Spoilers What SFF Character Is The Most Miserable?

[JD]

Yesterday I finished playing The Last of Us Part II, and the characters in that game go through some serious shit, by the end of the game, they've killed tons of people, seen numerous loved ones die, and been tortured, so they spend pretty much the whole game miserable. This got me thinking about how many other SFF characters have been pretty miserable lives, it seems like superheroes tend to have it especially rough, with characters like Batman and Spider-Man constantly having bad things happen to them. On the TV front we also have the characters from shows like Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead, where they seem to just constantly be having nothing but horrible stuff happening to them.
So who would you say is the miserable character in all of sci-fi and fantasy?

 

[theenglish]

That is a really interesting question--because even though many characters have rough lives, they often seem to find moments of joy. Sam and Dean have pretty miserable lives and often experience profound misery--but they also manage to find moments of happiness--and they have love for each other so I would not count them. I wouldlook at which characters do not seem to have moments of joy in their lives, even between seasons or movies when seems to be when those months of joy happen. Then exclude those characters.

How about Spawn (although I don't know how the character is in current continuity)? John Constantine--the Vertigo version. Silver Surfer and Hulk from the seventies maybe?

 

[Grendelsbayne]

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[Colonel Midnight]

Thomas Covenant or Linden Avery, perhaps?

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Snaploud]

Theon (aka Reek) from Game of Thrones deserves a mention.

Wesley from Angel definitely had some dark times.

Chief O'Brien from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has had more than his fair share of torment.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Jessica Jones is up there for me. Couldn't continue on with her series because she was just so dour.

 

[JD]

If we're including O'Brien, then I think Harry Kim could be included too.
After my last post I started thinking about Spider-Man more, and it's kind of remarkable Peter Parker is in as good of shape mentally as is, given everything he's been through over the years.

 

[auntiehill]

All of the characters in "The Walking Dead."

 

[Marc]

Bruce Wayne.

 

[Masiral]

The 100. Murder, torture, fights to the death, genocide, mind-wiping, cannibalism, and a couple apocalypses.

 

[JD]

Oh yeah, that was definitely one that crossed my mind. Of all of them I'd say Octavia probably has had the worst time of it.

 

[Butters]

Zachary Smith rarely stopped moaning. And Arnold J Rimmer is pretty miserable.

 

[Greg Cox]

Poor Ripley keeps getting revived just in time to be stalked by Aliens again.

The Frankenstein monster, in the original Universal movies, seems to spend most of his time being chased by torch-wielding villagers and "dying" in burning buildings and exploding laboratories.

Kharis the Mummy, buried alive for 3000 years, only to be revived periodically to kill off a few unlucky archaeologists and grave robbers. Seems like a pretty miserable existence.

 

[The Lensman]

Elric of Melnibone’

 

[Starbreaker]

Paul Atreides or God Emperor Leto II. Relentlessly pessimistic.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Snape. I don’t think the guy had a genuine happy day in his life.

 

[Qonundrum]

Only one character comes to mind:

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[Mudd]

In Trek, Michael Burnham.

 

[RPOW0614]

Londo Molari, hands down.
From the moment he answers "What do you want?" his life starts on a downward spiral that ends badly some 30 years later. He and G'Kar have similar if mirror opposite stories.

But then again...why not Zoidberg?

Or maybe the whale in Hitchhikers Gudie to the Galaxy.
"Oh no, not again" quick but tragic.

 

[Velocity]

Buffy has a crap life for the most part. Boyfriends don't work out for very long. She's died more than once, having to dig her way out of her grave the second time. She was yanked out of a nice afterlife to come back and fight vamps, etc, again.