History Main / YouDidTheRightThing

* In the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode, [[Recap/CriminalMindsS10E7Hashtag Hashtag]]'', Morgan has to shoot a teenage Unsub to save the life of a hostage. He briefly angsts about shooting a kid before Hotch reassures him doing so is the only reason the hostage survived.
-->'''Derek Morgan''': I shot a kid on national television.
-->'''Aaron Hotchner''': You shot a serial killer, and if you hadn't, that hostage wouldn't be in surgery right now; she'd be dead. You did the right thing.
** In the season 11 episode ''[[Recap/CriminalMindsS11E6Pariahville Pariahville]], when Tara Lewis is struggling with having [[TheseHandsHaveKilled fatally shot someone for the first time]], Morgan reminds her that the Unsub was [[HostageSituation holding a teenage girl hostage at knifepoint]], and insists Lewis did the right thing by killing him the moment she had a clean shot.

-->'''[[spoiler:Katara:]]''' I don't know if it was because I was too weak to do it, or because I was strong enough not to?
** Aang reassures her himself.

* In the ''[[Series/SWAT2017 S.W.A.T.]] episode, ''[[Recap/SWATS02E06NeverAgain Never Again]], due to a [[WouldntHitAGirl core part of his upbringing]], Hondo is [[HeroicBSOD left shaken]] after he fatally shoots one of a crew of [[BadassIsraeli Israeli veterans]] [[FromCamouflageToCriminal turned bank robbers]], only to realise the robber was a woman. [[TheLancer Deacon]] talks him out of it by pointing out the woman was shooting back at them, and it was a choice between killing her or putting other police officers and civilians in danger.

* In the ''[[Series/SWAT2017 S.W.A.T.]] episode, ''[[Recap/SWATS2E6NeverAgain Never Again]], due to a [[WouldntHitAGirl core part of his upbringing]], Hondo is [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDoom left shaken]] after he fatally shoots one of a crew of [[BadassIsraeli Israeli veterans]] [[FromCamouflageToCriminal turned bank robbers]], only to realise the robber was a woman. [[TheLancer Deacon]] talks him out of it by pointing out the woman was shooting back at them, and it was a choice between killing her or putting other police officers and civilians in danger.

->'''Kirk:''' ''[watching the ''Enterprise'' burning as it falls across the sky]'' My God, Bones... What have I done?\\

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Kaien's last words to Rukia as she performs[[note]]In the manga, her sword is at her side, and she has to stab him as he's lunging at her. In the anime, he seems to fall on her sword[[/note]] a MercyKill on him as he is possessed by Metastacia. [[HeroicSelfDeprecation Rukia mentally disagrees with this]], as she believes that she ran away (on her and Kaien's captain's orders) because she was afraid to face him, came back because she couldn't bear the shame of doing nothing and stabbed him because she was unable to see him in pain, and [[MyGreatestFailure bears the weight of her guilt for years]]. While she earns Kaien's siblings forgiveness, she later learns that [[spoiler:Metastacia's body returned to Hueco Mundo and got absorbed by Aaroniero, with Kaien's body and memories along with it. Rukia realizes she could not even say she was freeing him by doing so]], leading her to once again question what she did and have a temporary HeroicBSOD.

* Said by Midori to Mai in ''Anime/MaiHime'' at the start of the [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne HiME Carnival]] arc when Nao reminds her of what happened to Alyssa, whose child Mai had destroyed. After she leaves, Midori told Mai that she had no choice, since Alyssa was planning to nuke the school from orbit (it was the only way to be sure). And the fact that they didn't know [[spoiler:what destroying a Child does]] at the time. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to them, the victim was, [[AssholeVictim rather than anyone innocent, the head of the Searrs foundation responsible for the entire invasion]] and a conspiracy to control the [=HiME=] Star]].

* In ''Fanfic/PerfectionIsOverrated'', similar to the ''Anime/MaiHime'' example above, Mai tells this to Shizuru after killing Hitomi's child to save her and Natsuki results in [[spoiler:Hitomi's own]] death, saying that Shizuru, like she did back when she destroyed Alyssa's Child, chose to do what she believed to be right.

* In ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', Yukari has this opinion about Miho's decision to [[spoiler:abandon the flag tank in the finals of the last tankery tournament to save the crew of another one from drowning]], resulting in [[spoiler:her old school being defeated for the first time in a decade]], and her decision to transfer and give up tankery. She says that [[spoiler:the teammates Miho saved are]] likely grateful for Miho's decision, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and she is proven correct]].

A common subversion is to have the speech od this type, then have the hero say, "I was out of bullets," or other conveyance that he was un''able'', rather than un''willing'', to kill.

* ''Literature/TheMartian'': When Commander Lewis first contacts Watney after learning he was still alive on Mars, she took responsibility for his being stranded, and promised to buy him a beer if he got back to Earth. Watney's reply:

* ''Literature/TheMartian': When Commander Lewis first contacts Watney after learning he was still alive on Mars, she took responsibility for his being stranded, and promised to buy him a beer if he got back to Earth. Watney's reply:

-->''Commander, pure bad luck is responsible for my situation, not you. You made the right call and saved everyone else. I know it must have been a tough decision, but any analysis of that day will show that it was the right one. Get everyone else home and I'll be happy.\\
I will take you up on that beer, though.\\
- Watney''

- Watney

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'', you're given a SadisticChoice as Farid. [[spoiler:Either you shoot Harper to maintain Farid's cover, or attempt to shoot Menendez and get shot to death for trying.]] Choosing the former will have Mason tell Farid that he had no choice. Farid, still [[HeroicBSOD in shock]], is then led away by Salazar.

->'''Kirk''': ''(watching the ''Enterprise'' burning as it falls across the sky)'' My God, Bones... What have I done?\\
'''[=McCoy=]''': What you had to do. What you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live.

* An interesting case occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fic ''Fanfic/HowIBecameYours''. Katara gets this after bloodbending [[spoiler:Mai]] to death. From the author's perspective, it is the right course of action. Many viewers, however, disagree, as bloodbending, the primary function of which is to control the victim's actions, could have been used to merely incapacitate the victim, and it doesn't help that the victim was [[UnintentionallySympathetic more sympathetic]] [[DieForOurShip than the]] [[RonTheDeathEater author intended]].

-->--''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''

* Inverted in ''Literature/{{EndersGame}}'', when Ender needs reassurance from Bean that he did the right thing in [[spoiler:completely ''crushing'' Bonzo.]]

* Said by the detectives to many a suspect on ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' who decides to cooperate and help nail the worst bad guy.