History Main / CrossingTheBurntBridge

* Seen with a twist in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/30374208 He Can Only Blame Himself]]'': After dating for a few years, Adrien cheats on Marinette with Lila after the latter convinces him that Marinette has [[CareerVersusMan put her career first]]. Gabriel then twists the knife by firing Marinette, when it was his [[BadBoss overworking her]] that triggered Adrien's infidelity in the first place. When news of the breakup goes viral, Gabriel angrily orders his son to "fix things" by reconciling with his ex-girlfriend. Rather than making his appeal to her ''directly'', however, Adrien calls his cousin Felix -- Marinette has started working for his aunt Amilie, and Adrien decides that's a safer angle to tackle. This only serves to underscore how little he respects his ex, and Felix forces him to confront how he's let his relationships with ''their'' side of the family degrade as well, right up until he decided he needed something from them.

** The ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' Salt-Shot ''[[Fanfic/MiraculousLadybugSaltShots A Price to Pay]]'' has Adrien attempting this after betraying Marinette. While he initially assumed that [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy reality being rewritten]] in the course of granting his father's Wish would ensure that nobody knew what they'd done, said Wish is granted in such a way so that everybody knows Gabriel Agreste [[BalancingDeathsBooks killed Tom Dupain-Cheng]] in a car accident, then [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney bribed his way]] to a "victory" in court, leaving him ConvictedByPublicOpinion instead. What's more, Marinette ''also'' [[RippleEffectProofMemory remembers the original reality]], so she's fully aware of the scope of his betrayal beyond just [[PunishedForSympathy defending his father's flagrant disregard for the law]]. PlayedWith in that that Adrien is so [[EntitledBastard grossly entitled]] that he takes Marinette's support completely for granted, acting as though ''she's'' the one in the wrong for not accepting his BackhandedApology and helping him "fix everything".

** ''[[Fanfic/ALadysScout A Lady's Scout (and the Salt Within Her Soul]]'': As rumors spread that Marinette might be secretly working with Ladybug, helping her select candidates to become temporary heroes, many of her classmates start cozying back up to her in hopes that she'll hook them back up with "their" Miraculouses. This backfires, as the ones who get the most annoyingly ''overt'' in their efforts to curry favor are the next ones to receive symbolic "parting gifts" signaling that they'll never be chosen as heroes again.

** The ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' Salt-Shot ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/44607043/chapters/121613383 A Price to Pay]]'' has Adrien attempting this after betraying Marinette. While he initially assumed that [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy reality being rewritten]] in the course of granting his father's Wish would ensure that nobody knew what they'd done, said Wish is granted in such a way so that everybody knows Gabriel Agreste [[BalancingDeathsBooks killed Tom Dupain-Cheng]] in a car accident, then [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney bribed his way]] to a "victory" in court, leaving him ConvictedByPublicOpinion instead. What's more, Marinette ''also'' [[RippleEffectProofMemory remembers the original reality]], so she's fully aware of the scope of his betrayal beyond just [[PunishedForSympathy defending his father's flagrant disregard for the law]]. PlayedWith in that that Adrien is so [[EntitledBastard grossly entitled]] that he takes Marinette's support completely for granted, acting as though ''she's'' the one in the wrong for not accepting his BackhandedApology and helping him "fix everything".

** In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS1E25CroakAndPunishment Croak & Punishment]]", [[Characters/AmphibiaAnneBoonchuy Anne Boonchuy]] and Sprig try to search for a missing Blue Moon Shell, with [[GoodCopBadCop Anne as the "good cop", and Sprig as the bad cop"]]. However, Sprig takes his role a bit too seriously, yelling at various suspects and [[InterrogationByVandalism destroying their property]]. When his behavior ends up provoking Gunther, a Southern Tusk Frog, into HulkingOut, he and Anne try to find someplace to hide, but nobody is willing to protect them on account of how Sprig treated them.

** In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS2E36TrueColors True Colors]]", [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright]] betrays Anne (again) and helps Grime overthrow King Andrias, causing a furious Anne to decide she's done with Sasha's manipulative behaviour and break off their friendship for good. Moments later, Sasha and Grime uncover Andrias' true nature as a MultiversalConqueror, and with Anne and the others already working to restore him to the throne, they have no choice but to go back and try and explain why this is a bad idea. Having just burnt all her bridges, however, nobody listens to Sasha; she and Grime are defeated and Andrias is successfully restored to his throne. [[FromBadToWorse Things go downhill very quickly from there]], and Anne (realising Sasha was right about Andrias and has reformed for real this time) eventually does patch things up with her.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': At the end of Season 1, to save Eda, [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLilithClawthorne Lilith Clawthorne]] has to turn to Luz and King for help. Luz at first isn't interested, since Lilith is the one who captured Eda in the first place and used her as a hostage, but is willing to work with Lilith once Lilith explains why she cursed Eda and returns Owlbert. Even during their truce, Luz admits she doesn't like the lady's style.

Wait, what's that? You have a class with that ex? The jerk is your mentor's kid? You aren't moving or transferring after all? You left your wallet in their freezer when you were stealing the ice cream sandwich, and leaving a "[[PoopingWhereYouShouldnt surprise]] on the boss's desk?

Wait, what's that? You have a class with that ex? The jerk is your mentor's kid? You aren't moving or transferring after all? That terminal illness diagnosis was [[FileMixup a mix-up at the clinic?]] You left your wallet in their freezer when you were stealing the ice cream sandwich?

Compare NotSoFinalConfession, WeMeetAgain, WeWillMeetAgain, WhereItAllBegan, MyGodWhatHaveIDone, TheExitIsThatWay, WhosLaughingNow, FairWeatherFoe, and TakeThisJobAndShoveIt. A character who suffers from KarmicShunning may do this, either out of [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remorse]] or [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk convenience]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "[[Recap/AmericanDadS6E9RapturesDelight Rapture's Delight]]", Stan blames Francine for them not getting chosen to ascend into Heaven when the rapture occurs, and he abandons her when a man approaches him claiming to be Jesus Christ and that he can get him into Heaven. When the so-called messiah turns out to be a bum who wants oral sex from him, an embarrassed Stan tries to save face, but not only does Francine reject him and move out, but she also reveals that she's entered a relationship with the ''real'' Jesus.

** In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS1E25CroakAndPunishment Croak & Punishment]]", Anne and Sprig try to search for a missing Blue Moon Shell, with [[GoodCopBadCop Anne as the "good cop", and Sprig as the bad cop"]]. However, Sprig takes his role a bit too seriously, yelling at various suspects and [[InterrogationByVandalism destroying their property]]. When his behavior ends up provoking Gunther, a Southern Tusk Frog, into HulkingOut, he and Anne try to find someplace to hide, but nobody is willing to protect them on account of how Sprig treated them.

** In "True Colors", Sasha betrays Anne (again) and helps Grime overthrow King Andrias, causing a furious Anne to decide she's done with Sasha's manipulative behaviour and break off their friendship for good. Moments later, Sasha and Grime uncover Andrias' true nature as a MultiversalConqueror, and with Anne and the others already working to restore him to the throne, they have no choice but to go back and try and explain why this is a bad idea. Having just burnt all her bridges, however, nobody listens to Sasha; she and Grime are defeated and Andrias is successfully restored to his throne. [[FromBadToWorse Things go downhill very quickly from there]], and Anne (realising Sasha was right about Andrias and has reformed for real this time) eventually does patch things up with her.

** In the episode "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS1E08TheTelescope The Telescope]]" [=BoJack=] visits his former friend Herb Kazzaz when the latter is suffering from cancer, and whom [=BoJack=] left hanging when Herb was fired from ''Horsin' Around'' on account of a controversy over him being homosexual. [=BoJack=] wants to squash his beef before Herb is six feet under. At first, things seem to go well (apart from Herb chronically making jokes about how [=BoJack=] threw him under the bus), but when [=BoJack=] feels the need to apologize, Herb gives him one hell of a ReasonYouSuckSpeech about how [=BoJack=] abandoning him when he needed a friend most was plain [[ThisIsUnforgivable inexcusable]] and the horse then leaves his former friend with the bridge between them burnt forever.
** This happens again in the season 3 episode "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS3E11ThatsTooMuchMan That's Too Much, Man!]]" when [=BoJack=] and Sarah-Lynn going on a drunk bender and making amends with the people they've wronged, only to actually worsen things.
** Per WordOfGod, a character utilizing the show's once-per-season PrecisionFStrike is meant to represent that character's bridge with [=BoJack=] being burned for good. Although Todd uses it in season 3, he and [=BoJack=] do eventully reconcile and regain their friendship, albeit never coming as close as they once were.

** Happens in the episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E16AprilInQuahog April in Quahog]]", when Peter blurts out that he doesn't care for his children the moment before the world is supposed to end... only for said warning to be revealed as an April Fool's prank from the Quahog news team. Peter spends the rest of the episode trying to make it up to the kids.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship'', Sunset Shimmer returns to Equestria and has to seek the counsel of Princess Celestia. This was after [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil Sunset turned into a cruel and manipulative]] AlphaBitch under Celestia's watch. However, Sunset's undergone enough CharacterDevelopment after her HeelFaceTurn to genuinely apologize to Celestia, and the apology is accepted.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': At the end of Season 1, to save Eda, Lilith has to turn to Luz and King for help. Luz at first isn't interested, since Lilith is the one who captured Eda in the first place and used her as a hostage, but is willing to work with Lilith once Lilith explains why she cursed Eda and returns Owlbert. Even during their truce, Luz admits she doesn't like the lady's style.

** In a {{Flashback}} episode, Homer, upon quitting his nuclear plant job, plays Burns' head like a bongo in front of all the other employees and then throws Burns at a barrel of toxic waste. (Although [[PayEvilUntoEvil one has to wonder if "acting like a jerk" can even apply to anything being done to Burns]].) [[LiteralMetaphor He LITERALLY burns a bridge he drives over on his way out.]] He eventually has to take the job back after [[spoiler:impregnating Marge with Maggie]]. Of course, since this is [[EvilIsPetty Burns]] we're talking about here, he makes Homer [[LiteralMetaphor literally come "crawling back", via through a narrow tunnel]], to get his old job back, so that Burns would also literally be looking down on Homer once emerged. To further humiliate him, Burns has Smithers put a big mandatory plaque in Homer's office saying "Don't forget, you're here forever". [[spoiler:Luckily, Homer is able to cover the plaque with pictures of Maggie and change the message to "[[SignsOfDisrepair Do it for her]]".]]

* In ''Fanfic/AThousandAnswers'', Dio ends up becoming a vampire earlier than canon due to [[ForWantOfANail having the Stone Mask fall on him during his and Jonathan's fight]], and since he hadn't yet desired that kind of power, he ''hates'' being a vampire. Unfortunately, the only two people equipped to help him are Erina Pendleton (whom he gave his infamous ForcefulKiss to earlier) and Jonathan Joestar (who started fighting him specifically to avenge Erina's honor). He's not happy with this arrangement but sucks it up as best he can.

Time to let them know what you really think of them! Tell the ex-girlfriend off, insult the constant jerk, rob the old neighbor, leave a [[PoopingWhereYouShouldnt ''surprise'']] on the boss's desk, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking jack their last ice cream sandwich]], whatever fits! They deserve it, and you're never going to have to live through the repercussions anyway.

May overlap with OffTheTable, when the other party refuses to allow the bridge to be rebuilt. Similar to AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp.