10 More TV Sitcom Characters With Shockingly Dark Backstories

Ron Swanson was a fine example of how sitcom characters can be steely and introverted yet steal the show regardless. His deadpan humour, fear of surveillance, passion for "manly" things, and more made him feel like a wise old soul. However, that wisdom came at the cost of his youth.

This Parks & Rec director did not have a conventional upbringing, and that was clear whenever he talked about his work life as a child. 

Ron was pulling shifts at a steel metal factory when he was nine, worked at a tannery at 11, and even had to hitchhike to college after his dad encouraged him not to bother. That's a lot of dangerous work for a literal child; it even puts the Victorian workhouses to shame. 

This focus on work and severity seemed to leave him emotionally repressed, which was evident from his behaviour as an adult. He even claimed that the only time he cried in his childhood was after he was hit by a literal bus.

You also can't forget his two failed marriages, both to women named Tammy. Tammy One was a terrifying and downright evil manipulator, and Tammy Two was a wild and unpredictable lunatic. Both were a source of trauma for him.