Normal Villains: cackling gleefully "NOW I'M EVERYBODY"S PROBLEM!"
Tragic Monster: sobbing "...now I'm everybody's problem."

The dialogue from Sony's Spider-Man 1 while fighting Doc Ock of "You knew?" And the change of tone with the realization of the second "You knew."
Absolutely perfect.

8:52 honestly can’t believe nobody is talking about the fact that “the motivation to go out and buy the dangerous superpowers available to all Gothamites under the second amendment” is perhaps the funniest string of words to ever be put together

This is why I love ‘Feet of Clay’ by Terry Pratchett.
The golems are not dangerous by nature, but so many people fear them because they’ve heard a rumor about one going mad and becoming dangerous.
But the golems create their own golem to be their king, lead them to freedom and bring peace and justice. The king cannot actually do that, so it goes mad and becomes exactly as dangerous as everyone thinks the golems are.
10/10 no notes.

To be fair, the book version of Frankenstein skews more towards the "cool motive, still murder" variety of tragic monster, with the Creature framing an innocent woman for the kid he accidentally killed before he even manages to interact with Victor for longer than Victor creating him and then going directly to sleep.  (The cycle of bad parenting in this case makes Victor simply a neglectful teen dad, while the actual carnage comes from the cycle of revenge.  And from Victor refusing to create what he is admittedly only somewhat aware would be a second tragic monster.)  It is, however, narratively interesting how many different ways this trope can be explored with that story.

The best thing about Tragic Monsters is that they're SO FUN to watch, its like a train wreck but you know that the train is also traumatized

Okay, Red covering Bad Apple over the patreon credits was a delightful and unexpected cap to this video, thank you.

"Most people will never get bitten by a werewolf... *more's the pity*".....

Is there... perhaps... something you'd like to confess to, Red?

There are many tragic monsters in Batman, but Babydoll always gets me. She gets the oft-desired eternal youth but is forever preschool sized, and it breaks her. She just wants what we all have, and most of us bemoan.

I've often seen it argued that, in order to be considered gentle you must have the capacity for violence. If you are too weak, by will or constitution, then your inability to cause harm is not because of your restraint.
Similarly, you aren't truly good without the capacity for evil, you're just innocuous.
Therefore, are you truly human without a monster inside you?
Once you find it, where do you draw the line between you and it?

Playing Red’s videos for my 1 year old son so he can hopefully internalize her speak patterns and become the funniest boy alive

"To never again walk on a hot summer's day with a hot wind on your face, or a warm hand to hold.
Yes, I'd kill for that."

I read the title wrong. I saw “Magic Toasters.” I should go take a nap.

1:35 This section is also an amazing explanation of why so many abuse victims are the only one in their abuser's life who doesn't think they're a great person, and have a hard time convincing those who know the other person because "they've always been normal with me, so it can't be that bad."

One thing I LOVE about the GdT Frankenstein is the disability subtext: Victor treats his creation similarly to how ableist parents treat their disabled children (especially neurodivergent and developmentally disabled children). He refuses to find a way to communicate with him (preferring to scream at him instead), he doesn’t bother to try and teach him but yells when he doesn’t instantly understand the topic, he denies his personhood when he thinks he’s not intelligent, he keeps him locked up for his own convenience (something that was very common historically), he hides him from his family out of shame, he finds the idea of him finding a partner and reproducing repulsive (even though there’s absolutely no evidence the condition is hereditary)…

Surprised the Minotaur was not mentioned given they're one of the earliest examples of a monster that's only recently had the tragic monster treatment applied.

Red singing Bad Apple was not something I expected but probably should have
Excellent analyses as always

14:30 I know saying “In some runs” refers to runs in the comic issue sense, but when I first heard it I couldn’t help but think in a speedruner sense.
Bruce wakes up one morning, grabs one slipper, holds it in front of his stomach, and walks into his coffee table to exploit a collision bug and glitch himself right into the gamma radiation event, saving 2 days 6 hours 13 minutes and 55 seconds.

"You were born broken. That's your birthright. And now you can fill your life with projects - your books, and your girlfriends, and your little movies - but that won't make you whole. You're bojack horseman. There's no cure for that.”
- Beatrice Horseman, Bojack Horseman

One thing I've noticed is that tragic monster heroes usually become heroes because they have friends to support them in their monstrosity.

The best examples I can think of are The Thing from the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men.

In other circumstances, Ben Grimm could have easily become a villain after the accident. But because he had Reed and the others with him, he didn't.

Likewise, a lot of the X-Men (especially the ones that can't control their powers) have all the potential for villainy, but their friendship and camaraderie keep them on the side of good. (most of the time)