History Main / NiceJobBreakingIthero

In most cases, of course, the hero will [[ItsAllMyFault take full responsibility for their actions]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone be haunted by them, horribly traumatized]]. Now their new mission is to stop the new danger they've unleashed, preferably in a way that doesn't spawn ever greater menaces. Darker plotlines may [[DownerEnding end the story right there]] instead, and it's always possible the villain's demise inadvertently resulted in the [[EarthShatteringKaboom irreversible destruction]] or [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt horrifying mutation]] of the world. If used excessively, this trope often leaves an audience with a sense that [[NeverBeAHero the hero shouldn't have tried to change things for the better and indeed shouldn't have even left home]]. Can also be a moral about getting seriously involved in things without learning much about them.

This trope is a common problem with the SmallStepsHero. Compare CreateYourOwnVillain, WhatTheHellHero, UnwittingPawn, MustMakeAmends, YouAlreadyChangedThePast, TwoRightsMakeAWrong, NiceJobFixingItVillain (but note that villains are also subject to ''this'' trope — they can do something careless that screws them over or helps out a ''worse'' villain). Compare WeWantOurJerkBack when the hero/villain makes the villain/hero powerless, only to have it backfire and give them a worse villain/hero/[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking fate]] than expected, resulting in them wanting things to go back the way they were. BetterTheDevilYouKnow is a similar situation, where the utter defeat of one villain can lead to a completely different and ''greater'' evil taking over. This trope may lead to a RedemptionQuest in an attempt to make up for the mistake. Has very little to do with NiceJobBreakingItHerod (in fact, that one usually leads to the biggest cases of [[NiceJobFixingItVillain the complete opposite Trope]].)