“ | Create no emotional attachments to anything. Everything gets destroyed. Let me tell you a story about a man called Wilbur. At his peak he was a very powerful man with a great nation. But due to poor choices and negligence, the destruction of his nation was his only way of ratification. Dream, founder of the platform in which this entire world was created. Overwhelmed with the idea of ultimate power, he bit off more than he can chew, now that he rots in jail.... Quackity wanted to build a nation for him and his best friends… until… they abandoned him. And now that nation is gone... | „ |
~ Quackity talking to Slimecicle about his and Wilbur's backstories and why they turned evil as well as Dream. |
“ | He and Chris had a special bond as brother and sister, because they spent most of the time playing together. When Chris and her boyfriend Billy both died during The Black Prom, it did devastate us, and it hit Dylan so hard that he was diagnosed with depression, and he didn't want to do anything, because he had lost interest in everything that he and Chris did together, as he felt it would not be the same without her. So he beat himself up in the hopes that it would kill him. | „ |
~ Mrs. Hargensen on how her son responded to Chris's death. |
“ | You don’t understand. You killed my family. You Americans cheered when we lost. We lost our homes. We lost our families. You nuked us. The nuke took my wife. The nuke took my kids. Hiroshima was our home. […] You took everything from me, so I decided to return peace by getting rid of the people who wronged us. | „ |
~ The Man in The Suit explaining his hatred for the Americans in Mailed Message. |
Villains who has genuine tragedies in their lives that led to their villainy in the first place. These villains may face a crisis of conscience when doing evil in addition to having tragic pasts, which may be the primary source of motivation behind their evil deeds. These villains often have confused morals, believing that they are doing good when in fact they are doing evil.
These villains often suffer from extreme heavy amount of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and become Delusional, Insecure and/or Egotists because their experiences twist them towards insanity; many of them can also be Fallen Heroes and/or Vengeful, if not both. Some may even become Addicts because of their experiences.
There are three ways to deem a villain as tragic:
- Villains with painful backstories giving them negative emotions and shaping them into destructive and hateful beings. However, their broken hearts cause their actions since they were forced into darkness and their unfortunate pasts made them distrustful and misled. This can happen if they were rejected/loners, bullied, scarred, became addicts and/or suicidal, lost loved ones, had an abusive family/creator and so on (e.g. Spyro Doomfire, Hypno, the Funky Fource, Sarah Henderson, Cyalux Clover, The Man in The Suit, Lord Sinensis, Dream and The Tortured One).
- Protective villains committing crimes to save those they care about. They are only looking out for whoever they love or care for the most but use extreme measures to do so and are confronted by heroes or even the ones they are protecting making it more difficult to save them (e.g. Exetior and Ruby Diorite). However, not every protective villain is automatically tragic.
- The Possessed and/or Brainwashed controlled, corrupted or indoctrinated by an evil presence. Therefore they are not willingly evil but manipulated by the higher powers controlling them (e.g. Fear!Sonic.exe and Amy Rose). To these villains frequently death without regaining their memories or their original personalities is considered blessing, should they ever recover only to realize what they have done during their state of being brainwashed/possessed would often shatter their minds and souls. Some who are indoctrinated start off with honorable intentions but start to let power go to their heads.
Tragedies are sympathetic factors for many villains’ villainies and most of the time, some of these villains have a chance/choice to redeem themselves at the end of a story. Often times, sympathetic factors including tragedies can involve a villain being mentally unstable, in love, suffering from immense psychosis on a daily basis or dissociative identity disorders (DID) and being addicts, sympathetic nihilists or suicidal are among examples of being tragic villains as well. Having a very sympathetic backstory or being protective and/or possessed/brainwashed pawns are most common ways a villain can be tragic. Suffering from a horrific and cruel mutilation and had done absolutely nothing to deserve their fates can also make the villain tragic. Being exiled or shunned unjustly is also another factor, but that rarely ever happens.
Tragic villains can cross as many lines as they can and still be tragic if they retain their sympathetic background/nature, empathy and/or their feelings (i.e.: being Faux Affably Evil, having racial or xenophobic views, destroying their own innocence or even having a misanthropic nature and/or being genocidal or cataclysmic). An antisocial villain is hard to qualify as tragic as they lack empathy and feelings, but if they suffered such horrific events in their lives that is so sympathetic to the point it twisted their sanity to make them become such a violent person, they may qualify. Some of these villains can even be anti-villains and/or remorseful, or even Villains by Proxy. Some tragic villains can even be fuelled with hatred and pain from their experiences or they can even become completely dominant with fear if their tragedies scarred them for life with no recovery whatsoever. Luigi and Man in the suit is a good example.
Being a tragic villain is a sympathetic quality and any character or even a hero are allowed to sympathize with those types of villains, no matter the lines they cross. Should a tragic villain get the help they deserve, they can finally stop their evil ways, have others accept them and move on from the experiences they suffered in their past.
Notes
⚠️ Complete Monsters CAN NEVER be Tragic. Either their so-called “tragedies” would have to be extremely and outrageously logic-defying to even be realistic, or they would simply use it to falsely excuse their evil actions and nothing more. Through their actions and lack of feelings, they manage to destroy their own innocence and as a result are no longer sympathetic. Their excuses may be what they deserved and some have faked at least one tragedy (e.g. Hit The Target and Sir Benedict Cumbersnatch). They may also try to present their excuses as tragedies, but end up being LESS sympathetic if their excuses amount to pure jealousy or pettiness (e.g. Charles Eborock, Kanade Otonokoji and Scarlet Spiker).
Even if a Complete Monster were given reasons for what they are doing that could be considered a genuine tragedy, they are clearly FAR PAST IT (e.g. Pepper Satanica, Dr. Henry Miller, THOUGHT and Lieutenant Obsidian). They should go under Envious, Vengeful, Fake Tragic, and/or Petty categories instead.
Also, DO NOT add characters like these even if they are not Complete Monsters:
- Villains crossing the Moral Event Horizon due to MERE EXCUSES FAR TOO PETTY to count (e.g. Shrek and Lawyer Kong).
- Villains whose crimes are so heinously horrible, no excuse or experience can excuse their actions regardless of how unfortunate they may seem (e.g. M, William Afton and Niles).
- Villains faking tragedies and/or bringing it on themselves while blaming others (e.g. Mr. Krabs, Jacques Morneau and Jeeves).
- Villains with defeats like being Betrayed but no tragedies to begin with (e.g. Negagen and The Coca-Cola Company).
- Villains who felt unloved or unappreciated, but ending up LESS sympathetic due to the horrible nature of their actions and how heinous they are (e.g. SMG3 and Oscar).
- Villains who were evil creations from the start with a lack of moral agency, but were in circumstances that only increased their villainy even more.
- Villains who are only speculated to have a tragic past, but aren’t truly confirmed to have one (e.g. Francis).
- Villains who used to be affected by their past, but not anymore (Ness & Lucas).
This is for characters whose tragedies are not only TRUE AND LEGITIMATE but STILL affect at motivate them in the present day.
IMPORTANT: In order for a villain to qualify as Tragic, they must be a hero/a good person or a neutral character BEFORE turning evil to qualify. If a villain suffered a tragedy or loss while during the time they were already evil, they DO NOT qualify (e.g. William Afton, SMG3 and Waluigi). Instead, save those for the Protective, Remorseful, Insecure and/or Scapegoat categories.
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The Man in The Suit -
Ben Tennyson (The Carnitrix) -
Simon (Sprunki Incredibox) -
Sarah Henderson (Needlem0use) -
ULTRA Vegito -
Mr. Puzzles -
Exetior -
Mr. L (Too Late.Exe)
All items (1561)
- Abdul Alhazred (Multiversal Legends)
- Abnormal King
- Aboboy
- Absol (Pokemon Dominion)
- Acephalous
- Acolyte (the Gray Chronicles)
- Actual Satan
- Adagio Dazzle (Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake)
- Adam (No More Room in Hell)
- Adam Goshenite
- Adam Pryce
- Adelia McLauren
- Aekon
- Agate Lightvale (Glitchtale: Continue)
- Agatha McWarner
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- Alan Eric Jeal
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- Alekstro
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- Alex Edwin
- Alice (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Alice Aduraice
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- Alison Bäirren (The Return to Freddy's)
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- Allen The Ghost
- Alma Madrigal (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Alphus
- Althea Andrea
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- Amanda The Adventurer (GH'S)
- Amanda The Adventurer (Puffymillie)
- Amanpreet Bhangu
- Amarys (Arc of Juliana)
- Amber
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- Ambrose Cain
- Amethyst Paradinight
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- Amy (Animals and Bfb)
- Amy Rose (There's Something About Amy)
- Amygdala
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- Andes the Pain Shepherd
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- Anna (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Antagon
- Anthony
- Anthony Rare (Harmony of the Star World)
- Anti-Shroomy
- Antisepticeye (YouTube Channel/Space: Season Future)
- Anton Simms
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- Arch Dee
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- Argent Gray
- Ariel (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Armin Arlert (A Slap on Titan)
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- Arnulf von Wagenheim
- Arrow Tubby
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- Arthur Dracarys
- Arthur. K. Kakuonara
- Asgore Dreemurr (Undertale Yellow)
- Asgore Dreemurr (Undertale: Monster's Day)
- Ash Graven (Disaster Almighty)
- Asha (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Ashi
- Ashley (Five Nights at Wario’s)
- Ashley Graham Flores (Westridge)
- Asuri
- Atel
- Athena Anthonyson (Punkettes RPG)
- Aunt Grandma (TheWeirdoGirl)
- Auri (Harmony of the Star World)
- Aurora (Disney Princesses but they're Villains)
- Austin (The Corrupted Mii) (original)
- Axis
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- Azula (Anthpo)
- B0NN!3
- BabyLuigiOnFire
- Bad Future Sayori (Querxes)
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- Ballora (Disconnected)
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- Bane (Earth-998123)
- Bao-Dur
- Barney (Barney Error)
- Barney (Eggs For Bart)
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- Baron Mordo (Marvel Fanfilm Universe)
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- Batman (DC Analog Horror Universe)
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- Bebe Stevens (Red and Friends)
- Bellroc (Misry6's Rise of the Titans)
- Ben Drowned (original)
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- Ben Wyden
- Bendy (AndyBTTF)
- Bendy (Backrooms RP)
- Bendy (Cartoon Fight Club)
- Bendy (Lifeline)
- Bendy (Welcome Home)
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- Beru
- Beyond Madness: A Smiling King
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- Big Bad Wolf (HISHE Kids)
- Big Bear (The GMOD Series)
- Big Beat
- Bill Roberts
- Billy Chapman (BitLife Version)
- Bird 2009
- Birdie (FNwMT)
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- Bizarre (The Legend of Team Brunette)
- Black (GameToons' Sprunki Incredibox)
- Blades (The Blue Tri)
- Blake the Badger
- Blame
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- Bloodbending Katara
- Blue (Pokémon: Abandoned Lonliness)
- Blurph Bloodriver
- Bob Bobowski
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- Bog
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- Booroong Motors (FamilyFun)
- Boresto
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- Boscha's mother (MoringMark)
- Boss (Shorts Wars)
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- Brainiac (DC Fanfilm Universe)
- Braylon (Annette's Unexpected Journey)
- Brenda Goose
- Brexit Lord
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- Buck Peddleton
- Bull
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- C0RPSE (The Grieving: Re-Take)
- Caillou (The Tyler Green Show)
- Caillou (Vyond)
- Caine (Digital Disruption)
- Calamitas (Terraria Calamity)
- Camerawoman (Corrupted Skibidi Toilet)
- Cami
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- Carl Middendorph III
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- Cassidy (The Interviewed)
- CatNap (The Hour of Joy Fan-Comic)
- Cave Tubby
- Celeste