History Main / YouareTooLate

!! Examples:

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': At Litrya after Sette gets seperated from Sara, Siya and Ilia she runs to Duane to bg him to save her friends. By the time he gets to the subterrainian Inaktown the entire cavern is blocked off and flooded with not only [[spoiler:Sara and Ilia]] dead but also all of the Inak, Ruffles left as the sole survivor of her hometown by dint of just missing the explosion. Duane is not only unable to prevent the deaths of any innocents, his earlier actions allowed and caused their deaths. He then flees back up to try to warn [[spoiler:Lemuel]] of the Silver Weapon but is unable to do that iether. Jivi also tries to return to help but is even later.

* Subverted in ''TheyAllLaughed'' ([[http://www.project-apollo.net Project Apollo.net]])''

* When the teens in ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' realize the danger they're in, they call the forest rangers. Naturally, they can't arrive [[TitleDrop until dawn]], when the storm lets up. When they finally do, ''every'' threat has already been neutralized in some way or another. Depending on [[AnyoneCanDie how many of]] [[KillEmAll the kids survived]], the rangers might not have anything to do but put out a fire.

* The final act of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' has [[spoiler:Diablo as the [[UltimateEvil Prime Evil]] [[HellInvadesHeaven unleashed upon the High Heavens]], making his way toward the Silver Spire to corrupt the Crystal Arch to plunge both the Heavens and Sanctuary into darkness forever. Along the way, he [[IShallTauntYou taunts you]] with how "you are too late, just as you always have been!" And indeed, when you finally confront Diablo, he has already reached the Arch and begun corrupting it. But unlike some of the other Diablo examples below, you are able to stop him from doing any lasting harm to the Arch. Hopefully]].

* Tex's attempted rescue of the Alpha in Machinima/RedVsBlue is this. She teams up with York to try to get him out of the Director's clutches, but by the time she breaks back in, Alpha has already shed his memories (in the form of Epsilon) and no longer even remembers her. They do end up together again later, but he doesn't remember what happened for years, until he comes in contact with Epsilon again, at which point Tex has already been taken by the Meta and dies just a few episodes later.

* The "Ground Zero" storyline of Peter David's run on the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]. Hulk finds a Gamma Bomb planted in the middle of a small town by the Leader. He fights off the Leader's guards, and is about to disable the bomb--when it blows up.

* The villain's plan [[HoistByHisOwnPetard is his own undoing;]] [[GoneHorriblyRight he succeeds thoroughly]] [[PyrrhicVillainy but loses anyway.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/Irredeemable https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6f28169f_6343_4342_bd75_8168c9419ceb.jpeg]]]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[spoiler:Despite Erza and Minerva killing Kyouka, it wasn't in time to stop Face.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4'', Zero arrives at the final boss barely in time (which is an improvement over his usual tardiness; see below) to stop the destruction of the last good land on Earth... [[spoiler:but must sacrifice any chance at escape for himself.]]

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Eggman and NICOLE realize that the events of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' has done more than alter Mobius, [[spoiler:it's caused the entire Multiverse to collapse upon itself. Even worse, all of that energy is gathered into Mobius and needs to be released]]. Sonic and Tails think they can still save the day and Orbot and Cubot think that Eggman can fix it. Their response? [[spoiler:"'''''IT'S TOO LATE!'''''" Moments later, Mobius tears itself apart.]]

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Eggman and NICOLE realize that the events of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' has done more than alter Mobius, [[spoiler:it's caused the entire Multiverse to collapse upon itself. Even worse, all of that energy is gathered into Mobius and needs to be released]]. Sonic and Tails think they can still save the day and Orbot and Cubot think that Eggman can fix it. Their response? [[spoiler:"'''''IT'S TOO LATE!'''''" And Mobius tears itself apart.]]

[[foldercontrol]]

* During the sinking of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', the ''Carpathia'' raced with everything it had to get to the emergency, but the captains of the respective ships knew that it could never make it in time. It arrived some two hours after the ''Titanic'' had sunk. This is somewhat of a subversion, though, because the ''Carpathia'' did arrive in time to rescue 705 survivors from the lifeboats.

* A reason why UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump failed to contest the 2020 presidential election was the doctrine of ''laches'' — he filed objections to postal ballots and changes to election laws way too late. Many noted these [[DownToTheLastPlay "Hail Mary"]] [[FrivolousLawsuit suits]] were rejected because he had ample time to object these changes to election laws, but largely sat on it until after the election was over.

* A villain on villain example occurs in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. Riful arrives to kill Easley after a battle against Luciella who left him on the verge of death. However Easley reveals [[spoiler: his partner and claims that "it's too late. Nobody can kill Priscilla now."]] The couple is finally defeated [[spoiler: no sooner than seven years later each on their own because Easley had sent Priscilla away.]]

* In ''[[ComicBook/AthenaVoltaire Athena Voltaire and the Vampire Queen]]'', Athena arrives too late to save the titular queen's daughters from becoming vampires. However, the queen can't control them like she thought, and they kill her (leaving Athena to fight them instead of their mother).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Endstone}}'', [[http://endstone.net/2009/03/02/issue-1-page-5/ they didn't stop Jon from rocking the two over-stones]]. Kyri stops him but is tossed through time, leaving her daughter behind and [[ParentalAbandonment alone]].

* During the sinking of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', the ''Carpathia'' raced with everything it had to get to the emergency, but the captains of the respective ships knew that it could never make it in time. It arrived some two hours after the ''Titanic'' had sunk.

* In the first red sky episode of the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' cartoon, Shredder gives the turtles a 30-minute time limit to give him Krang, or the Channel 6 building will explode with April and friends inside. Arriving a minute late, seeing the building still there, they think Shredder was bluffing, only to witness the building explode a second later. Fortunately, Splinter snuck in and saved all of the employees before the explosion. But still...

* The hero [[IndyPloy has to come up with a new plan]] to beat their now strengthened antagonist; often the additional strength arrives and is defeated in the final act, but this can also be a YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle.

[[folder: Advertising]]
* Clark's shoes had an advert featuring an incompetant superhero named Captain Cobblers. He has until four o'clock to stop the [[MadScientist Mad Scientist]] from transforming [[DamselInDistress Linda Lovely]] into Linda Ugly but believes he has plenty of time so puts off the rescue. He arrives at one minute past four and is therefore too late to save her. To rub salt in the wound, when Cobblers regrets not having a watch, the villain announces Clarks shoes can come with a cheap watch. Cue the [[BigNo Big No]] from Cobblers.