Batman may be known as the ultimate tragic hero as he’s completely inseparable from the tragedy that not only shattered his childhood but also gave birth to his crime-fighting obsession. His tragic origin story in which his parents are shot and killed before his child eyes in a dark Gotham alley has been adapted over and over on screen, both small and silver ones. In short, it has become a gold standard for tragic origin stories, especially since Batman’s entire character has been constructed upon this tragedy.
However, Batman isn’t alone in carrying a heavy burden of sorrow on his shoulders. This article will explore five superheroes whose backstories are possibly even more heartbreaking than Bruce Wayne’s. This list includes Spider-Man, who lost his Uncle Ben due to his own mistake; Daredevil, who was blinded as a child and suffered the violent deaths of his loved ones; and other heroes whose backstories reveal that Batman isn’t the only one with a deeply tragic past.
Frank Castle
Opening this list with Frank Castle is a bit strange, considering that he’s not a superhero but rather an antihero. This is primarily because he refuses to conform to the superhero morality construct, which prohibits killing. While Batman has no issues in facing the same foes over and over again, Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher, prefers a more permanent method of villain disposal.
What turns Frank, a U.S. Marine and a Vietnam hero, into a lean and mean killing machine is the fact that his family was brutally murdered by the mafia. Frank survives the deadly encounter that set him on the path of vengeance not just against those who had killed his family but also against other wrongdoers that plague our society. If you have the opportunity to play 2005’s The Punisher for Play Station 2, it’s a real blast.
Daredevil
Daredevil’s origin story and much of his ongoing narrative is a heaping pile of suffering and tragedy. Matt Murdock was blinded by radioactive waste after he saved a pedestrian from being run over. The loss of eyesight tossed his other senses into overdrive, which later allowed him to become the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
However, long before he adorned the superhero outfit, he was orphaned after his father, his sole parent, was killed by mobsters for refusing to throw a boxing match. On top of that, his girlfriend developed a heroin addiction and later outed him as Daredevil to his arch-enemy. It is even implied that she’s HIV positive, and so is Murdock.
That, of course, wasn’t true, but it doesn’t change the fact that Daredevil has no luck in his love life.
Wanda Maximoff
The MCU version of the Scarlet Witch has a really tragic origin story. Her brother Pietro (Quicksilver) was killed in Sokovia in Age of Ultron, and her lover Vision was killed by Thanos, who tore the Mind stone from his forehead. Following these events, Wanda became overwhelmed by immense grief, causing her to unleash her Chaos Magic and recreate Vision as her husband and twin sons, Tommy and Billy.
During the events of WandaVision, she dispelled her artificial reality and erased her family in the process, but soon gained the ability to “dreamwalk” — transfer her consciousness into the body of herself from the other universes — which she used to live with her kids from that universe. This led to the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Jason Todd
Due to the nature of DC Comics and its continuity, Jason Todd has two origin stories. Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, Jason was orphaned by circus acrobats and eventually goes on to become the first Robin. However, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Jason Todd is introduced as a Robin who has has a pretty rough upbringing.
Namely, his petty criminal father marries a drug addict after his biological mother had lost custody. With his father in jail, Jason supports his stepmother by stealing car parts. He tries stealing the wheels of the Batmobile when Batman catches him. His stepmother later overdoses, and his father is killed by a member of Two-Face’s gang.
Even more heartbreaking is the fact that Joker uses his biological mother to lure Jason and beat him within an inch of his life with a crowbar before leaving him to die in an explosion. Arkham Knight video game follows this storyline, and we highly recommend playing this game.
Peter Parker
Peter Parker perhaps seems like an outlier on this list due to Spider-Man’s optimistic and cheerful nature, but when comparing tragedies, Peter Parker had it worse than Bruce Wayne. Sure, both had lost their parents when they were young, but as Wayne was growing up in a mansion, Peter Parker grew up with his elderly aunt and uncle.
On top of that, he was picked on and bullied at school, and after gaining his powers, Peter indirectly caused Uncle Ben’s death in the original Spider-Man story (similar to how it plays out in the 2002 movie), causing his transformation into Spider-Man. In The Amazing Spider-Man story titled “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” he also indirectly causes the death of his girlfriend Gwen Stacy.
Closing Thoughts
So, while Batman’s tragic backstory has become synonymous with the character, there are other heroes whose tragedies remind us that he’s not the only one whose life has been shaped by heartbreak and that he’s far from the saddest boy in the room.