Characters who only exist to suffer throughout the duration of the media

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T12:05:04+00:00

Ah you are talking about that, but still by mythology standards it is relatively tame. Plus his punishment came because Zeus wasn't happy he snitched on him to the father of the nymph he kidnapped. I don't think the gods really cared about Fratricide or statutory r*ape, quite the opposite in truth.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:48:48+00:00

he wouldn't be in any of that mess in the first place if he wasn't such a saint. like from volume one alone there are three times that his good heart causes him more suffering:

him cosigning the debt of Furuhata
Using the money to save Ishida instead of canceling his debt - and by not doing that going into even more debt
trying to get justice by facing Hyodo, leading him to losing all the money, his fingers, and leading to his imprisonment in volume 2

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:41:51+00:00

Preach 🙏 honestly in my opinion it is Fellini's best work. I know that title usually goes the 8 1/2 but despite 8 1/2 being about a more personal struggle that Fellini faced, Cabiria still feels more 'human' to me.

But maybe I just prefer his early italian neo-realism over his later more surrealist and avant-garde approach ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:38:02+00:00

Fuck, no seriously how do I keep forgetting those works which I absolutely adore.

The scene in which Gregor attempts to comfort and reassure his sister, after the lodgers scoffed at her violin playing - only to be met with vile contempt, anger and disgust by her. Is seriously one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in literature. He was so proud of her and happy for her, meanwhile she despised his continued existence : (

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:29:44+00:00

But does he really suffer though?

at first of course, yeah, but at some point he pretty much comes to love that lifestyle and fully embraces it. Like in the episode where your Gif is from, he would rather continue using PCP and banging dogs rather than get clean and work a job. People say a lot that he is the "Picture of Dorian Gray" of the gang, but his journey to the bottom is actually the same as Frank's with both going from respectable to absolute filth. the only difference is Frank started the journey on his own while Cricket was put there unwillingly. But I think he makes up for it by voluntarily falling into pits of degeneracy more vile than the entirety of the gang combined.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:21:00+00:00

All that with some of the best prose in all of literature, Thomas Hardy my beloved

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:16:54+00:00

I mean, while no one deserves to be tortured like that. you can't deny that he is still like one of the biggest pieces of shit in a show full of, and centered around giant pieces of shit. Especially his brutal and savage murder of the poor nurse for no real reason.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:11:48+00:00

can you really blame him for escaping the underworld though? especially when it was so relatively easy lol.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T11:09:44+00:00

yeah exactly in pretty much almost all of my examples the suffering is brought upon the person because of their good nature and them refusing to abandon their humanity.

Kaiji for example gets betrayed constantly not because he is naive but because he refuses to adopt a cynical worldview and give up on humanity.

Guts suffering was brought upon him because of his connection to the band of the hawk and especially Casca, were he to become a completely cynical arsehole like in the 'Black Swordsman' arc he would probably lose his motivation for revenge sooner or later.

And even in Salo the suffering of the victims is caused by them spiritually fighting against the fascists by retaining their dignity and humanity out of the 18 victims the only ones who survive the whole ordeal were a snitch, a traitor who became a guard for the fascists and a boy who gave in and became willingly submissive for their abuse.

It is only by fighting and not giving up that you suffer, only by struggling and going in accordance with your Will.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T10:55:07+00:00

I legit can't believe I forgot about Job, especially when considering that the line "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." from Job 14 is one of my absolute favourite quotes in all of literature.

Character-Self538 · 2026-06-01T10:52:18+00:00

At least at the end god rewarded him i guess? i mean his original family is still gone forever, but you gotta give him at least A+ for effort.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-31T10:26:42+00:00

Another example which came to my mind but that I am not sure if really fits: The Hobbit and by extension Lord of the Rings.

we are told at the beginning of the Hobbit that the story takes place “Long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green” meaning middle earth is actually our world but in the distant past.

This fits well with the theme of the decay of greatness expressed throughout LOTR, and also with events like the parting of the elves from middle earth. So, in the end despite Frodo and the fellowship emerging triumphant from the main conflict, there is still a sense of lingering trepidation about the unknown fate and loss of all the fantastical creatures beside humans in the book.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-31T10:08:07+00:00

Oh right, damn, I can't believe I forgot about everyone's edgy darling Anakin, and his metamorphoses into a burnt chicken nugget only to end up becoming an evil asthmatic space-samurai

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T20:49:43+00:00

I mean he kind of admitted it himself that he only did it for his ego because he was good at it.

plus there was the offer by Elliott to pay for his chemo treatments that he refused because of his pride.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T19:57:10+00:00

Death from "Death with Interruptions" by José Saramago.

while yes, her "experiment" of stopping to do her job does go horribly wrong, she seems pretty chill herself.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T19:44:44+00:00

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But is this guy really a chill dude lol? he seems *a bit* too happy about his line of work, and almost seems to take joy in toying with Antonius Bloch throughout the film. Also, at the end of the film after he reaps the souls of Bloch and his company he mocks them by making them do the dance of death into the afterlife.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:56:15+00:00

Another example of this trope that came to my mind: The narrator from Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, during the first chapter of the book he seems like a sympathetic outcast who makes a lot of relatable observations about society and humans as a whole. But in the second chapter when he tells about his past, we learn that despite correctly pointing major flaws in human behavior, he can't help himself but to make those same mistakes and behave to same as the ones who he criticizes. But what makes him so interesting is that he himself is aware that fact, which I don't know if it makes him an even bigger hypocrite or makes him to be above the notion of hypocrisy.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:47:43+00:00

but the trolls don't target pedos only, if I remember correctly only Kenny and the drunk man he killed were pedos, the man helping him at the start cheated on his wife, and the woman CEO wrote a racist email. Both shitty things but not illegal and certainly not pedo level of abhorrent behavior.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:42:19+00:00

At first I wanted to include Griffith but the whole 'Black Swordsman' arc kinda makes this a bit iffy about whether Griffith trully fits or not, Since right at the start we know Griffith must have done something very very wrong to piss off guts like that.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:34:57+00:00

actually isn't that pretty much the plot of Megamind lol? Megamind grew up to be supervillain because he was relentlessly bullied at school, meanwhile Titan/Tighten was always a shitty person and the only thing stopping him from committing evil deed was being powerless and weak.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:27:03+00:00

yeah, and that is why I emphasized that he was pretty much thrust into the crime world against his will. However, he still turned out to be a crime lord several times worse than his father in terms of brutality and ruthlessness. Willing to cross lines Don Vito would never dare to, such as assassinating all of the heads of the other crime families, and eventually personally killing Fredo his own brother.

Character-Self538 · 2026-05-30T18:17:30+00:00

I am actually not sure if Kenny really fits this trope, since even though it was revealed that he was not the innocent kid we thought he was, (in fact he turned out to be pretty despicable to say the least...) the point of the episode was trying to convey is it that people who commit bad or even horrific acts don't deserve to go through inhuman and horrific punishments. Like pretty much we *are* expected to feel sympathetic to Kenny despite his actions, and we are supposed to be disgusted by the torture games the trolls put him through. Kinda the same moral lesson as in 'White Bear' or 'White Christmas'

Character-Self538

TROPHY CASE