Tragic

Villains who are tragic or sympathetic often suffer post-traumatic-stress-disorder or PTSD 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. Most are not in full control of themselves due to being evil not by choice, but instead being victims of forces beyond their control.

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, tortured, became addicts and/or suicidal, lost loved ones and so on (e.g. Spinel, Darth Vader, Tai Lung, Stinky Pete, Gabby Gabby, Gil Yepes, Prince Hans, Sweet Pete, Waluigi, Rob,and Big Baby).
• 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. most versions of Mr. Freeze, Cersei Lannister, Soto, Yokai, Dib Membrane, William Afton,and Walter White). 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. Cujo, Gollum, Deathgrippers, Ice King, King Andrias, Mr.Mime,and Te Kā).. 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 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 moral center make them become such a violent person, they may qualify, as long as their legit tragedy doesn't contradict their otherwise ruthless nature. Some of these villains can even be anti-villains and/or remorseful, or even Villains by Proxy. Some tragic villains can even be fueled 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.

These villains usually fall under Debased as they do not start off or want to be evil. But exceptions exist if they completely redeem themselves.

Note: Just because a villain redeemed themselves in the end, is an anti-villain, an extremist, a fallen hero, is insecure, has honor, are on & off, and/or has remorse doesn't automatically mean they are tragic if they never had a tragic past to begin with (e.g. Rattlesnake Jake, Bowser, Janja, , Lord Business, AUTO and Gellert Grindelwald ).

/!\ Villains that are Pure Evil 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 justify 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. Chairman Drek, Commodus, Zhan Tiri,Zurg, and Broly. 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. Ahmanet, both versions of Scar, Syndrome, Professor Zündapp, Sir Miles Axlerod, Lunaris, Piella Bakewell, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Mysterio, Funtime Freddy,and Henry Evans).

Even if a Pure Evil villain was given reasons for what they were doing could genuinely be considered a tragedy, they are FAR PAST it (e.g. , Lord Voldemort, Donquixote Doflamingo, Dio Brando, Freddy Krueger, Captain Phasma, Muzan Kibutsuji, Yhwach, Drago Bludvist, Lotso, Wasp King, the 2019 version of Jafar, Scarlet King, most versions of the Joker, Ronan the Accuser, Frieza, Captain Vidal, Zamasu, Dr. Weil, Norman Osborn, Ozai, Hunter Zolomon,Nightmare, and Shiranami ). They should go under the Envious, Fake Tragic, and/or Vengeful categories instead.

Also, DO NOT add characters like these even if they are not Pure Evil:

• Villains crossing the Moral Event Horizon due to MERE EXCUSES FAR TOO PETTY to count (e.g. Ernesto de la Cruz, Rumpelstiltskin, Balthazar Bratt, Doctor Psycho, Plankton, Lori Spengler, Nigel, Broly, Mr. Krabs, Peter Griffin, King Olly, Eric Cartman, Gallaxhar, Big Jack Horner, Scarlet Overkill, Jimmy Crystal, DOR-15, Ushari, Bradford Buzzard, and Princess Morbucks).
• Villains faking tragedies and/or bringing it on themselves whilst blaming others for the consequences (e.g. Dr. Wily, Lord Shen, Jervis Tetch, Rose the Hat, Phineas T. Ratchet, Chick Hicks, Ursula, Maleficent, Tighten, Femme Fatale, and Bowser).
• Villains with defeats like being Betrayed and/or an excessive Death but no tragedies to begin with (e.g. Zhao, Lord Farquaad, Jabba the Hutt, Chantel DuBois, Dr. Zara, Herman Dietrich, Captain Ginyu, and Irina Spalko).
• Villains who have had unpleasant experiences in the past, but said circumstances have nothing to do with their villainy (e.g. Dr. Robotnik, Skull Face, Tamatoa, and Dr. Nefarious).
• Villains who felt unloved or unappreciated, but ended up LESS sympathetic due to the horrible nature of their actions and how heinous and petty they are (e.g. Lord Dominator, Annie Wilkes, Lord Business, Grem and Acer, Dawn Bellwether, Dave, and Mojo Jojo).
• 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 (e.g. the Indominus rex, Kid Buu, Mechagodzilla, Doomsday, the Omnidroids, Aku, and the Rowdyruff Boys).
• Villains who are only speculated to have a tragic past, but aren't confirmed to have one (e.g. Hopper and Henry J. Waternoose III).

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. A Pure Evil villain is not meant to be sympathized with for anything and even if they had an experience that might actually be a genuine tragedy, their villainies are so egregious to the point that whatever tragedies they may have suffered in the past are no longer relevant and they do not match up with their crimes or motives. 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.

This is for characters whose tragedies are not only TRUE AND LEGITIMATE but STILL hold up after crossing the Moral Event Horizon.