The Eeyore - TV Tropes

"Sorry for being on this page..."

Gamal: How's it going?
Jeriah: Not too good — still alive.

— Men in Hats

This character exists solely to bring everybody down, but not in the Deadpan Snarker sense; they are defined entirely by their complete inability to be happy for more than a few seconds at a time, an emotional state that usually arises from their only occasionally justified suspicion that they are the Butt-Monkey of the entire universe. They are the walking Anthropomorphic Personification of clinical depression. However, the few moments that they are happy can be a Heartwarming Moment.

Sometimes overlaps with Sour Supporter, but not often; they are generally too unhappy to be effective or active.

When upset, the Eeyore may as well become Cute and Psycho. Being an Eeyore could easily be interchangeable with Emo when their angst comes from over-sensitivity and introspection. A stereotypical Goth will adopt such behaviour out of a more cerebral, nihilistic view of humanity. An Eeyore with artistic talent will use it to express his overwhelming angst.

If written a certain way, The Eeyore can easily become a Woobie. Some versions may be Prone to Tears, while others may just be perpetually dour. In a Four-Temperament Ensemble, this character is almost always Melancholic.

The Pollyanna is the polar opposite of this trope.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Cardcaptor Sakura: Even after revealing their soft side, Syaoran and Yue are still rather humorless and snarky in tone.
Kaoruko of Comic Girls tends to think things very negatively. For example, the fact that she messes up a few pages of Tsubasa's manuscript in the first episode already makes her consider killing herself.
Miranda Lotto of D.Gray-Man, thanks to years of failing at every single job she attempted (due to being a Cute Clumsy Girl taken to absurd degrees) slowly eroding her sense of self-worth, combined with spending a long time stuck in a "Groundhog Day" Loop. She gets better when she finally finds something she's good at in becoming an Exorcist, but still lapses every now and then when she thinks she screwed up.
Death Parade has The Black-Haired Woman, who throughout the series is perhaps the kindest and most amicable character in the series. However, her flashback sequence reveals that she became The Eeyore after a traumatic accident left her unable to do the one thing she loved the most. After this, her only line of dialogue is that she’s a bad person, and every shot she’s in is washed out and framed in darkness while she’s giving a Thousand-Yard Stare while it rains outside.
Idol Angel Yokoso Yoko: Saki frequently reiterates to Yoko that having hope is stupid and the future is dark ("The future is always dark" is even her catchphrase in the original Japanese version!), but Yoko refuses to believe this and remains positive no matter what.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- Stone Ocean: Thunder McQueen is always in a dull mood due to his constant bemoaning of the circumstances that got him sent to Green Dolphin.
- Steel Ball Run: Blackmore is always looking sad and constantly apologizing by saying it in a drony manner.
Ishigami from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War was rarely happy early on in the series, and it even made a Running Gag of him wanting to go home and die. Later chapters would delve into why he had that mindset, as well as help him overcome it.
Zonze Ge from Magu-chan: God of Destruction is not only perpetually depressed, his power actually causes extreme depression in those he comes in contact with, a fact that makes him even more depressed.
Rei Kiriyama, the protagonist of March Comes in Like a Lion, spends much of his time and narration contemplating on his issues and emotional lows. However, he is capable of displaying other emotions for more than a brief moment.
Shota Aizawa from My Hero Academia. He’s often pessimistic and negative with his students, though it’s actually because he cares deep down, and tends to be apathetic enough to let a couple of students teach while he sleeps in his sleeping bag in class when he doesn’t consider a topic important. He lost a close friend during his own time as a student and likely has some degree of clinical depression.
Yoite starts out Nabari no Ou under a permanent angst cloud (Played for Drama since it's due to his very troubled past). He becomes happier over the course of the series.
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- Shinji Ikari from, though he has the excuse of genuinely not having much to be happy about. Ironically, the one time he's in a relatively good mood and tries to cheer Asuka up, this ends up being exactly the last thing Asuka needs, as her confidence and sense of superiority has been broken and having the unconfident Shinji trying to cheer her up pushes her to the brink.
- Rei Ayanami, whose very existence is an insult against the Laws of Nature and all that is right and good in the world. She can be accurately described as Gloominess Personified.
Ryoga Hibiki of Ranma ½, who legitimately has a lot to be sad about, is nevertheless prone to such heavy depression he's able to use it to fuel a ki attack - one so powerful it leaves a massive, smoking crater and frequently demolishes his opponents in one go. Yes, that's right, a literal Angst Nuke in the form of a Kame Hame Hadoken.
Saint Beast: Due to being a headstrong, individualistic Butt-Monkey and Yandere with an obsessive unrequited crush, Shiva rains on most people's parades.
Played for Laughs in Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei with Nozomu Itoshiki. It doesn't help that his name, written in a certain way, literally translates as "zetsubou-sensei", or "Mr. Despair".
Izumi Suni from She doesn't know why she lives. is an absolute mess of anxiety-induced pessimisim, and she tends to assume the worst any time she makes a minor slip up or misinterprets an innocent statement.
Under standably, Crona from Soul Eater. When Crona shows off their poetry to the other cast members, it turns out to be so depressing that it makes everyone who reads it sit in the Corner of Woe and wish they were never born.
Sugata from Star Driver goes as far as inadvertently hurting Wako with with his downer behavior. However, considering that he can't leave Southern Cross Island due to being the bearer of Samekh (if he does, his Ninja Maids will be forced to kill him), is also the bearer of a power that can hurt or kill others and put him into a coma, and has to live in fear of Wako's seal being broken and/or her being harmed, this is pretty much justified.
Mr. Trent from Wandering Girl Nell. Compared to Nell, he is a grumpy, broken old man. But it's not hard to see why considering his son died, his daughter-in-law hates him and he hasn't seen his grandson in years, and Nell is all he has.
Yuuutsu-kun to Succubus-san: Yuu starts the series in a state of serious depression because of how badly he's been overworked. When Sakuma makes him leave that job, he spends most days literally lying around doing nothing, or occasionally sitting and watching the outside through his window. Sakuma's entire goal is to help him get better, and there are consistent signs that he values her presence in his life. Yet, even as he improves, Sakuma can't imagine what Yuu smiling would look like. When she tries it comes out as a blurred image.

Arts

Raphael Rooms: Among the brightly colored geniuses of "The School of Athens" sharing their knowledge in excitement, the pessimist philosopher Heraclitus bends over a piece of marble, covering his face in shadow, as he looks away from the writing he seems to get no joy from contemplating.

Asian Animation

In Happy Friends, Sad S. has it right in her name that she's quite morose and is not only very Prone to Tears, but weaponizes her Ocular Gushers.

Comic Books

Bertrand Labévue from Gaston Lagaffe. A depressed and cynical man, yet a good friend, he is seen crouching at a trash bin.

Comic Strips

The Boondocks protagonist Huey Freeman is a cynical, pessimistic young boy who often rants about whatever (real or perceived) life's problems are on his mind. In one strip, his Granddad asks him how making himself miserable all the time will help, to which he replies:
Huey: I hate wisdom.
Porky Pine from Pogo. His most famous line is probably, "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent."
The eponymous title character in George Baker's The Sad Sack is the Trope Namer, although he's actually not so much this as an Unlucky Everydude and (after some later Flanderization) a Lethal Klutz.
Sally Forth:
- Ted's mom is always worrying and complaining even if nothing's wrong; Sally implies that her mother-in-law enjoys complaining:
  Ted's Mom: Was the flight dreadful?
  Ted: Actually it was pretty smooth.
  Ted's Mom: Yeah, air travel is always a nightmare.
- Ted's tween daughter Hilary was like this when she met her boyfriend Jon. To be fair, her knowledge of relationships comes from "bad television":
  Hilary: So I guess we're going to make a lot of mistakes then, huh?
  Jon: Or we'll have a great time together.
  Hilary: Oh. Right. I like your way of thinking much better.

Fan Works

Sarahva Boor from The 61st Annual Hunger Games is always depressed and doesn't consider herself worthy of allying with anybody. She's a kind character, but she doesn't really open up to anyone and has a pessimistic worldview.

Films — Animation

Manny, Ice Age, especially in the first movie, when he is morose and grieving over the loss of his family.
Inside Out: Every memory Sadness touches turns sad too (though it's noted that this is a recent development). When Joy asks her to think of something happy, Sadness thinks of rain and the ending to Old Yeller. Eventually, the other emotions learn how to use her in a positive way by the end of the movie.
Toy Story 3: Chuckles the Clown is a subversion: he acts much like Eeyore, to the point of sharing a voice actor, but then you hear his (or rather, Lotso's) backstory...
Trolls 1: The Bergens are an entire race of Eeyores. They're perpetually depressed and grouchy, with a Bergen being shown hardheartedly burying himself alive. Eating Trolls is the only way a Bergen can feel happiness, and they only do that once a year. Eventually the Trolls convince the Bergens that they can feel happiness on their own, thanks to a little bit of the Power of Love for the king.
Wreck-It Ralph: Sour Bill is not happy, about anything, ever. The only time he isn't overwhelmingly depressed is when he realizes he's in serious trouble.

Films — Live-Action

Aniara: The Astronomer becomes completely bitter and hopeless about the chance of anyone on the Aniara surviving, telling everyone she can they're wrong to hope. The captain eventually kills her over it, but she's right-they all die.
In Canyon Passage, Logan's clerk Clenchfield is constantly predicting ruin and disaster. In the end, he is proved right (but Logan doesn't care as it just means he gets to start all over again).
Ringo Starr in A Hard Day's Night. Apparently, he had shades of this in reality as well, but it did bother him when the press began referring to him as "the Sad Beatle" after the movie came out; he claimed that he was perfectly happy, but didn't have a naturally smiley face.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Michael is continually dour for most of the film, and even implied to be a death seeker at one point.
"The Prophet" from Operation Petticoat, who does things like singing "You can't win, my friend, you can't win...", at least until he survives an attempted strafing.
In the World War II movie A Walk in the Sun, Private Archimbeau gripes constantly (right up to his Last Words) that they're stuck in a Forever War and will be fighting all the way to Tibet.

Literature

Mundo Cani Dog in The Book of the Dun Cow is permanently depressed and self-hating, accepting and agreeing with any insults. He only laughs once in the entire book.
The Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield of course, to the point he seems to associate any positive emotions with "phoniness."
Billy Jack, Dusty's sergeant major in the Civil War novels of J.T. Edson. He believes every mission is doomed before it starts. A sample of his dialogue from Under the Stars and Bars:
"Damned if I wasn't certain sure we'd all get blowed up, being so close," Billy Jack wailed and, in expression of his delight, continued, "I dropped on to a rock 'n' must've caved my ribs in. Likely I'll be dead from my hurts come morning."
The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids has Pessimist-242, who combines this with The Cynic. Like Marvin, he's actually enormously competent and effective when other characters manage to needle him into taking on a given mission, but he lacks the motivation to put his talents to any use other than sitting around, wallowing, unless specifically directed.
"He was on vacation at the moment, which suited him, as he always felt rather vacant. And since he assumed that trying to enjoy his vacation and take some time to rest would surely go wrong, he wasn’t even trying."
— Magic Trick
Hami acts much this way in Dog & Scissors. She Apologizes a Lot, and often talks about killing herself for being alive and being an inconvenience to others.
Gil Peaply from Felsic Current falls under just about every trope that involves depression, cynicism, jadedness, whining, and sarcasm, but The Eeyore is perhaps the best match for him.
Along his more violent forms of Mood Killing, Sousuke in Full Metal Panic! has a habit of regularly ruining his friends' enthusiasm for a fun trip, usually by relaying a tragic war story it reminds him of or highlighting all the (highly unlikely) ways it can go horribly wrong. Kaname usually finds these almost as infuriating as the explosions.
Haruhi Suzumiya: Haruhi herself is a downplayed example, or at least was this trope before the beginning of the series. Being fed up with the boring world, just wishing for something interesting to happen when it just doesn't seem to happen, despite her efforts. In the end (or rather in the middle), she's so frustrated she subconsciously begins to destroy the universe and create a new one. Of course, most of the time she's a genuine Genki Girl.
Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is perhaps the Eeyore-iest Eeyore in existence. He's very depressed, he feels under-utilized ("Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and..."), and due to a series of circumstances involving time travel he eventually gets to be thirty-seven times as old as the universe itself and throughout his entire existence he's had this terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side. His outlook on the universe is so depressing that he drives a computer to suicide when he tries to share it with the poor thing. He later does the same thing with a bridge.
Marvin: Where's the percentage in trying to please a robot that doesn't have any pleasure circuits?
Receptionist: And you don't?
Marvin: I don't know. I've never had any occasion to find out.
The Earthworm from James and the Giant Peach. The Ladybug puts it best: "He loves to make everything into a disaster. He hates to be happy. He is only happy when he is gloomy."
Denethor of The Lord of the Rings certainly has real sorrows to contend with — losing his son and watching civilization apparently crumble around him. But he's definitely a fatalistic old bugger on top of it, thanks to repeatedly using a palantír and getting into mental fights with Sauron, and operating under the false belief that Sauron already has the ring back (which really would make things hopeless). In both the book and the film, he sums up his attitude toward humanity's future in the splendidly morose line: "Go now and die in what way seems best to you."
A Man Called Ove: The title character, Ove, is a jaded 59-year-old man who is down in the dumps after losing his beloved wife Sonja. Due to being overwhelmed with grief over Sonja's death, Ove has even attempted suicide. However, his personality may alternate between this and a Grumpy Old Man, much like the Trope Namer.
Natsumi Bekki, the 40-year-old teacher for the main characters in No-Rin, acts like a Genki Girl sometimes. However, she will also bring up very private information about her personal life to them, such as being an Old Maid, and it often brings down the mood of the entire class.
Pindakaas en Sushi: Esther, who doesn't seem to remotely enjoy talking to other people and appears to be sulking most of the time. Then it becomes a Zig-Zagged Trope when the next day she is quite happy, to Marle's surprise. The reason being that a band she absolutely loves is giving a concert that day. However, she reverts to her negative personality later on.
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Lemony Narrator Lemony Snicket, who would much rather be doing something else - like enjoy the sun or the grass or actual conversation - than follow three miserable children in a miserable, unfortunate story.
Mrs. Yorke from Charlotte Brontë's Shirley is one, and considers it morally wrong to be anything else. Unfortunately, she has six children whom she is trying to convince to be as miserable as she is.
Puddleglum the Marshwiggle from C. S. Lewis's Narnia book The Silver Chair—referenced in More than Mind Control. Dialogue from other characters indicates that this is the Marshwiggle's hat. Puddleglum says at one point that his fellow Marshwiggles consider him to be a hopeless starry-eyed optimist. Whether that's true or just him still being an Eeyore is left to the reader to decide.
Dolorous Edd from A Song of Ice and Fire certainly presents himself this way, but he's either a Deadpan Snarker with this as a shtick and a massive lean towards Black Comedy or the Eeyore-ist Sad Clown trying to cope through deflection and humour with living in a world chock-full with a range of thoroughly mundane, highly visceral, blatantly Kafkaesque and subtlety Lovecraftian horrors. It's hard to be certain which is the case. Or if both.
Melinda Sordino from Speak. While part of it is natural angst of trying to find one's place in the world as a teenager, Melinda is unusually morose even by that standard. This is because she was raped by the resident Jerk Jock, and no one seems to believe her.
Temeraire: Mr. O'Dea is a valuable and trusted member of Laurence's Dragon Riding team for the latter half of the series, but always expects the worst to happen and has a tendency to wax lyrical about his dire predictions that even Laurence finds tiresome.
In They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Gloria Beatty has by her own admission been depressed her whole life, people hate her because she sucks the joy out of the room and her dreams of making it big in Hollywood (one of the few things that made her want to live every day) have been thoroughly dashed (being in Hollywood during the Great Depression doesn't help). The events of the novel, the horrible dancing marathon that goes on for weeks and ends nowhere, with only $50 of prize money to her name^note is the moment she finally can't go any further^note.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Eeyore is the Trope Namer and The Woobie for his target audience. In the original book, Eeyore is more of The Killjoy, being sarcastic, rude, occasionally arrogant, but also somewhat intelligent, which maybe is more akin to an actual donkey. Disneyfication toned that down, however.

Live-Action TV

Fisher, one of the interns on Bones. Most of his lines involve death, misery, and dying and he states that he is jealous of the corpses they work with. After the timeskip between seasons 5 and 6, it is revealed that he spent a year in a mental hospital for being too depressed to do anything but sleep 20 hours a day. Even Cam goes out of her way to try to get him to smile.
Robert in Everybody Loves Raymond. Fittingly enough, Brad Garrett went on to voice Eeyore himself in Christopher Robin.
In an episode of Extras, a gloomy fellow extra latches onto Andy and tries to befriend him. He tells stories about his relatives that always seem to end on a downer note. In the credits he is listed as "dullard".
Game of Thrones:
- Dolorous Edd is a humorously pessimistic Deadpan Snarker.
  Edd: We'll live another day. Hurrah.
- Rickon is quite cynical and depressed for a boy of six. Probably less surprising when considering that most of his family went away in very short succession, leaving him frightened and confused.
Meredith Grey of Grey's Anatomy. At least for the first few seasons...she's toned it down since she's married Derek but who knows how Lexie's death will affect her sunny disposition
Season four of Hell's Kitchen had Matt as a particularly creepy example, as he would look to be on the verge of tears when told off and only found happiness when others were suffering, which he reveled in with unabashed glee.
House, M.D. is such an extreme case, he legitimately seems to believe he can't function if he's not deeply unhappy.
Tiberius in I, Claudius. A scene in the first episode has him talk about how dark and miserable he feels inside, constantly, even to the point of contemplating suicide—to modern audiences, it sounds like he's trying to describe clinical depression. His naturally cheerful brother Drusus more or less tells him to buck up. The only people who can keep Tiberius happy are his wife Vipsania and his naturally cheerful brother Drusus... he loses them both in the first episode when Livia forces him to divorce Vipsania and Drusus dies on the German front. From then on, all Tiberius has is misery, spite, and pessimism.
George from Inside George Webley is a terrible pessimist and always the first to think of a negative to any situation, much to his wife Rosemary's chagrin.
Kirby Buckets has a character named Sad Randy, who as his name mentions is always sad because terrible things keep happening to him.
Howard Moon from The Mighty Boosh. He's self-described as "dark, fractured, broken, paranoid" and has always been the "Stop Having Fun" Guy in all of the show's incarnations. Somewhat justified as The Eeyore, as he really is the Butt-Monkey of his entire universe. In The Power of The Crimp, usually cheerful Vince is depressed and starts rattling off bleak imagery, to which Howard responds, "Have you got my script?"
An episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide had student Mark Downer depressing everyone he encounters, including Martin Querly. Ned solves the problem by finding Mark an equally depressive girlfriend.
Perry Mason (2020): Perry suffers from severe depression and rarely shows any kind of joy. One of his first scenes shows him sitting in a crowded movie theater glowering while the rest of the audience laughs hysterically.
Hannah from Please Like Me suffers from depression. She doesn't really like going out or socializing and is generally quiet and sullen when she does.
David Hyde Pierce's character on The Powers That Be. (John Forsyth was the titular U.S. Senator; Pierce was his son-in-law who was in the House of Representatives.) One memorably darkly funny bit had him reading Final Exit (a real-life book detailing various methods of suicide) with commentary ("tried it, tried that twice, like that's going to work...")
Parodied by the recurring character Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch) from Saturday Night Live. Her theme song says it all:
You're enjoying your day
Everything's going your way
Then along comes Debbie Downer
Always there to tell you 'bout a new disease
A car accident or killer bees
You'll beg her to spare you
"Debbie, please!"
But you can't stop Debbie Downer!
Ted, the completely unsuccessful, miserable, and suicidal (in a humorous way) lawyer from Scrubs, who serves as the show's Butt-Monkey. Even The Woobie Elliot casually acknowledges that she is nowhere near as miserable as Ted.
Space Cases: In one episode, it's shown that Bova and his father might have this as a racial trait. Being from Uranus, they're the butt of every joke, alongside Uranus simply being very dark and gloomy. Contrast Rosie, who was from Mercury and very bright and sunny.
Kendall Roy on Succession is a dead-eyed, unsmiling, morose guy (with a Creepy Monotone, to boot). Since his character arc early in the show involves a Break the Haughty Trauma Conga Line, it's unclear whether he has a depressive personality, has been browbeaten into misery, or a combination of the two thereof.
While it doesn't always fit, on Third Watch Sully often qualifies. At one point when a character mentions a first kiss, he responds that his first kiss sneezed in his mouth.
Veep: Ben, the White House Chief of Staff, is constantly depressed, worn down by his long years in politics, especially in his current position. This is best exemplified at the end of "Crate", where while everyone else is celebrating the news of the President's pending resignation and Selina taking over, he merely says "Wow. This must be what it feels like to be happy" with the same dull look and voice he always has.
Toby Ziegler on The West Wing. His ex-wife even cites this as the reason why she doesn't want to get back together. He does not take it well.
Neil, the depressive hippy in The Young Ones, who has made it his life's mission to inform everyone about how depressed he is. Given everyone's treatment of him, he has good reason to.

Music

Spanish singer Álex Ubago is popularly stereotyped as being both depressive and depression-inducing, due to the content heavy in sadness and melancholy of his songs.

Podcasts

Johann of The Adventure Zone: Balance is always sad and speaks in a droopy voice. Given that he's best bard to have ever lived but his job ensures that no one will ever hear his compositions, it's hard to blame him.
Hope from the internet comedy podcast Hope Is Emo is, well... emo.

Puppet Shows

Fraggle Rock has Boober Fraggle, who is not only depressive and fearful, but is also an obsessive expert on diseases, superstitions, and laundry. This actually proves very useful to the other Fraggles, as Boober is always the first to sense impending disaster.
Gonzo started out like this on The Muppet Show, although beginning in Season 2 he became considerably more upbeat and energetic in conjunction with a slightly redesigned puppet.

Radio

The Happy Postman, played by Mel Blanc on The Burns and Allen Show. His catchphrase, always done in a sobbing voice of deep despair: "Well, good-bye, Mrs. Burns. And remember: Keep smiling!"
- Blanc uses the Happy Postman voice (and catchphrase) for a Jerkass Woobie Easter Bunny in the Looney Tunes "Easter Yeggs''.
Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978). According to the biography of Douglas Adams written by Neil Gaiman, Marvin was originally based on a friend of his, a manic-depressive named Marshall who could only ever be cheered up by his long-suffering wife; he changed the name from "Marshall" to "Marvin" out of kindness. However, after talking about this in an interview, Adams was called by his mother, who claimed that he was totally wrong - Marvin was Eeyore. Adams went to look at some older copies of Winnie the Pooh, "...and blow me down, so he was!" Adams also said that the story he based Marvin on Andrew Marshall was one he'd told so often he no longer remembered if it was true or not. Marshall, he claimed, really was like that, but this proved nothing because all comedy writers are Eeyores.
- Andrew Marshall co-wrote The Burkiss Way, the big radio rival to h2g2. His persona as "Marvin" was part of a running rivalry between the two hit shows, although people who met him in pubs could confirm he really was a gloomy pessimist hovering on the brink of depression. He responded by writing an impenetrably boring genius called Different Adams into his radio show. He went on to write 2point4Children and the TV series, later movie, about WW3, Whoops Apocalypse.
- Incidentally, Marvin's original voice actor was later cast as the Trope Namer in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the original AA Milne stories.

Roleplay

Harriet from Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues. After her parents died, something that she blames herself for, her previous personality as an enthusiastic child performer did a complete 180 into a gloomy girl who thoroughly hates herself and always assumes the worst of others.

Theatre

George Washington in 1776. He never actually appears on stage, but his dispatches from the field (read to the Congress) are gloomy to the point of despair. As delegate Thomas McKean puts it, "Och! The man would depress a hyena!"
In L'Orfeo, Orpheus is said to have treated sighs and weeping as food and drink before he met Eurydice, and falls right back into this after her death, lamenting that he's still alive while she's dead. He becomes this again after he causes her second death, but Apollo snaps him out of it.

Video Games

Xan, the morbidly depressed elven enchanter from the first Baldur's Gate game. A typical line is "Our quest is in vaaaain" and "Oh what is the point". Since the first game's characters tend to be simple archetypes, you could say Xan just is this trope. He is later referenced in the first Icewind Dale game when finding a diary of an elf, who feared he "Had become as miserable as my cousin Xan".
Toko Fukawa from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is bitter, over-sensitive and generally unpleasant, and at one point the protagonist even describes her as emitting an aura of negativity. Eventually, she finally does find something to be happy about when she falls for Byakuya...who wants nothing to do with her, and most of her advances just wind up being very creepy. By contrast, her Split Personality, Genocide Jack, is a lot more carefree.
Dark Souls:
- The Crestfallen Warrior of Dark Souls I is content to rest at Firelink Shrine and regale you with his pessimism and bitter "laughter" at his own downbeat "witticisms". He eventually gets over it after you ring both Bells of Awakening, being inspired and trying to make something of himself. He promptly hits his nadir and goes Hollow in the ruins of New Londo, poor sod.
- Crestfallen Saulden of Dark Souls II is just as gloomy as his predecessors, but he's notably friendlier, more helpful, and doesn't die in his storyline.
The Crestfallen Warrior from Demon's Souls. He's so depressed and unmotivated that he fades away after you exhaust his dialogue options since he no longer has anything to tie him to existence.
Machina from Dies Irae is a perpetually gloomy character who has long since crossed the Despair Event Horizon and now simply wants to die, but can't due to being bound to the Big Bad's Warrior Heaven. The narrative frequently compares his eyes to those of a dead fish and gives him the moniker of the Sombre Knight.
Don't Starve: Wendy the Bereaved is an Angsty Surviving Twin whose quotes mostly relate to death and how pointless life is, making her also a Straw Nihilist.
Dungeon Siege II: Broken World:
- Nearly every non-player elf character is morbidly depressed, especially Amren, who whines about the loss of his clairvoyant powers every time you talk to him, no matter what topic you wanted to discuss. Considering what crappy state the world is in due to the cataclysm after the end of the second game, they may have a point, but it quickly gets annoying.
- Most of the dryads have just gone nuts, but they have to cope with the loss of their forest and most of their population, so their destructive mood is at least justified.
Fire Emblem Engage: Alcryst's defining character trait is that he constantly talks about how miserable of an excuse he is for a human being, and pities anyone who gives him even a remote lick of attention.
Granblue Fantasy has Narmaya: Though she's usually a fairly cheerful person, when she's sad, she's very very sad. And when someone would tell her that she's not helping, she'll mope in the corner of the room. In certain events, some characters are also aware of this side of her.
Hades has Patroclus, who you meet in Elysium, the portion of the Greek Underworld where heroes (usually of wars) end up. Unlike the other residents, who tend to be more Blood Knight than Shell-Shocked Veteran, Patroclus is this: gloomy and withdrawn, teetering on a Despair Event Horizon and mourning his lover Achilles, who he lost in miserable circumstances in life, and is now separated from in death.
Klonoa series has the "King of Sorrow" who is the Big Bad of Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. In the end, he does get reincarnated into a much happier person.
Peatrice from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword starts off like this, running the Item Check in a gloomy and complaining manner because no one ever uses its services. She breaks out of it through Link's repeated visits because she develops a crush on him, her sole customer, but she will return to her gloomy demeanor if Link rejects her advances.
Clive Handforth from LittleBigPlanet 2. His default position is a sad-looking slouch, and he seems eternally depressed, at least until you complete the Factory of a Better Tomorrow. From there, he's mainly monotone and snarky.
Sullen, the magic mirror in Magic Fairy Tales: Barbie as Rapunzel. Although, he is the unwilling pawn of an evil sorceress, so it may be justified.
Barbie: Isn't it a beautiful morning, Sullen?
Sullen: [sighs] If you like sunshine, I suppose. The glare gives me a headache.
In MARDEK, Miserable Old Martin, one of Legion's four souls, constantly grumbles about everything.
Elcor from Mass Effect seem like this, always speaking in a flat monotone... but it's a subversion, because humans are simply unable to physically recognize their emotions (elcor express emotions through pheromones and bodily movements other species are unable to sense). That's why they start every sentence to non-elcor with their current emotional state. The all-elcor version of Hamlet went over pretty well with humans in-universe though.
Mewgenics: Should one of your cats get Depression from the abuse coming from its own team or someplace else, it will be so depressed it'll suffer reductions to all of its stats, and its misery will be so pervasive as to also affect any adjacent units.
Negative Man from Mother 3. He rarely ever attacks, and if he does, it'll do Scratch Damage. Most of the time, he just goes on about how pathetic he is, and that there's no way he can win.
Palworld has Depresso, a moody Perpetual Frowner who approaches work with the complete opposite of enthusiasm. Despite their glum vibes, they still can appreciate a few of the small things, such as a headpat or some time alone in the hot spring (grant you, they are enjoying the act of floating facedown in a manner not unlike a drowning victim), and will occasionally show their gratitude with a cute little smile.
Harrim from Pathfinder: Kingmaker appears to be a homage to Xan above. He's a perpetually downcast and mad priest of Groetus, the god of We All Die Some Day, whose caterwauling and complete Sarcasm Blindness is frequently Played for Laughs. Completing his companion quest sees him temper his behaviour somewhat into a Determined Defeatist.
Fhjull Forked-Tongue from Planescape: Torment is a baatezu, a being Made of Evil, who's forced (because he's also made from pure order) to keep a Deal with the Devil that forces him to only perform saintly and good deeds. Note that at no point does the contract force him to act saintly and good, leading to a perpetually angry, annoyed and surly devil who does whatever's asked of him through gritted teeth.
The Nameless One: I need a place to sleep.
Fhjull: WHAT? I must endure your presence even longer? Will this torment never cease? Feh! Fine, then, fine! Spread out across the floor! Raid my larder! Knock over my experiments! I'll just be over here fuming! Feh!
In the epilogue of Red Dead Redemption, Jack Marston becomes this after John is killed by Ross at the tail end of the game, and Abigail dies soon after.
Schwer-Muta Casasola Merkle ^note of Rosenkreuzstilette always carries a depressed look on her face, she's reclusive and distrusts everyone she meets, and not to mention she's also very shy. She thinks her only friend is her pet squid, Zeppy.
Gozu from Shadow Warrior 2, like all of the Ancients, is an incredibly powerful immortal demon. He spends his days doting on his goddess Ameonna and moping on the front steps of the fortress doing absolutely nothing to help those below him, even as they suffer far worse than he does. Lo Wang despises him for this.
Gozu: You are always so unkind to me.
Lo Wang: And you sit up here on your self-pitying ass, waiting hand on foot for an immortal narcissist while the people you pretend to care for are victimized. Don't try to tell me you give a shit about humans. Your actions...sorry...inactions tell the story.
In The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval, a Sim with the trait "Morose" will be this: often in a depressed mood for no apparent reason (they literally wake up in it even if the day before went well) and harder to cheer up.
The Voice of the Broken from Slay the Princess represents hopelessness, and is usually born after you surrender or suffer a terrbile fate. As such, he's constantly depressed and advocates in favor of submitting to the Princess in order to avoid further suffering. Unlike most examples of this trope, however, the Broken's morose nature is also portrayed positively sometimes: for example, he's surprisingly good as recognizing when other people are as hurt as he is, even if they try to hide it by lashing out.
Zor from Sonic Lost World looks and speaks like a depressed goth/emo. He even seems to hate a lot of things.
Zor: Man, this day keeps getting lamer and lamer...whatever. Gotta go tell the others the bad news... Giving bad news is actually the one thing I enjoy...
In Star Control II, the Utwig, after losing the Ultron, their source of motivation, are an entire species of Eeyores, to the point that they ponder whether to commit mass suicide with a giant bomb, but decide not to because they deserve to suffer. They get better once you fix the thing. In the mythical third game, they go Eeyore again when they lose the Ultron; one of the few good ideas the game has is that when you return it to them, they become audibly happier... even though they express emotion through Masks.
Ugh. I suppose, as a courtesy, I should extend an appropriate greeting. On behalf of the Utwig Proctors I truly hope, for your sake, that your day has been better than ours, although this really isn't saying that much.
Despite the fact that he's the main villain in the Super Mario Bros. series, Bowser sometimes makes a good example of this trope. Considering how The Good Guys Always Win, who can blame him?
A minor character in Undertale is a sad-sack ghost named Napstablook who likes to mope around their house listening to techno music. They attack the player with spectral tears, and can even form a hat out of them.
Wing Commander:
- In Wing Commander II, Lieutenant Etienne "Doomsday" Montclair. Almost every comm message he ever sends you is about his impending death. ("I just bagged a Cat. I bet I'm going to die now.") Ironically, as of Wing Commander Arena, he's still alive, and still actively flying as per the manual, Star*Soldier.
- Played straight in the Expanded Universe. Notably, he survives the entire war, including several campaigns that had single digit survival rates for everybody involved.

Web Animation

The Amazing Digital Circus: Gangle has a comedy/tragedy mask for a face depending on what mood she is in. As her comedy mask is almost always breaking, she's usually in a very depressed state.
Dreamscape: Pita often says really twisted and dark things as if he is trying way too hard to be edgy.
Strong Sad from Homestar Runner; notable in so far as he really is the Butt-Monkey of the entire universe... or at least his brothers' most readily available punching bag. It's implied he actually has depression, as a few episodes (like the Strong Bad Email "funny" and the short "No Hands on Deck!") imply he's taking some kind of medication for it.
- However, some Character Development has turned him from what the fans call "Depressing Strong Sad" into "Whiney Strong Sad", and is now liked more by the fandom than when he had his old personality.
  I don't like food anymore!
- His 1936 counterpart, Sickly Sam, is like this trope times two, being a chronically-ill bum who lives in an old box and speaks in a sad, wheezy voice.
In If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device, one of the Inquisitors accompanying Karamazov turns into a besaddened doomsday prophet when they're sent into the Warp.
Inanimate Insanity: Blueberry, from Invitational, spends his entire first appearance agonizing about the pointlessness of life, to the point that he refuses to help out in the challenge. This, predictably, gets him voted out instantly. Later, though, he actually decides to put in the effort to play, and by the end of Blue Buried, has shed this trope entirely in exchange for becoming an Insufferable Genius.
In the Touhou Project fan series, Koishi Komeiji's Super-Exciting Adventure, Satori Komeiji is very much depressed and introverted, and her constant dreariness is what motivates her titular little sister, Koishi, to do whatever it takes to make Satori smile. Satori doesn't believe that she's worth the effort, but she does seem to acknowledge that she is very down in the dumps. Even with the fact that she has a little sister and two pets (Rin Kaenbyou and Utsuho Reiuji) who love her very much, Satori does seem to realize that something feels missing.
NJT Elimination
- Characters can often turn into these if they suffer from the SSD. For instance:
  - Gladstone and Peapack became these when separated from each other. This, along with them playing a part in Hoboken’s story arc where he gave up a ticket to ensure they go to the big season together, was probably how they became Scrappies.
  - Lyndhurst became this after losing Kingsland twice and Delawanna
  - Speaking of Delawanna, she became this when separated from Clifton.
  - Elizabeth became this when separated from North Elizabeth.
- Boonton is often sad about his low ridership.
- Garwood is depressed about his low ridership and limited service.
- Mount Olive is constantly depressed over having no color or the lowest ridership of any NJT station.

Webcomics

Petitus in 1/0, especially in his earliest days. Tailsteak directly tells him in a later strip that he was created to be The Eeyore of the series.
The Bird Feeder has Lewis, who is a crow, and who is definitely quite the downer. At the very least, he always looks sad. When any of the other characters become sad or morose, they are assumed to have been hanging around Lewis too much.
Follower: Geedy is this at the beginning of the comic due to his isolation. He's slowly improving after meeting Dia.
Aradia of Homestuck is okay with a lot of things, including the Trolls' unavoidable failure and the destruction of their universe. Which she likes to remind the others of constantly. The sheer depressing nature of her conversations is probably one of the reasons why she's not very popular in the fandom at large. Until she resurrected into the God Tiers and lost the Eeyore-ness.
Piro of MegaTokyo could be accused of being this when he's not caught up in the middle of somebody else's drama, though never so much as Author Avatar source Fred Gallagher himself.
Greyview the worg in The Order of the Stick is always ready to respond to anything from the most negative perspective possible. ("Do you even have fruit in the arctic?" Greyview: "Have bitter fruit of eternal despair.") He also has a very cynical view of his relationship with his master Oona: "Is futile to argue. Nod. Get treat. Only certainty in life: When icy jaws of death come, you will not have had enough treats."
Siv Västerström from Stand Still, Stay Silent is definitely one of these. She always looks like a Nervous Wreck, can list why any given course of action will go horribly wrong without having to think hard about it and can only challenge people in a passive-aggressive way that makes her easy to override, even after she's plucked up enough gumption to do it (she's not wrong, just too quietly melodramatic). This also makes her a bit of an Extreme Doormat who can't (or won't) fight her corner, particularly when trying to deal with her Genki Guy husband, Torbjörn. What seals the deal? She only kind of brightens up a little when he starts to frazzle — it confirms she was right to be down!
Vampire Girl: Levana has an extensive list of grievances of what she dislikes being a vampire, and even tells Laura that because of that, she's sick and tired of always being depressed over who and what she is.

Web Videos

American High Digital: The teacher in "The Teacher Who Trauma Dumps" has been worn down by life into a deep depression, openly saying that he doesn't care if his students are late with their work because nothing matters in life anyways.
Critical Role has Caleb Widogast, who perpetually sounds sad and sullen and rarely smiles or laughs. It's to the point that, when he wakes up in a good mood, the rest of the Mighty Nein immediately assume his memories have been eaten by an evil god (a 100% correct assumption by the way). Given his Dark and Troubled Past, it's pretty warranted.
Caleb: [after No Selling Twiggy's Hideous Laughter spell] Ja, I am not a happy guy.
Dimension 20 has Gilear, Fig's adoptive father from Fantasy High, a comically pathetic man who can't catch a break even when he's catching a break. He's the only elf in the world with a combover and a beer belly, and his second appearance has him alone in a shabby apartment surrounded by yogurt that expired the day before.
Gilear: My life is a trap from which I cannot escape.
There's a color dedicated to this trope in Neopets, and it's gray. The Gray Faerie usually is portrayed with a cloud over her head, and never, ever says anything cheerful. Fandom has determined that both the faerie, pets and items are just all emo, as there's no reason to do so in such a utopic setting.
The Real-Time Fandub take on Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) portrays Silver the Hedgehog as a Butt-Monkey who is almost always wallowing in depression, whining, and making self-deprecating comments while being given little to no respect by any of the other characters.
Amy: Aw, dammit, I missed my opportunity on Sonic's next album! This is your fault, silver boy! I'm gonna pluck you up, melt you down, and make a fucking necklace!
Silver: Yeah, I probably deserve it...
Amy: Oh, wait... Shit. You don't make this fun 'cause you're sad!
Silver: I'm always sad. That's just my thing... I... I'm sorry I'm sad. I can't- that's just how I be.
Amy: Well, now I just feel bad. Dammit.
Reddit has its cheerful little subreddit r/2meirl4meirl, which is mostly reposting suicidal, extremely self-loathing, and nihilistic reposts from Tumblr and elsewhere, mixed in with pleas to kill them. It's like Shinji Ikari, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Eeyore ruining all your favorite tumblr posts.
Vinesauce gives us the "long-lost third Mario brother" Sponge, who possesses the power to absorb the sadness of those around him. Unfortunately, this only forces him to feel that sadness instead. Even aside from this, he hasn't exactly lived the happiest life — a fan-created ROM hack has him trying to rescue his own princess, only to find that she died waiting for him, because he couldn't reach her fast enough. No wonder he refuses to smile.

Western Animation

Happy Time Harry in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Dumber Dolls" takes this to comically dark extremes. He's a children's action figure who is depressed, addicted to pain pills, has a pile of unpaid "Action Bills" as his main accessory, occasionally practices self-harm with a knife that's permanently attached to one hand and routinely threatens to commit assault or suicide. In later appearances, he mentions he's on probation too (and missing a meeting with his P.O. by participating in the villains' Zany Scheme). Somewhat of a deconstruction. He shows you what kinds of things need to happen to a guy for him to have such a negative outlook on life. And by "things" we mean "Wife kicked him out, numerous health problems, overdue child support, overdue bills"... this can go on. It certainly doesn't help that he took to the bottle to alleviate the pain he faces.
The titular BoJack Horseman is an incredibly depressive, black hole of solitude, jealous, egomaniac TV star who hurts everyone around him and will sabotage his own happiness at the drop of a hat.
Jonah in Captain Pugwash, whose Catchphrase is "No good will come of this, mark my words!"
CatDog has the ironically named Mr. Sunshine, who always speaks in a depressed and joyless tone indicative of his pessimistic attitude.
Cocomauve from French animated series Cococinel is portrayed as grouchy, and often complains about things, but likes his friends.
Dave the Barbarian: Because Twinkle the Marvel Horse spends most of his time in a stable, he constantly talks about the pointlessness of life, darkness, death and madness.
Sal, a minor character in Detentionaire who only shows up twice, first giving the tour of the Green Apple Splat factory and then dressed as a chicken working for the restaurant food chain Big Chicken. With a life like that, one can kind of see why he only talks with a tired monotone.
Sal: Now if you all come with me we can all watch a wonderful film about your favourite drink. Hooray. [Later] And that's the movie. Wow. Every time I see it I wonder why I get out of bed in the morning.
Toot from Drawn Together is an example, though she is so bitter and repulsive that she really garners no sympathy whatsoever.
Mr. Blossom of The Dreamstone is about the one resident of the Land of Dreams with a hint of cynicism, so much he seems to hold the entire village's worth.
Droopy always seems to be in a really sad and gloomy state. When he is happy, he'll just say "I'm so happy..." in his usual morose tone. When sufficiently provoked, he would just say, "You know what? That makes me mad," and then beat the other guy to a pulp. Sometimes throwing him miles and miles away.
- Subverted when he won a large sum of money. He smiled from ear to ear, and leaped across the screen. This actually was how he ended several cartoons, bouncing and cheering madly, then returning to his sad state, looking at the camera and saying, "You know what? I'm happy."
  - This itself was subverted in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Droopy Botox." Droopy sues his plastic surgeon for malpractice after his face freezes into a perpetual grin, and when he loses the case as a result of Harvey exhibiting Droopy's signed indemnity waiver in court, his weeping grin haunts Harvey throughout the episode.
PJ on Goof Troop oscillates between this and a very compassionate variation of a Stepford Snarker. He can be happy sometimes, and the fact that he usually isn't is evidence of the injustices done to him, both immediately beforehand and throughout his entire life. He's somewhat better in the first movie, and in the second movie, his unhappiness is finally rectified.
In a 1968 reworking of Gulliver's Travels, one of the Lilliputians who hung out with the hero was a hard-core Eeyore named Glum; for many, he was the most memorable thing about the show.
"We're dooooommmmmed." (Note lack of exclamation mark. That's just the way Glum rolls.)
Bill Dauterive from King of the Hill, who fell from being a handsome star linebacker to being a fat, balding, divorced sad sack. In particular the Christmas episode "Pretty Pretty Dresses" where he's fixating on his divorce and spends the first half of the episode reminding everyone of their own failed relationships.
In Hanna-Barbera's Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har, the latter fellow was a "laughing" hyena who never smiled, much less laughed.
In The Magic Trolls and the Troll Warriors, the evil King Nolaf and his underlings are incapable of laughter or smiling and have banished all happiness from the land.
My Life as a Teenage Robot: Jenny's "sister" XJ-7, who has a built-in slouch and frowning expression.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- In the episode "A Friend in Deed", Pinkie Pie is shocked when a new inhabitant moving to Ponyville, Cranky Doodle Donkey, is such a humourless, unhappy Deadpan Snarker that, unlike absolutely everyone else, he doesn't like her and doesn't want to be her friend. She spends the rest of the episode trying to defy this trope, which only makes things worse until she figures out the reason for his melancholy. He's spent years searching for his true love, whom he lost touch with due to a misunderstanding, and become more and more depressed until he's finally given up and decided to retire to Ponyville with his memories... But it just so happens that she lives there as well, and Pinkie Pie, of course, knows her. Needless to say, Cranky is cured of being The Eeyore by the end.
- In "Appaloosa's Most Wanted", Troubleshoes Clyde is completely pessimistic because he's convinced he's cursed with unending bad luck. His luck is so bad that he's been accused of being a criminal in Appaloosa because of his clumsiness. He cheers up when it turns out this "bad luck" is actually a talent for spontaneous physical comedy that allows him to realise his dream of joining the rodeo after all, by becoming a rodeo clown.
Phineas and Ferb: In later seasons, Candace has turned from a typical Killjoy into an Eeyore to the point that one episode has addressed the situation in a quite parodic manner.
The Space Goofs episode "You Can't Go Home" features an elderly elephant who visits the protagonists' home to die. Said elephant not only keeps a depressed attitude despite their attempts to cheer her up and get her to leave the house, her ramblings about the horrible state of the world even manage to affect the aliens themselves (excluding Etno).
SpongeBob SquarePants: Squidward started out as a Deadpan Snarker with shades of this trope. Later episodes would crank this up; a prime example being "Are You Happy Now?", which hinges on him having no happy memories in his life and later falling into a deep state of clinical depression.
Steven Universe:
- Blue Diamond used to be very calm and composed, but after losing her sister Pink Diamond, she became very sad and depressed.
- "Future Boy Zoltron" introduces Mr. Smiley's old comedy partner Mr. Frowney. As the name suggests, Frowney is a perpetually mopey pessimist who always seems to find a reason to be down.
Storm Hawks: Mentioned or at least implied to be a cultural trait common to all Merbians. Terra Merb is so riddled with dangerous creatures, dangerous terrain, dangerous weather, and dangerous combinations of all three that Merbians have simply come to expect the worst out of everything, since it usually happens to them. It's so bad that when something nice happens to the Hawks, Stork can't enjoy it because he's too busy waiting for the punchline. Unfortunately, since Merbians developed their pessimism as a survival mechanism, he has a distressing habit of being right.
A lot of Transformers have elements of the Sour Supporter or being real complainers, but Dead End of the Stunticons is known for almost never smiling (lack of a mouth aside) and constantly believing and declaring that their collective doom was at hand. The end result is a character who handily combines fatalism, vanity, and the ability to merge with four other belligerent, hardly-cooperative maniacs into one particularly large maniac.
Richard from Unikitty! is rarely happy and his default state of being is a dour mood.
Dez's Uncle Phil from Wishfart is a hateful and miserable leprechaun who gets everyone down with his depressing stories and refuses to share anything he owns out of pure jerkassery.

The Eeyore
25 Following

Examples:

Video Example(s):

It's Ok To Cry.

Alternative Title(s): The Sadsack

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It's Ok To Cry.

The Eeyore 25 Following

Examples:

Video Example(s):

It's Ok To Cry.

Alternative Title(s): The Sadsack

Previous

Index

Next

It's Ok To Cry.

The Eeyore
25 Following