If any character had a hard time on Riverdale, it was Jughead Jones. He experienced devastating events in his life from a tender age, which his friends did too, but Jughead got the short end of the stick with regard to finances, parental , and shelter, which Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Cheryl definitely didn't have.
His school life, home life, and friendships were frayed, and the teen had to put up with regular betrayals and nasty surprises. Even after the time jump, the trauma showed up in adulthood and he couldn't transition to successful adult life as well as his peers. Still, Jughead always managed to overcome, even in dire straits.
He Was Homeless For A While
His dysfunctional family was one of the saddest things about Jughead, and FP was certainly not a model dad. He struggled with alcohol, and he couldn't hold a job to save his or his son's life. Jughead had to camp out in the projector room of the Twilight Drive-In, and when that was shut down, he was living on school property.
For a teenager to not have a permanent shelter is traumatic, and dealing with his friends' pity was worse for him than asking for help. Jughead had to juggle his survival, along with family, school, and friendships which was no easy task.
Betty Cheated On Him With Archie
Betty-Archie-Jughead was the most controversial Riverdale love triangle, and Betty and Archie twisted the knife further when they kept getting together behind Jughead's back. They first kissed in season 2 with the threat of the Black Hood looming over them, and then finally itted their feelings to each other before they graduated.
This led to the end of Jughead and Betty's relationship, which was one of the things he cherished the most. Betty and Archie also rekindled their relationship after the time jump, when Jughead clearly still wasn't over Betty, which hurt him further.
His Mother Abandoned Him
One would think that with FP being a bad parent, Gladys would be a better mom, but she was a different type of bad parent. She had little to no interest in Jughead, and when she arrived in town, she just wanted to sell drugs and make money.
Earlier, when Jughead had called her with a ticket to Toledo in hand, she point-blank asked him not to come to her and Jellybean, which was excruciating for Jughead since he had no one else to go to.
Betty Broke Up With Him Through Archie
In another instance of romance gone wrong, Betty chose the worst way to dump Jughead — through Archie. While it's true that the Black Hood made her break up with him, she could have been more mature and chosen to do the deed herself, instead of sending the one guy that made Jughead feel insecure about her.
Archie and Jug already had a strained relationship because of Betty as well as the South and Northside quarrels, so it felt like Jughead was being ganged up on when Betty ended it this way.
He Shared A Half-Sibling With Betty
Both the super sleuths were one of the best couples of Riverdale, but the fact that they shared a half-sibling because of their parents' affair did make things messy and awkward. Finding out that his father had other children besides him and Jellybean was awful enough, but finding out that it bonded him to his girlfriend was just terrible.
Charles was also not a good sibling, as Jughead found out later. He was disturbed and unreliable, so that was one more murderous person in Jughead's life, whose presence made him related to Betty.
His Friends Tried To Get Southside High Shut Down
"I'm a weirdo," is a Jughead quote that perfectly sums up his personality, but mainly because his own friends made him feel like an outcast at the beginning of the show. When he went into foster care, he had to transfer to Southside High, which was being shut down by the Mayor on false drug allegations.
When Jughead protested with his schoolmates against the shutdown, Archie and the Bulldogs shut it down on Hiram Lodge's behalf. For someone who barely had a system to begin with, this was a huge blow to Jughead's faith in his friendships.
His Father Was Incarcerated For Murder
Everybody suspected FP to have a hand in Jason Blossom's murder, which was why Veronica and Archie went behind Jughead's back to search their trailer while keeping him busy with dinner. It became much worse when their suspicions turned out to be true.
While FP hadn't killed Jason, he had been blackmailed to freeze and dispose of his body by Clifford and also clean up the crime scene so that Serpents wouldn't be blamed for it. Finding out your parent is involved in murder is no joke, and Jughead also got flak for it at school from Cheryl, which was a nightmare for him.
Got Beaten Up Almost To Death
In season 2, Jughead was just getting accustomed to being a part of the Serpents, but he got involved in the rivalries of the gang as well. To protect his own, he got entangled in Penny Peabody and the Ghoulies' dirty tricks, which led him to get beaten up by them just an inch away from death.
He was disfigured and maimed ruthlessly, and audiences were concerned about whether he would make it. Penny also cut off the tattoo from his arm, which was a truly horrific moment for the character.
He Struggled With Drugs And Alcohol
Adulthood was not kind to Jughead, who took his writer lifestyle a bit too far in New York. Fresh out of a breakup and celebrating the success of his first book, he was caught in a sticky spot of booze, drugs, and partying, which led him to lose book deals, connections, and peace of mind.
All of his childhood struggles came back to haunt him as he could not adjust to a normal, healthy life as a twenty-something. His struggles with addiction led him to dark places, both figuratively and literally as he went down into the sewers of New York where he spent days amongst rats, hallucinating.
He Was In Severe Debt
There's only so long a chunk of money will last, and Jughead's party-hard life and substance abuse made him run out of it, fast. He could no longer write anything either, which was why he couldn't even earn more for himself.
He was deep in debt, and the loan sharks would come to collect often. He would hide or run away from them, and eventually had to take up a job as a waiter at Pop's to himself, which was pretty sad for an author who was touted to be the next big thing.