What is a "Sympathetic Destroyer of Worlds"?

This is a character who wants to destroy everything and everyone in the story, and is suddenly in a position to do so (on a small or large scale); but in contrast to the Dangerously Crazy Munduscidal Maniac, he/she has some plausible, outright tragic reason to do so, so much so that, in some cases, the characters outright sympathize with him/her (whether or not the audience does too is out of the equation here), all the while accepting that he/she must be stopped. Sometimes, the character is even portrayed as likeable, just...not with the right mindset.

The essential element is that he/she has been pushed beyond all reason. This may or may not make him/her sympathetic, but either way he/she is portrayed as having a sad existence. This is a character who, by definition, is constantly beaten up, kicked around, and lives an all-around miserable life. Should he/she lose everything and everyone he/she trusts (be it through betrayal or in other cruel ways), and then just so happens upon the instrument of revenge against the cruel, heartless place that brought him/her so much pain, one need not be a genius to figure out unto whom shall his/her vengeful, bloodshot eyes cast his/her hateful gaze upon. Think of this person as a Sympathetic Jerk, only with the jerk behavior replaced by madness.

This character is less about the Villain Threat and more about how much a character has been broken — physically, mentally, and emotionally — before he/she finally snaps and blames the whole world for all the trouble he/she has been through. Of course, they must crack and pose a sudden threat of some sort, to the characters and/or the setting. And some of them do get their finger on the nuke trigger.

It's a really sad story.

Good article. When reading this it explains how Godzilla detroyes the entire city of Tokoyo and everyone is so sympathetic of him. As a kid I was like How ccome noone is getting angry with him??????????????????

An example of a human doing this is sad and should be taken by society and made to feel that they belong. Plus they to have to use words and actions to belong to society.

good article-good thing not many of these characters at such an extreme