“ | The world took everything away from me! Everything I have ever loved!! But I'm going to make sure we're even. I'm going to track down anyone who would even think about being loyal to you... and I'm going to put their ass in the dirt right next to Zuri!! | „ |
~ Erik Killmonger remarking on how his father's death drove him over the edge. |
“ | It all began on the day of my actual birth… both of my parents failed to show up. | „ |
~ Heinz Doofenshmirtz telling one of his many sad stories about his childhood |
Villains who, although acting for primarily evil goals, have understandable reasons for their motives due to suffering; hence, the reader/viewer can sympathize with them. Most of these villains are not in full control of their actions/emotions due to them not being evil by choice, but instead by them being, for the most part, a victim of circumstance. This also applies to groups such as organizations or hostile species whose members were driven to villainy due to a tragedy.
These characters are often suffering from Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can develop into delusional, insecure or egotistic villains because their experiences develop their beliefs into obsessions, twisting them to insanity.
There are three ways to declare a Tragic villain:
- A villain with a backstory that has caused them anger and depression, shaping them into destructive and hateful beings. However, the broken heart is what is causing their evil actions. Instead, they are forced upon a path of darkness and their past has caused them to become distrustful and misled. This can happen if the villain was a loner or became addicted, loses loved ones, gets bullied in childhood, was severely scarred and so on (e.g. Atrocitus, Spinel, Tyrion Lannister and Count Bleck).
- Protective villains who commit crimes to protect the ones they care about. They are only looking out for whoever they love or care for, but use extreme measures to do so; due to this, they are sometimes confronted by the heroes or even the people they protect, making it even more difficult to save them (e.g. Johnny Klebitz, Cersei Lannister and Walter White).
- Possessed or brainwashed characters who are either controlled or corrupted by some kind of evil presence. Therefore, they are not willingly evil, but are manipulated by the power that is controlling them (e.g. Cujo, Gollum, Arthas and Ice King).
/!\ However, Pure Evil villains CAN NEVER fall under Tragic.
Either their "tragedy" would be extremely and outrageously logic-defying to be realistic, or they'd simply use it as an excuse to justify themselves and nothing more. Through their evil acts and by having no empathy, the Pure Evil villain manages to destroy their own innocence and as a result, the villain is no longer sympathetic.
Even if they are given a reason for doing what they are doing that involves a traumatic experience in their lives, they are FAR PAST tragedy due to their unforgivably horrendous actions (as seen in the cases of Scar, Johan Liebert, Voldemort, Arcturus Mengsk, Sauron, Moff Tarkin, Koba, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, Dio Brando, Freddy Krueger, Phasma, Luca Blight, Emperor Ganishka, Infinite, Zoom, Milady de Winter, Adam Taurus, Herrscher of the Void, Michael Myers, Drago Bludvist, Gul`dan, Ultraman Belial, Sheev Palpatine, Evolt, Syndrome, Frank Underwood, Viktor Adler, Carnage and the many versions of Joker except his 2019 counterpart).
Most of their excuses are just what they deserved; some even fake at least one tragedy occurred on them. For example, Jagi's "tragedy" was that his younger brother Kenshiro exiled Jagi from the Hokuto family after disfiguring his face. Jagi does not hold up as tragic as this was a response to Jagi trying to murder Kenshiro.
Also, DO NOT add certain characters like these, even if they are not Pure Evil:
- Villains who committed unforgivable crimes and have crossed the Moral Event Horizon - sometimes more than once - only due to a MERE EXCUSE which is FAR TOO PETTY to be counted as tragedy. Nigel of Rio is an example of this as he rebelled against pretty birds just because he used to be a big animal star but was later was blindsided by a green parakeet named Petricious.
- Villains whose crimes were too horrible that even their excuse or traumatic experience doesn't justify their actions, no matter how sad their experience seems. Madara Uchiha is an example.
- Villains who faked a tragedy, or rather brought the so-called "tragedy" (no matter how sad it seemed) on themselves but blamed or framed others for it.
- Villains who merely has an ironic defeat (like being betrayed by people they trusted) but had no tragic backstory to begin with. Naria is an example.
This category is for characters whose tragedy is not only TRUE and LEGITIMATE, but STILL holds up even after they've crossed the Moral Event Horizon.
Many of these characters can be Fallen Heroes and Vengeful.
All items (11269)
- A (Pretty Little Liars)
- A-Train (TV Series)
- A.J. Yates
- A.R.C.
- A.R.O.N.A
- AAARRRGGHH!!!
- Aamir Barkawi
- Aaron Burr (Hamilton)
- Aaron Danzig
- Aaron Dingle
- Aaron Hallam
- Aaron Keener
- Aaron Stampler
- Aarti Kaushik
- Aatrox
- Abbot Emmanuel
- Abby (Let Me In)
- Abby Addison
- Abby Anderson
- Abby Russell
- Abdulla
- Abduwali Muse (Captain Phillips)
- Abel (Saint Seiya)
- Abel Walker
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- Abercrombie
- Abhorash
- Abi Branning
- Abigail (Final Fight)
- Abigail Gregory
- Abigail Hill
- Abigail Hobbs
- Abigail Roberts
- Abigail Walker
- Abigail Williams (Murdered: Soul Suspect)
- Abijah Fowler
- Abomination (I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse)
- Abomination (Marvel)
- Abra Kadabra (Arrowverse)
- Abracadaver
- Abraham (My Virtual Escape)
- Abraham (Us)
- Abraxas (Tron)
- Absalom (Darksiders)
- Absorbing Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Abyss (Fancy Island)
- Abyss (TNA)
- Abyss Mages
- Abyss Order
- Abyss Razor
- Abyss Trinity
- Abyss Watchers
- Abyssal Dision
- Acat
- Accelerator
- Ace (DC Animated Universe)
- Achilles Davenport
- Achmed the Dead Terrorist
- Acidwire
- Ackdos Gill
- Acro
- Acrobatic Silky
- Ada's Mother (Lamb)
- Adalind Schade
- Adam "Kane" Marcus
- Adam (Dark)
- Adam (Kamen Rider)
- Adam (Medieval Cop)
- Adam (Ravenloft)
- Adam Bahri
- Adam Barlow
- Adam Carrington
- Adam Claiborne
- Adam el Asem
- Adam Groff
- Adam Jackson
- Adam Knight
- Adam Meiks
- Adam Mitchell
- Adam Monroe
- Adam Murray
- Adam Newman
- Adam Pratt
- Adam Rain
- Adam Sorg
- Adam Stanheight
- Adam Susan
- Adam the Clown
- Adam Warlock (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Adamas (Record of Ragnarok)
- Adar
- Adda
- Adel (Kamen Rider Ghost)
- Adelaide Wilson
- Adina
- Adio Suerte
- Adjudicator (Demon's Souls)
- Adjutant Shiima
- Adler (SIGNALIS)
- Administrator (Team Fortress 2)
- Admiral Belleza
- Admiral Orlock
- Admiral Ozzel
- Admiral Yarofev
- Admiral-General Aladeen
- Adolf Hitler (Downfall)
- Adolf Hitler (Love, Death & Robots)
- Adonis (Kamen Rider Ghost)
- Adonis (Marvel)
- Adonis (The Kingdoms of Ruin)
- Adrenazon
- Adrian (Macbeth)
- Adrian Cross
- Adrian Gecko
- Adrian Powell
- Adrian Pryce
- Adriana Masters
- Adriana Petrescu
- Adrius Ossian
- Adu Du
- Adéwalé
- Aedelas Blackmoore
- Aegon II Targaryen
- Aelfric Dahlman
- Aeon the Terrible
- Aerys II Targaryen
- Agahnim (Akira Himekawa)
- Agams
- Agatha (Dark Deception)
- Agatio (Golden Sun)
- Ageha
- Agent 33 (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Agent 47
- Agent Bishop
- Agent Black
- Agent Jack Burns
- Agent Kallus
- Agent Liberty (Supergirl)
- Agent Red
- Agent Stone (Twisted Metal TV Series)
- Agent Whiskey
- Aggie Prenderghast
- Agito (Dragalia Lost)
- Aglaeca
- Agnes (Monica's Gang)
- Agnes Lenz
- Agnes Mary Winstead
- Agnese Sanctis
- Agony (Marvel)
- Agria
- Aguilera
- Agâh Beyoğlu
- Ah-Kel
- Ahab
- Ahdar Ru'afo
- Ahri
- Ahuizotl (My Little Pony)
- Ahzek Ahriman
- Ahzidal
- Ai (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
- Aichi Sendou
- Aiden O'Malley
- Aife
- Aigaron
- Aileen
- Aileen Greene
- Aileen Wuornos (Monster)
- Aina Sahalin
- Ainz Ooal Gown
- Air Force One Angel
- Air Man
- Air-Walker
- Airborne Unit
- Aishi the Mounful Blade
- Aisrehdar
- Aizam
- Aji Min
- AK Rocka
- Akagi (Azur Lane)
- Akane Hiyama
- Akari (Hello? Hell...o?)
- Akasha Shishidou (Corpse Princess)
- Akaza
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- Akhos
- Aki (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness)
- Aki Myojin
- Aki Sawada
- Aki Tsukino
- Akihiko Kayaba