History MyGodWhatHaveIDone / Literature

* In the Creator/DavidEddings ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad Malloreon]]'' series it's revealed [[spoiler:Zakath]] went through this. When he was a young man of eighteen, [[spoiler: new to position of Emperor of Mallorea]] and madly in love, there was a plot against his life. The mastermind was revealed to be his lover. With the evidence against her so overwhelming as to be undeniable, he sentenced her to death. Shortly after her death, it was revealed that the mastermind was actually [[spoiler:Taur Urgas, King of the Murgos]] and he had deliberately set up an innocent young woman just to spite his sworn enemy. Utterly beside himself, [[spoiler:Zakath]] shut himself up in a room for a month. What eventually emerged from that room was an EmptyShell that spent the next twenty-thirty years trying to wipe every Murgo alive off the face of the planet.

* In ''Cry Mercy'', the third volume of Creator/ToniAndrews's ''Literature/MercyHollings" series, the title character confronts her adoptive parents in order to seek answers about her mysterious origins and troubled childhood. Throughout the series, she has expressed a great deal of anger towards her adoptive parents for dissolving the adoption and giving her back as a ward of the state at the age of twelve, which led her to spend her teenage years in a series of unhappy foster homes. She believes they abandoned her because they couldn't deal with the fact that she was a psychic with the power of CompellingVoice. However, her former adoptive mother reveals that [[spoiler: although her adoptive parents feared her powers and found her difficult to deal with, they cared about her and didn't intend to give her up until she used her Compelling Voice power to make them do so by telling them "Get out of my life and leave me alone!" in a fit of adolescent rebellion]]. She had repressed the memories of what had really happened, and realizes later that she is at least partly responsible for the problems that have made her miserable all her life. Mercy has another moment like this later on when trying to get an armed gunman to put down his weapon and release his hostage. She does not have perfect control of her power, and when he fails to respond at first she [[spoiler: loses her temper and thinks, "Goddammit, why don't you just blow your own brains out?!". Her anger makes her powers kick in and she has the man's death on her conscience, although she saves the hostage.]]

* In ''Cry Mercy'', the third volume of Toni Andrews's "Mercy Hollings" series, the title character confronts her adoptive parents in order to seek answers about her mysterious origins and troubled childhood. Throughout the series, she has expressed a great deal of anger towards her adoptive parents for dissolving the adoption and giving her back as a ward of the state at the age of twelve, which led her to spend her teenage years in a series of unhappy foster homes. She believes they abandoned her because they couldn't deal with the fact that she was a psychic with the power of CompellingVoice. However, her former adoptive mother reveals that [[spoiler: although her adoptive parents feared her powers and found her difficult to deal with, they cared about her and didn't intend to give her up until she used her Compelling Voice power to make them do so by telling them "Get out of my life and leave me alone!" in a fit of adolescent rebellion]]. She had repressed the memories of what had really happened, and realizes later that she is at least partly responsible for the problems that have made her miserable all her life. Mercy has another moment like this later on when trying to get an armed gunman to put down his weapon and release his hostage. She does not have perfect control of her power, and when he fails to respond at first she [[spoiler: loses her temper and thinks, "Goddammit, why don't you just blow your own brains out?!". Her anger makes her powers kick in and she has the man's death on her conscience, although she saves the hostage.]]

* In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Deus Sanguinius]]'', [[spoiler:Arkio]]'s first words (after [[spoiler: "Brother"]]) when he is DyingAsYourself. He is deeply moved by Rafen's ManlyTears, and while quite certain of his own damnation, begs Rafen's forgiveness.
* In Creator/BenCounter's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Galaxy in Flames'', after [[spoiler:Aximand]] kills [[spoiler:Torgaddon]], he [[TearsOfRemorse sobs]], asks what they did, and speaks of how they had been their brothers. [[spoiler:Abaddon]] (who merely thinks WasItReallyWorthIt) thinks he needs to be watched.

* In the [[Literature/TheBible book of Daniel, chapter 6]], Darius, having taken over Babylon, is convinced to sign a decree that no one should petition any god or man other than the king for the next thirty days, and anyone who did would be thrown into the den of lions. Daniel, who was the unspoken (at least to the king) target of the decree, heard about it, but continued to pray at his regular time without making an attempt to hide it. The phrase is not recorded to have been said (it may have been [[OhMyGods "My gods,"]] for all we know), but it does say he was "sore displeased with himself", and he tried to figure out a loophole or something until the architects of the decree reminded him that he couldn't change what he signed into law. (Of course, the lions end up not harming Daniel at all, and the king even said before they closed up the den that that would be the turnout, but the idea stands.)

* In the [[Literature/TheBible book of Daniel, chapter 6]], Darius, having taken over Babylon, is convinced to sign a decree that no one should petition any god or man other than the king for the next thirty days would be thrown into the den of lions. Daniel, who was the unspoken (at least to the king) target of the decree, heard about it, but continued to pray without making an attempt to hide it. The phrase is not recorded to have been said (it may have been [[OhMyGods "My gods,"]] for all we know), but it does say he was "sore displeased with himself", and he tried to figure out a loophole or something until the architects of the decree reminded him that he couldn't change what he signed into law. (Of course, the lions end up not harming Daniel at all, and the king even said before they closed up the den that that would be the turnout, but the idea stands.)

* Done hearbreakingly in Literature/{{Halvgudene}} when [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Trigg]] gets hurt, and another member of the guild tries to joke away her [[FreakinessShame shame over her black blood]] by licking off the blood that gets on her hands, only to die of poisoning since her [[BloodMagic blood is poisonreous]], leaving her with extreme guilt...

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Carrot has one of these moments in ''Discworld/MenAtArms''. He spends the night with Angua, and wakes to find [[spoiler: a large wolf in the room (she's a werewolf)]]. She runs away, and shortly after Carrot finds out exactly what just happened, he realizes that the first thing he did when he saw [[spoiler: "the wolf"]] was ''reach for his sword''.
** In ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'', Glenda has a moment of this after taking Juliet away from the fashion show and back to the Night Kitchen; she realizes that she shouldn't have meddled so much with Juliet, who listens to everything she says, [[TallPoppySyndrome even when it's stupid "crab bucket" stuff]]. In the end she encourages Juliet to think for herself (as much as she's capable) and give modeling a try.

* ''Literature/TheHundredDresses'' has a big one. The whole class, including Fran and Peggy, have been teasing Polish girl Wanda for claiming she has a hundred dresses when she wears the same frock to school. They instantly become ashamed when her father pulls her out of school a few days later and says in the big city no one will be calling his daughter funny names. What makes it worse is the teacher calmly reads the letter, and then says, "I trust that no one would have been intentionally cruel" but to consider this a learning experience, while barely holding herself together. No one is happy for the rest of the day. Fran thinks to herself that she ought to have said something, and Peggy is the one to suggest that they should see if Wanda is still at home so they can apologize. [[spoiler:It's too late; the family's moved out]].

* In @Literature/ScavengerAlliance'', Tad recruited Phoenix and Braden for his expedition to Earth and then Beta sector, but his mistake cost them their transport and stranded them in New York. Because of this, they're vulnerable to the Alliance, the winter fever and the coming firestorm. Tad feels horrible that his decisions have endangered their lives and much of what he does is motivated by the need to keep them safe. He and Blaze head out to an abandoned storage facility for medicine partly in case the offworlders come down with winter fever. [[spoiler: They do. Tad and Phoenix almost die from the disease, and the medicine is what saves them.]]

* ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'': Lucinda, a powerful fairy, is egotistical and flashy, believing that she's doing wonderful things by giving people the gift of obedience or turning them into squirrels. When Ella is pushed one step too far by her abusive stepfamily abusing her curse of total obedience, Mandy summons Lucinda and challenges her to last six months under those curses, three as a squirrel and three being a totally obedient child. She's a crying wreck when the six months are up and is horrified with how she's ruined so many lives, promising never to use magic so recklessly again. Though of course, that also means that she's unwilling to break Ella's curse (and the others she'd cursed) herself...

* ''Literature/ProjectTau'': Renfield, when he realizes that he's been participating in the [[spoiler:illegal imprisonment and torture of a human like them.]]

* ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'': Lucinda, like in the movie, is egotistical and flashy, believing that she's doing wonderful things by giving people the gift of obedience or turning them into squirrels no matter what anyone says. When Ella is pushed one step too far, Mandy summons Lucinda and challenges her to last six months under those curses, three as a squirrel and three being obedient. She's a crying wreck when the six months are up, and changes her ways, promising never to use magic so flashily again. Though of course, that also means that she's unwilling to break Ella's curse herself...

** ''Edge of Battle'' has a US Army HumongousMecha mobbed by rioters at a detention camp for illegal immigrants ([[JumpedTheShark "Jumping the shark"]]?) and reflexively responding with predictably horrific results. When he comes back to his senses the mecha's pilot calmly and methodically climbs down from his vehicle, picks up the first available firearm and puts a bullet through his head.

* Involved in the climax and ending of ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfGod'' trilogy. Can't really say anything about it without giving away much of the ending. [[spoiler: Redeemer Bosco had been raising the protagonist, Thomas Cale, brutally since he was a little child because he believed Cale was TheChosenOne who was to embody God's wrath and destroy all of humanity for its sins. When Cale instead leads an army that destroys the Redeemers, Bosco comes to believe he was wrong and he was ''supposed'' to raise Cale lovingly so that he might redeem humanity. He takes this... let's just say, just as seriously as he took the previous ideas that led to his being a KnightTemplar OmnicidalManiac.]]