and authoritarian aunt which caused Rogue to run away from home. Things got better when she met a boy named Cody and had some PuppyLove with him, but upon her FirstKiss her [[PowerParasite mutant power]] activated and [[TouchOfDeath put Cody in a life-long coma]]. Unable to control her powers, Rogue hid in the wilderness threatening anyone who approached her with a shotgun, at which Rogue was found and adopted by Characters/{{Mystique}} who raised her to be a supervillain. Eventually Rogue would have a HeelFaceTurn and join the X-Men and regain her lost better nature, although she is still a BrokenBird at times.

* Graydon Creed, the human son of [[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]] and Characters/{{Mystique}} was once a genuinely sweet and nice little boy searching for his mommy and daddy, who when he learned firsthand how absolutely monstrous both his mutant parents were, snapped and became a BoomerangBigot and PresidentEvil. It’s especially tragic that his half-brother ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} despite his obvious mutant appearance and discrimination he got from it — actually had a comparatively better and healthier childhood than poor Graydon.

Sadly, this trope is TruthInTelevision, as many people who started out as good ended up becoming malicious and criminal later on in their life, but as this trope deals with a person’s morality, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease

** Averted in the case of Xykon -- the whole point of the ''Recap/StartOfDarkness'' prequel book was to show that he had no redeeming features whatsoever and never did. In the creator's words, not only is he thoroughly evil, he's also sort of a dick. While he may not have been evil when he first discovered his gift for Necromancy at the age of 4, by the age of 12 he's killing a CaptainErsatz of Professor Xavier (granted, one who was being an incredible dick about [[InsufferableGenius how wizards are inherently better than sorcerers]]), zombifying him and siccing him and his zombified grandma on his parents.

* The alien creature who would one day become [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonKingGhidorah Ichi, the middle head of Ghidorah]], in the backstory of the Franchise/MonsterVerse fic ''[[Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon Abraxas]]''. Originally, Ichi was apparently a compassionate being who would risk his own neck helping others and nurtured his younger brothers (who became Ni and San respectively) as best he could [[PromotionToParent in the absence]] [[ParentalAbandonment of their parent]] -- a far cry from the sadistic, murderous psychopath Ichi is in the present, who only knows how to show his youngest brother-head San abuse. [[spoiler:After the three brothers were captured by [[AbusivePrecursors the Makers]], viciously experimented on, and transformed into Ghidorah, Ichi understandably grew to hate the Makers and anything that reminded him of them with a murderous passion -- and after Ghidorah turned against and eradicated the Makers, Ichi and his brothers still had [[TerribleTicking the Old Noise]] screaming in their brains, compelling them to kill things endlessly. With the Makers' experiments having granted Ghidorah an immortal lifespan, the horrors of Ichi's and his brothers' continuous deeds under the Old Noise's influence slowly ground away and erased all the good qualities and redeeming traits that Ichi once possessed over millions of years, leaving the utter monster that we now know Ichi as]].

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' does this for both the title character and King Stefan, [[spoiler: the latter of whom is the BigBad]]. Yes, the self-proclaimed "[[CardCarryingVillain Mistress of All Evil]]" was once a friendly, loving girl, who was in love with a human - but their love was destroyed by political feuds between their kingdoms. [[spoiler: In the end, Maleficent does a HeelFaceTurn]].

** {{Averted}} hard with [[BigBad Sheev Palaptine]], as shown in the expanded material he was a RoyalBrat who had a cruel nature since the time he learned to walk and had already killed someone before even finding TheDarkSide.

** From what we see in [[DistantPrologue the flashback]] in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', BigBad [[Characters/MCUErikKillmonger 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.

** When Aegon first appears, he's a two-year-old toddler and appears to be a normal and happy child. It's unknown what he was like as a small child, but when he reappears as a teenager he's grown into a lazy BigBrotherBully who only wants to drink and leer at girls, and finally as a adult he's a hedonistic, selfish wreck of a man who only wants to sleep with women (whether they agree or not) and drink and does not want to be king because he knows he has neither the skill nor temperament to make a good one.

** Inverted example with [[spoiler:little Princess Leia Organa who has the stubborn and irritating WellExcuseMePrincess traits seen in ''Film/ANewHope'' on full force as a little girl, to the point of being a serious hassle for [[ActionHeroBabysitter Obi-Wan]]. A far cry from the patient and sensible TeamMom Leia becomes in the rest of her appearances. Played with though, as Leia isn’t a complete RoyalBrat displaying some genuine NiceToTheWaiter behaviour.]]

* ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': Payet seemed like a pretty nice kid before a whole town convinced him he was the TheChosenOne and showered him with gifts and easy women.

* ''Itsy Bitsy Spider'': Zig-zagged in in this the 1993 cartoon (based on the animated short subject that played with ''Bebe's Kids'' in theaters). Leslie -- the little girl who befriends Itsy -- was a sweet, introverted kid in the short and first season. Many episodes in Season 2 have her a head-slapping bitch.

** Memory portraits in Emperor Belos' mindscape reveal that he was once a sweet child [[spoiler:named Philip Wittebane]] who loves to play games with his older brother. His descent into a fanatical, cruel tyrant of the Boiling Isles [[spoiler:who seeks to wipe out all witches]] is the result of said-older brother [[spoiler:falling in love with a witch named Evelyn, which Philip saw as a betrayal to their upbringing as witch hunters. He ends up killing his older brother in a fit of rage, leading him into a downward spiral where he becomes a literal monster trying (and failing) to salvage his happy past by [[ReplacementGoldfish cloning his brother]] and fulfilling his dream of being a witch hunter.]]

** ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E4Rosebud Rosebud]]'': Young Monty Burns was depicted as one. A flashback showed him happily playing with his teddy bear Bobo, and being referred to by his parents as "Happy."
--> '''Father''': Happy, would you like to continue living with us, your loving natural parents, or would you rather live with this twisted, loveless billionaire?
--> [Burns immediately drops his bear and runs into the limousine, donning sunglasses.]
--> '''Burns''': Let's roll!
--> '''Father''': Wait! You forgot your bear, a symbol of your lost youth and innocence!
** ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS32E19PanicOnTheStreetsOfSpringfield Panic on the Streets of Springfield]]'': Largely subverted. Lisa becomes enamored with an '80's musician and adopts his 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 (which Lisa herself dispenses with by the episode's end).

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': In the third Season opener, Queen Moon Butterfly, Star's uptight, stodgy mother, reveals why she's the way she is; Her own mother had been killed when Moon was the age Star is, forcing a once-carefree girl into the role of queen.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThorTalesOfAsgard'': Revealed that Loki was like this as a teenager. It's not until the betrayal of a family friend and the use of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Sword of Surtur]] that his former outlook starts souring and he begins to think differently.

* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheWorld'': Katniss is a CheerfulChild before becoming the broken cynic that she is in the main trilogy.
--> ''It's [Prim's] sister, I realize. The older girl. The one who used to ride on Glen's shoulders and sing at the top of her lungs. I can't reconcile that child with the young woman I see now. Her face isn't hard, but it's closed off somehow, as cold as ice. Whatever's happened to her since her father died, it's made her tough. Hard.''

* ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'':

* ''[[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.]]
* 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''.
* 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.
* 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.
* ''Fanfic/YinAndYangSeries'': Nikolai Kezanstav. He met and befriended an alien while young, but as he grew up, he began to desire his best friend's technology more and more. He eventually ends up enslaving the alien with mind control.
* ''Fanfic/HarmonyTheory'' has Charisma, TheDreaded BloodKnight and TheDragon to one of the story's {{big bad}}s, who is revealed to originally have been a sweet filly who liked to dance around and had a loving family, until her "talent glyph" appeared and basically marked her as a natural born killer and drove her to [[spoiler: murder her own brother]], leading to her being disowned by her family and leading her down the path she chose.
* Roman Torchwick in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/39/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'' 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 two had changed in the last twenty-odd years.
* In ''Fanfic/KarmaInRetrograde'', Touya Todoroki was an aspiring hero student who loved his siblings and wanted to rescue them and their mother from their [[ArchnemesisDad abusive father's]] influence. Somewhere down the line, he fell down the path of villainy, becoming the murderous Dabi who is disillusioned with hero society. A [[FountainOfYouth de-aging]] Quirk brings Touya back to the surface and lets 1-A see who he originally was, but [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome the effects are temporary]] and he will [[YouCantFightFate eventually return to being Dabi no matter how badly he wants to remain Touya]].
* 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=].
* Several characters are this in the ''Pokémon'' fangame ''VideoGame/PokemonRejuvenation'':
** Team Xen Admin Nastasia is cold, cruel, and completely remorseless in regard to her involvement in terrorist attacks; making even her coworkers question why she is so ruthless. It is later revealed that [[spoiler:she used to be Anastasia Bellarosa, a sweet but shy and introverted girl with an overbearing mother and only one friend, Maria. She then went through extremely traumatic events, such as watching Maria be sacrificed by her cult leader father and almost be killed by a meteor. It is still unknown what exactly caused her transformation. However, she still has some goodness within her, as she ensures you receive your mother’s Sylveon and appears to still care about Ren, who she met as a child]].
** Fighting leader Keta[[spoiler:/Kenneth]] is an even more tragic example. [[spoiler:When he first arrived in the Aevium Region, he was an idealistic young man longing to improve the lives of those affected by the calamity Storm-9. After managing to do that by rebuilding Sheridan Village with his wife Taelia, he was given an ultimatum to kill her, whose sender had already killed his mother. He refused and lost both her and their child Nora in the process. He mistakenly believed Taelia blamed him, as his mind was manipulated by the mysterious Freya, who saw him as a mere puppet. Years later, after finally reconciling with his brother Deagan, he too died seconds after. The last straw was him being recruited by Team Xen and being forced to sell his villagers’ lives in exchange for his own, at which point he asked an Oracle to completely separate himself from his emotions, isolating himself from the ones who still loved him.]]
* In ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndEmerald'', Enji Todoroki as a teenager was actually the CloudcuckoolandersMinder in his group of friends, using his powers to help keep them out of trouble. Then he became the pro hero Endeavor and unhealthily obsessed with overcoming All Might, and used his family as stepping stones to do so.
* In ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfTheEquinox'', Brutus Meadows is Scootaloo's alcoholic and [[AbusiveParents abusive foster father]] who ends up [[spoiler:[[TilMurderDoUsPart killing in anger his wife Vibrant Glow]] whose gambling addiction has eaten up most of his savings]], and he tries to kill [[spoiler:Cheerilee]] simply [[HeKnowsTooMuch for discovering that crime]]. However, when Brutus is [[spoiler:dying, [[MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes the flashbacks]] he has]] show that he was an adorkably shy colt when he first met at school [[ChildhoodFriendRomance his future wife]] with whom he later [[HappilyAdopted adopted Scootaloo when nopony else seemed to be doing so]]. Sadly, his wife's gambling debts led to him becoming an alcoholic and forgetting his love towards both her and Scootaloo.
* ''WebAnimation/ASadnessRunsThroughHimCOMPLETESnowtuftWarriorsAUMap'': Snowkit was a gentle and sweet kitten who became angry and bloodthirsty in adulthood.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/TheSilverRaven''. 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/TheSunWillComeUpAndTheSeasonsWillChange'': Dana Summers, Mary’s [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]], used to be a kind woman. However, a combination of her own abusive mother, Irene, forcibly inserting herself back into her life and buying into the lies [[DrJerk Dr. Goldman]] and several other anti-autism groups about what Mary was going to become shortly after she was diagnosed as autistic turned Dana into a miserable, ControlFreak monster.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheWrathOfAvelina'', Agustin notes that he often saw the titular Avelina playing with the other kids when Luisa was young, and that he's surprised she would ever turn against the Madrigals.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': As an adolescent, Syndrome aka Buddy Pine was an adoring fan of Mr. Incredible until [[BrokenPedestal he was seemingly brushed away by his idol]]. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] though as even from the start, Buddy displayed troubling obsessive and GlorySeeker traits to an unhealthy degree for a kid.

[[quoteright:316:[[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/used_to_be_a_sweet_child2.png]]]]

* Tai Lung of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' was such a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cute]] cub in the flashback sequences that [[DracoInLeatherPants he got a lot more sympathy from audiences]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse than the filmmakers expected.]]

* ''ComicBook/FreedomFighters'': In the 2006 miniseries, Americommando is a sadistic BadBoss and BlackShirt. However, Uncle Sam recalls how when Americommando was ten, he wanted to be an astronaut like UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong (which Sam knows due to how he can sense everyone’s American dream). In the present, Sam makes that wish come true [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor by throwing Americommando into outer space, causing him to slam into the moon at high speed.]]

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

* Hayley Smith from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' is a 19-year-old SoapboxSadie who is perpetually angry, depressed and cynical. But when she was a young girl, she was a normal cheerful and loving child. The change in her demeanor happened on her seventh birthday, when she saw a baby seal being clubbed to death on the news, being her first exposure to life's unpleasantness.

* WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman is a major JerkAss in present-day, but his upbringing [[AbusiveParents was less]] [[ResentfulGuardian than stellar]].

* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog''. The [[CoolOldLady old, but sweet and kind]] Muriel was shown in the episode "Little Muriel" to have been an [[BrattyHalfPint obnoxious brat]] as a child. Played straight with her husband Eustace, who is implied to have been a good child up until the treatment he received [[TheUnfavourite from his mother and brother]], thus turning him into the GrumpyOldMan he is in the show.
* Dan from ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': In "[[WholeEpisodeFlashback Summer Camp]]", Dan is bullied and responds by telling the camp director. Contrast that with how nowadays his first response to anything frustrating, no matter what or how small the problem is, is almost always to get revenge.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' incarnation of Doofus Drake was this, apparently. His [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes beloved grandmother]] left him her vast fortune when he was too young to handle it. In the present day, he's an out-of-control {{Bratty Half Pint}} who can go [[HairTriggerTemper full-blown]] {{Yandere}} at the drop of a hat. The butler and maid who serve him? Those are ''his parents''.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Denzel Crocker was a near-perfect child who was loved by everybody. However, [[spoiler:losing his fairies]] was his StartOfDarkness.
* Trina Riffin of ''WesternAnimation/GrojBand'' was once a sweet girl, but she locked her old self (known as "Katrina") away in her mind and turned evil (and at least one of the reasons why was [[LoveMakesYouEvil to impress her crush]]).

* Zig-zag: In the 1993 cartoon ''Itsy Bitsy Spider'' (based on the animated short subject that played with ''Bebe's Kids'' in theaters), Leslie -- the little girl who befriends Itsy -- was a sweet, introverted kid in the short and first season. Many episodes in Season 2 have her a head-slapping bitch.
* Amazingly, Lucius VII on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. He's {{Satan}} (albeit a [[HarmlessVillain mostly incompetent one]]), but what {{flashback}}s we get of his childhood paint him as actually cute and rather sympathetic, being abused by his father or the people of Miseryville. Then again, given [[CrapsackWorld the place he lives in]], it's probably no surprise he grew up the way he did.

* [[CrankyNeighbor Mr. Grouse]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' [[https://theloudhouse.fandom.com/wiki/File:S2E01_Young_Mr._Grouse.png is revealed to have been one]] in "[[ChristmasEpisode 11 Louds A Leaping]]".
* Although he had shades of being a SpoiledBrat especially after his [[spoiler:mother's death and his father's initial refusal to hit him]], Clay Puppington in ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' was revealed to be this in "Passing." [[GenerationXerox He was actually somewhat Orel-like]].

* Ricky Owens from ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' went from the Shaggy of the original Mystery Inc. to the devious bastard he's known as in the present: [[spoiler:Mr. E]].

** ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS32E19PanicOnTheStreetsOfSpringfield Panic on the Streets of Springfield]]'': Largely subverted. Lisa becomes enamored with an '80's musician and adopts his both his grungy aesthetic and cynical, world-weary philosophy. When a dismayed Marge claims that Lisa used to be such a happy little girl, Lisa 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 (which Lisa herself dispenses with by the episode's end).

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'''s third Season opener, Queen Moon Butterfly, Star's uptight, stodgy mother, reveals why she's the way she is; Her own mother had been killed when Moon was the age Star is, forcing a once-carefree girl into the role of queen.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' episode "Insane in the Membrane", it appears like this trope will be subverted when [[spoiler:Baxter]] flashes back to his childhood and is seen about to pour some sort of chemicals on a bug in a jar. [[spoiler:He changes his mind and lets the bug go. Through more flashbacks, it was clear that he was a good kid who was devastated by his mother's death, and the memories of her were enough for him to let the Turtles and April go.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThorTalesOfAsgard'' it was revealed that Loki was like this as a teenager. It's not until the betrayal of a family friend and the use of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Sword of Surtur]] that his former outlook starts souring and he begins to think differently.

* Monty Burns on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was depicted as one in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E4Rosebud Rosebud]]." A flashback showed him happily playing with his teddy bear Bobo, and being referred to by his parents as "Happy."

** Also implied with [[BigBad Lyutsifer Safin]] in ''Film/NoTimeToDie''. Bond and Madeleine see a photo of a young Safin and his family, in which the villain appears as a CheerfulChild. He even mentions his parents were chemists, suggesting he had a peaceful and carefree childhood before [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his family was murdered by [=SPECTRE=].]]

* ''Franchise/JamesBond'', 007 himself was implied to be this as hinted at in the books and a few times in the films. The first time we get any conformation that Bond was not always a violent, cynical, womanizing SociopathicHero is in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' when his family's groundskeeper Kincade shows M a secret priest hole in the manor and recounts a moment from Bond's childhood.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': When Aegon first appears, he's a two-year-old toddler and appears to be a normal and happy child. It's unknown what he was like as a small child, but when he reappears as a teenager he's grown into a lazy BigBrotherBully who only wants to drink and leer at girls, and finally as a adult he's a hedonistic, selfish wreck of a man who only wants to sleep with women and drink and does not want to be king because he knows he has neither the skill nor temperament to make a good one.