[quote=Kestrel]Don't make your character 100% victim. Have their own actions and choices cause them tragedy. Insta-different from 99% of the tragic bio's.[/quote]

This, really. Nobody's life is complete tragedy. The key to having a tragic backstory is to balance out tragedy with other elements.

There's a general rule of storytelling that goes hand in hand with pacing, where you can emotionally over-saturate someone if you overdo an emotion. Ergo why in horror films, you have the "fake" jump scare, you have comedy or romance or sexual elements to relax the tension in the audience. Because after a certain point you will simply isolate and outlive the emotional overkill. Think about it. After a certain point no matter how happy you feel, you will eventually down-tone back to contentment. No matter how miserable you feel, you will eventually recover, [b]absolutely regardless of outside influence which may speed or slow the process but not stop it[/b]. (The exception being of course to mental illness, but it should be noted that even the vast majority of people diagnosed as being clinically depressed or suffering from PTSD have periods of emotional stability and normality.)

So, really, just make sure your character is well rounded emotionally. A character who can't find a reason to get out of bed in the morning and is constantly wailing about how horrible their lives are, isn't going to function in the vast majority of stories on Roleplayer Guild that are generally about defeating something or overcoming a significant physical obstacle. A character who lost their family in a house fire due to a battle or raid, and now dons a shield and sword to prevent anyone else from meeting that same fate, on the other hand, is an admirable if scarred person who has all the motivation in the world to see your typical conflict-based plot resolved.