History Woobie / MassEffect

* Ashley Williams is constantly screwed by the higher ups [[spoiler: because her Grandfather was the Commander at the Shanxi defeat. She also sees her entire unit slaughtered by the [[MechaMooks Geth]]. She can also die in an atomic explosion as a result of a decision by her potential love interest, or be saved only to be dumped for an asari.]]
* Kaidan Alenko. [[spoiler: Due to his biotic potential, men in suits show up at at his door after school and take him to Jump Zero (near Pluto) to have his TrainingFromHell. He accidentally kills his turian instructor (who pulled a knife on him), which in turn makes his then love interest terrified of him.]] He also has the L2 biotic implant, which gives him severe migraines, and it can potentially give him the crazy, and the game regularly reminds us that L2s and biotics in general are mistreated. [[spoiler: And to cap it all, he too can become at one with the atom thanks to Shepard]]. Oddly, despite this, he's one of the more level headed squad members.

* Legion gains a certain amount of woobieness because of seeming feelings of hero-worship for Shepard.
---->'''Legion:''' "There was a hole."
* Jack in the sequel proves to be this in her personal mission, where [[spoiler:you two return to the [[StartOfDarkness facility where she was experimented on.]] The mission ends with her reminiscing about the items in her cell, each a reminder of the hell she went through.]]

-->''I- I just- I've seen so many things go wrong, Shepard. My work at C-Sec, what happened with Sidonis... I want something to go right. Just once. Just...''

* Remarkably, the Collector General at the end of the second game comes across as one, as Harbinger releases his mental control and the bug-alien looks around with an air of quiet resignation as the base explodes around him.

* David Archer in the Overlord DLC for Mass Effect 2. He was born with autism and [[spoiler:forcefully turned into a machine by his own brother and driven insane from it.]]

* Kaidan, as one of humanity's first biotics, was put through brutal training that killed or mentally destroyed several of his friends and classmates, and ultimately left him terrified of losing control and hurting or driving away someone he cares about, while his [[FlawedPrototype outdated implant]] will force him to endure migraines and painful electric shocks for the rest of his life. He slips into being a JerkassWoobie in ''2'' when he is led to believe that he spent two years grieving for Shepard for nothing, and the best case scenario after that he will find himself trying to stay as a pillar of support for Shepard while grieving for his father's presumed death and generally being terrified for his mother's life.

* Kasumi Goto is a upbeat and perky Master Thief with a soft spot for children who lost the love of her life and never gets over it.
* Zaeed got betrayed and shot in the face by his old partner whom he founded the Blue Suns with.

** While not quite on the Prothean's level, the quarians count as well. They've been hunted to near extinction by their own creations, have no planet to live on, and are in extreme poverty. Not only that, but the galactic community at large hates them for things their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, meaning racism against them is incredibly common. As put so eloquently [[http://youtu.be/B7NyyZFZ4wc#t=7m28s by Tali herself...]]

*** The third game crosses the Quarians into [[JerkassWoobie Jerkass Woobies]] after the reveal that their near extinction, exile, and all the subsequent issues were entirely their fault for trying to exterminate the geth entirely out of unwarranted genocidal paranoia. In 3 they can very nearly bring things full circle and complete their extinction with another unnecessary war with the geth.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a lot of them:
** Shepard, depending on their background, [[DoomedHometown could have watched]] [[ParentalAbandonment their parents die in a slaver raid]], [[StreetUrchin been an orphan raised on the streets]], [[SoleSurvivor and/or the sole survivor of their previous squad]]. And the side-quests related to them are suitably traumatic. This doesn't list all the less than desirable outcomes of quests. [[spoiler: Sheperd can also lose their love interest to an atomic bomb, although it's technically their fault.]] Shepard's also treated as if they are [[TheCassandra nuts or lying]] by their superiors and in the second game, no matter how noble their intentions are, [[HeroWithBadPublicity they]] ''[[HeroWithBadPublicity AND]]'' [[HeroWithBadPublicity some of their closet friends want nothing to do with Shepard]] [[EnemyMine after they were forced to reluctantly work for a terrorist organization for the greater good]].
*** In the Arrival DLC Shepard is forced to make a decision that [[spoiler:destroys an entire solar system and kills over 300,000 batarians. Even though they really had no choice, Admiral Hackett (who still shows support) tells them that they will have to face murder charges back on Earth to attempt to appease the batarians.]]
*** The third game ups the woobie factor a thousand fold. When others are not dying\killing themselves in front of Shepard, or condemning their actions, they're trying to tell Shepard everything will be alright. Joker notes at one point that their vitals indicate that they are feeling more stress in their ''resting state'', than ever before. At the end, when the Alliance still calls on Shepard, they're just so tired, beaten, bruised, and probably bleeding to death and this is before having to make the ultimate choice and sacrifice to determine the fate of the galaxy. It's also very much implied that they've become a DeathSeeker and feel that death would come as a great relief.
** Ashley Williams is constantly screwed by the higher ups [[spoiler: because her Grandfather was the Commander at the Shanxi defeat. She also sees her entire unit slaughtered by the [[MechaMooks Geth]]. She can also die in an atomic explosion as a result of a decision by her potential love interest, or be saved only to be dumped for an asari.]]
** Kaidan Alenko. [[spoiler: Due to his biotic potential, men in suits show up at at his door after school and take him to Jump Zero (near Pluto) to have his TrainingFromHell. He accidentally kills his turian instructor (who pulled a knife on him), which in turn makes his then love interest terrified of him.]] He also has the L2 biotic implant, which gives him severe migraines, and it can potentially give him the crazy, and the game regularly reminds us that L2s and biotics in general are mistreated. [[spoiler: And to cap it all, he too can become at one with the atom thanks to Shepard]]. Oddly, despite this, he's one of the more level headed squad members.
** The sequel really ups Tali's woobie factor. [[spoiler: She finds her father dead at the same time she finds out he was doing illegal experiments on Geth, making him a war criminal against the quarians. And unless you do some fast talking during her trial, she potentially could be exiled forever from the one home she's ever known. Not to mention that, if you pursue her romance path, several conversation options imply that she's had feelings for Shepard since the events of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' two years ago.]] With all this, is it any surprise that one of the Paragon interrupts is to give her a comforting hug and let her cry in your arms? (Very nice of Creator/BioWare to put this in, considering that is exactly what a person would want to do when confronted with a Woobie. Now you finally have the option to do it in-game.)
** Legion gains a certain amount of woobieness because of seeming feelings of hero-worship for Shepard.

** Jack in the sequel proves to be this in her personal mission, where [[spoiler:you two return to the [[StartOfDarkness facility where she was experimented on.]] The mission ends with her reminiscing about the items in her cell, each a reminder of the hell she went through.]]
** Thane. He's a badass, but [[spoiler:he's dying of an incurable disease, had his wife killed by thugs trying to get back at him, and his son hates him as a result.]] You can fix the last part, but still.
** Liara. Let's see - she was born as a result of two asari mating, a major social no-no to her species and therefore ostracised and exposed to racism. She is very shy and asocial and became an archaeologist, spending half of her life alone on dig sites. She was always distant from her mother, even before Benezia joined up with Saren, and it's possible for Liara to witness [[spoiler:her mother [[DyingAsYourself die as herself]], after the revelation that she had been brainwashed through indoctrination, with her mother comforting Liara during her period of lucidity.]] In the second game, when reuniting with her, she seems to have gone through a major BreakTheCutie event and has an almost obsessive vendetta against the Shadow Broker. However, if she is a love interest from the first game and through the comic series "Redemption", it is revealed that [[spoiler:she was the one who recovered Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker, who was going to sell the corpse to the Collectors, and gave it to Cerberus so they could rebuild them. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFMPaSjAuo Liara discards her new ruthless personality]], revealing it to be nothing more than a facade, to explain that she was scared Shepard would hate her for this, knowing that Cerebus would use Shepard for their own uses, but she couldn't bear to let Shepard go.]] The lengths she went to in order to help the man/woman she loves, cares about and misses are quite touching.
** Garrus. In the sequel, [[spoiler: his entire freelance squad on Omega is betrayed by one of their own members and slaughtered by mercs, he spends a long time besieged by the mercenaries and criminals with the rotting corpses of his friends in the same building, he's brutally wounded by a missile that Shepard takes down, and apparently has nightmares about his squad.]] Bring Garrus with you during the Cerberus attack on the Citadel, and Garrus shouts out names of C-Sec officers, even though he's giving away the team's position; he's upset that all of his friends at C-Sec have been unceremoniously murdered, some even were killed execution-style. Plus, the Shadow Broker's files on him reveal that [[spoiler:his mother is dying, and his sister thinks he's a bum because she has no idea what he's really been up to all this time. The silver lining is that he's at least taken some steps toward helping them on his own, albeit with some help from Mordin...]] Even the yeoman Kelly says she'd just like to hold him and say everything's alright.
*** It's arguably worse in his romance path: with a subtle hint that his departure from C-Sec may not have been his choice, he just wants his moments with Shepard to go well, and not be in fear of screwing them up.

** The nameless tank-bred krogan on Korlus. He's been alive for seven days. All he knows is how to fight, and his entire life consists of one thing: stand where you meet him, kill anyone who attacks him, and wait. That's ''it''. He talks like a child and expresses his thoughts with complete innocence, but he's devoted entirely to the "purpose" he's been given - which was given to him by an insane krogan warlord who has discarded him as a failure. He refuses to move, instead just standing there until he either starves or the Blue Suns kill him. And the worst part is that you ''never'' get to see the poor guy's face, probably because if you did it would make the scene even more heartrending.
** Minor character Talitha is composed of pure elemental Woobie. She was kidnapped at the age of six in the same raid that killed Shepard's parents (after witnessing her parents being incinerated), and then spent the last 13 years as a slave. To top it all off, she's one of the few Woobies in video games you actually get to comfort - do the "I Remember Me" assignment right, and you end up holding her, telling her that everything will be all right as a sedative takes effect. And you aren't lying. If you helped her in the first game, [[spoiler:Talitha sends you a message in the sequel, thanking you for helping her and telling you that she's undergoing proper treatment.]]
** The volus you meet on Noveria that suffers from SurvivorGuilt - the second game doesn't make it any better, as [[spoiler: his letter mentions that "maybe I was the one who died instead, while saving her."]]
** Remarkably, the Collector General at the end of the second game comes across as one, as Harbinger releases his mental control and the bug-alien looks around with an air of quiet resignation as the base explodes around him.
** [[spoiler:Vigil, the Prothean VI. After hearing its story, it feels good to know that by meeting you and passing on information about the Reapers, the sacrifice it had to make (turning off the remaining Protheans' cryogenic pods, in order to conserve power so the head scientists pods could stay active as long as possible, as per contingency plans set up by the Protheans themselves) was not in vain.]]
** David Archer in the Overlord DLC for Mass Effect 2. He was born with autism and [[spoiler:forcefully turned into a machine by his own brother and driven insane from it.]]

** Kelly Chambers. If you don't act fast enough in ''Mass Effect 2'', [[spoiler: she dies a horrible death]], and if you meet up with her in ''Mass Effect 3'' but yell at her for sending covert reports to the Illusive Man about you, she breaks down crying and [[spoiler: then commits suicide with cyanide capsules]]. She ''does'' specifically mention she's having serious nightmares following her [[spoiler:near-liquefaction at Collector hands]]. File this one under PTSD.
** Kaidan, as one of humanity's first biotics, was put through brutal training that killed or mentally destroyed several of his friends and classmates, and ultimately left him terrified of losing control and hurting or driving away someone he cares about, while his [[FlawedPrototype outdated implant]] will force him to endure migraines and painful electric shocks for the rest of his life. He slips into being a JerkassWoobie in ''2'' when he is led to believe that he spent two years grieving for Shepard for nothing, and the best case scenario after that he will find himself trying to stay as a pillar of support for Shepard while grieving for his father's presumed death and generally being terrified for his mother's life.
*** Wrex watched the genophage ravage his people to near extinction, is nearly killed by his father pre-series driving him off-world. Finds a potential cure for his people [[spoiler: only it has to be destroyed because it's being used by the BigBad.]] And can end up dead depending on Shepard's choices.
*** Mordin Solus: At first glance a happy-go-lucky hyper-intelligent salarian who is deeply guilt-ridden and conflicted over his part in [[spoiler: prolonging the genophage. Just watch him as he discovers the corpses of krogan females who were experimental tests subjects to find a cure. He doesn't take it well.]]
*** Kasumi Goto is a upbeat and perky Master Thief with a soft spot for children who lost the love of her life and never gets over it.
*** Zaeed got betrayed and shot in the face by his old partner whom he founded the Blue Suns with.

%%Good Afternoon Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1

** Garrus. In the sequel, [[spoiler: his entire freelance squad on Omega is betrayed by one of their own members and slaughtered by mercs, he spends a long time besieged by the mercenaries and criminals with the rotting corpses of his friends in the same building, he's brutally wounded by a missile that Shepard takes down, and apparently has nightmares about his squad.]]Plus, the Shadow Broker's files on him reveal that [[spoiler:his mother is dying, and his sister thinks he's a bum because she has no idea what he's really been up to all this time. The silver lining is that he's at least taken some steps toward helping them on his own, albeit with some help from Mordin...]] Even the yeoman Kelly says she'd just like to hold him and say everything's alright.

** Shepard, depending on his/her background, [[DoomedHometown could have watched]] [[ParentalAbandonment his/her parents die in a slaver raid]], [[StreetUrchin been an orphan raised on the streets]], [[SoleSurvivor and/or the sole survivor of his/her previous squad]]. And the side-quests related to them are suitably traumatic. This doesn't list all the less than desirable outcomes of quests. [[spoiler: Sheperd can also lose his/her love interest to an atomic bomb, although it's technically his/her fault.]] S/he's also treated as if s/he's [[TheCassandra nuts or lying]] by his/her superiors and in the second game, no matter how noble his/her intentions are, [[HeroWithBadPublicity they]] ''[[HeroWithBadPublicity AND]]'' [[HeroWithBadPublicity some of his/her closet friends want nothing to do with him/her]] [[EnemyMine after s/he was forced to reluctantly work for a terrorist organization for the greater good]].
*** In the Arrival DLC Shepard is forced to make a decision that [[spoiler:destroys an entire solar system and kills over 300,000 batarians. Even though s/he really had no choice, Admiral Hackett (who still shows support) tells him/her that s/he will have to face murder charges back on Earth to attempt to appease the batarians.]]
*** The third game ups Shepard's woobie factor a thousand fold. When others are not dying\killing themselves in front of him/her, or condemning him/her for what s/he's done, they're trying to tell Shepard everything will be alright. Joker notes at one point that his/her vitals indicate that s/he is feeling more stress in his/her ''resting state'', than s/he ever has in his/her life before. At the end, when the Alliance still calls on Shepard, s/he is just so tired, beaten, bruised, and probably bleeding to death and this is before having to make the ultimate choice and sacrifice to determine the fate of the galaxy. It's also very much implied that s/he's become a DeathSeeker and that s/he feels that death would come as a great relief.

** Liara. Let's see - she was born as a result of two asari mating, a major social no-no to her species and therefore ostracised and exposed to racism. She is very shy and asocial and became an archaeologist, spending half of her life alone on dig sites. She was always distant from her mother, even before Benezia joined up with Saren, and it's possible for Liara to witness [[spoiler:her mother [[DyingAsYourself die as herself]], after the revelation that she had been brainwashed through indoctrination, with her mother comforting Liara during her period of lucidity.]] In the second game, when reuniting with her, she seems to have gone through a major BreakTheCutie event and has an almost obsessive vendetta against the Shadow Broker. However, if she is a love interest from the first game and through the comic series "Redemption", it is revealed that [[spoiler:she was the one who recovered Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker, who was going to sell the corpse to the Collectors, and gave it to Cerberus so they could rebuild him/her. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFMPaSjAuo Liara discards her new ruthless personality]], revealing it to be nothing more than a facade, to explain that she was scared Shepard would hate her for this, knowing that Cerebus would use Shepard for their own uses, but she couldn't bear to let Shepard go.]] The lengths she went to in order to help the man/woman she loves, cares about and misses are quite touching.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a couple of them:

** David Archer in the Overlord DLC for Mass Effect 2. He was born with autism and [[spoiler:forcefully turned into a machine by his own brother and driven insane from it.]]