Line #1 Main/NiceJobBreakingItHero


1	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/EpicMickey https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mickey_45.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[SarcasmMode Congratulations]], [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse Mickey]]; you've just created [[EldritchAbomination The Blot]]!\
3	[[FromBadToWorse Now just wait until you try to fix your mistake]].]]
4
5	->"''How kind of you to open that lock for me. Every time I wonder if it was wise to let you live, you do something like this and show me you're worth keeping around.''"
6	-->-- '''[[CardCarryingVillain Thot Trel]]''', ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline''
7
8	The hero has accomplished their goal; they've killed the BigBad, or defeated them forever, or at least scored a major blow against the antagonist. They've done what they set out to do...
9
10	...but [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle not so fast]]! It turns out that by the very act of success, they've unwittingly [[FromBadToWorse made things worse]]. Maybe the now-dead antagonist was actually holding back an [[SealedEvilInACan even greater evil]]. Maybe the villain, having been defeated or damaged, is now [[OneWingedAngel transformed into a new, ultimate, unstoppable, invincible, angry form]], often [[TorturedMonster against the villain's will]]. Maybe the villain, despite their villainy, was serving some other greater good — keeping the world/universe/nature/whatever politically or literally {{balance\|BetweenGoodAndEvil}}d — and their demise throws things into chaos. Maybe the so-called villain [[GoodAllAlong was actually]] a HeroAntagonist, and you just [[UnwittingPawn unwittingly]] handed a huge victory to [[EvilAllAlong the real villain]]. Maybe [[SaveThePrincess that princess you saved]] is [[DecoyDamsel a cold-hearted tyrant]] at the head of an oppressive regime, or even a SealedEvilInACan. Perhaps taking down the villain has resulted in an EvilPowerVacuum, and now even worse guys are fighting to fill the void that the previous villain left, causing even more havoc than that previous villain could have ever dreamed. Or perhaps [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only means]] of foiling the villain involves [[GodzillaThreshold questionably massive "collateral damage"]] and is [[MoralEventHorizon so extreme]] that the hero is now the worst example of HeWhoFightsMonsters, MyGodWhatHaveIDone, or FullCircleRevolution. For whatever reason, the hero's victory over death and destruction directly or indirectly leads to an even greater wave of death and destruction, or something else that puts a DownerEnding spin on everything. Oh dear.
11
12	Maybe the villain themselves [[VillainHasAPoint will warn the hero about the possible consequences]], as a last-ditch attempt to save their own skin, or as a bitter "parting shot" to ruin the hero's victory ("You fools... do you even know what you've done?"). Villains being villains, this may just be a bluff. Or maybe the villain will just lament over how the hero defeated them despite all their efforts - it wasn't some sort of {{plan}} of ''theirs'' for the hero to "win" and thus make things worse (if it was, that'd be MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning). Then again, PoorCommunicationKills often comes into play as the villain will usually be uselessly vague and give no concrete reason for why foiling him would be bad. On the ''other'' other hand, a clear warning might be taken as CassandraTruth anyway. You can't win.
13
14	If the mission was a rescue, it was an UnwantedRescue, and the former captive may bitterly inform them of the true facts.
15
16	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 [[FailureHero 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.
17
18	This trope can be annoying in video games as often-times StupidityIsTheOnlyOption, particularly in the case of a MacGuffinDeliveryService... It is not particularly fair to try to make the player feel guilty about a course of action they had no control over, and indeed, might've gotten a "Game Over" if they attempted to ''not'' fulfill the objectives in question.
19
20	The term "PyrrhicVictory" has the same connotation and originated from the Pyrrhic War fought by King Pyrrhus in 279 BC, which makes "Nice Job Breaking It, Hero" OlderThanFeudalism. The tropes overlap, but Pyrrhic Victory is when someone succeeds at their goal with a very high price, while Nice Job Breaking It, Hero includes actions that might not be necessary or even intentional. In addition, this trope sometimes results in no victory at all, not even a Pyrrhic one.
21
22	Sometimes a badly thought-out plot for the sake of action has exactly the same effect when FridgeLogic catches its tail. That's one of the reasons why a good GameMaster habit is writing the plot starting from the "what happens if {{Player Character}}s aren't here at all or do nothing" point.
23
24	This trope is a common problem with the SmallStepsHero. Compare CreateYourOwnVillain, WhatTheHellHero, UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, 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]].)
25
26	HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct, in certain cases, is a SubTrope of this. See also HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook, which is this as applied to a legal system. (Or at least a well-intentioned one.) May overlap with SelfFulfillingProphecy. NoEndorHolocaust is what happens when this is ineptly averted. And if the hero dies following the reveal and is unable to stop the new menace, you've just read a ShootTheShaggyDog story. Despite obvious parallels, most LoadBearingBoss in video games do not fall under this category. When this happens with fandoms, it's WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings. PacifismBackfire is "Nice Job Sparing Him, Hero". Compare TragicMistake.
27
28	It frequently overlaps with NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished.
29
30	[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease No real-life examples are allowed]] (TruthInTelevision as it is), and for that, [[SelfDemonstratingArticle you have no one to blame but yourselves]].
31
32	'''This trope usually involves a plot twist, so beware of ''unmarked spoilers!'''''
33
34	[[noreallife]]
35	----
36	!!Example subpages:
37	[[index]]
38	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/AnimeAndManga
39	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/DragonBall''
40	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/ComicBooks
41	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/TheDCU''
42	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/MarvelUniverse''
43	*** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/UltimateMarvel''
44	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/FanWorks
45	* [[NiceJobBreakingItHero/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]
46	* [[NiceJobBreakingItHero/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
47	** NiceJobBreakingItHero/MarvelCinematicUniverse
48	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/{{Literature}}
49	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/HarryPotter''
50	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/LiveActionTV
51	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/CobraKai''
52	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/GameOfThrones''
53	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/ProWrestling
54	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/TabletopGames
55	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/{{Theatre}}
56	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/VideoGames
57	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/FinalFantasy''
58	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/WorldOfWarcraft''
59	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/VisualNovels
60	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/{{Webcomics}}
61	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/WebOriginal
62	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/SCPFoundation''
63	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/WebVideos
64	* NiceJobBreakingItHero/WesternAnimation
65	** ''NiceJobBreakingItHero/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
66	[[/index]]
67
68	!!Other examples:
69	[[foldercontrol]]
70	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
71	* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': In Season 2 episode 11, Happy S. enlarges the sun with the magnifying glass to melt the ice monster. It works well to melt the monster, obviously, but then there's the matter of Happy S. having made the sun big enough to make it dangerously hot on planet Xing Xing... oops.
72	* In episode 1 of ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Marching to the New Wonderland'', the goats use their new trains to fight Wolffy in his Celestial Wolf train. Tibbie manages to break the gun on the Celestial Wolf, keeping Wolffy from shooting at them and giving the goats the perfect chance to attack... and then Sparky repairs that gun, not realizing that his train is the repair train. Cue Wolffy quickly using the opportunity to attack the goats with his shrinking powder.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Audio Plays]]
76	* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' drama ''The Lights of Skaro'', as Benny finds herself wandering through the ghosts of Dalek history, she meets a group of early Daleks who were going to destroy the last few Thals and then rest, content that - as there was no life on other planets - they were alone in the universe. Then the stranger came and helped the Thals defeat them. Suddenly, they knew there ''was'' life on other planets, some of it could time travel, and it was all as bad as the Thals. Great job, Doctor!
77	* ''VideoGame/Halo2'' ARG ''ARG/ILoveBees'' ends with the gang taking out a Forerunner artifact and uncovering an evil plot by a power-hungry man in the Office of Naval Intelligence, only to [[spoiler:inadvertently call the Covenant to Earth, triggering the invasion at the beginning of ''Halo 2'']][[note]]In case you're wondering, this ''isn't'' the official explanation for the Covenant discovering Earth, as the ARG wasn't considered canon until long after ''Halo 2''[='s=] release[[/note]].
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
81	* In ''Literature/ZaltecII'', when you find the titular Stone, [[spoiler:you end up changing a past event which results in the establishment of a cruel totalitarian kingdom.]]
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Music]]
85	* In the second Album of The Protomen, Dr. Light and Joe attack the city that Dr. Wily has nearly taken control over. However, after [[spoiler:destroying one Transmitter that Wily has used to control the robots, with Joe being killed in the ensuing blast, Light realizes that there is a second Transmitter, and the attack is exactly what Wily needed in order to declare Martial Law on the city and take complete control.]]
86	* Paul [=McCartney=] decided that the best way to revitalize Music/TheBeatles was to get the band back to its roots by recording a live album and putting on a concert. [[Film/LetItBe It did not work out.]]
87	* From Music/DavidBowie's "Cat People": "I've been putting out the fire with [[SuddenlyShouting GASOLINE!!!]]"
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
91	* Myth/ClassicalMythology:
92	** Pandora opened a box which should not be opened and released pain and sickness into the world.
93	** Prometheus stole fire and give it to the humans. After receiving fire, the humans began to make sacrifices to the gods in thanks. They burned up lots of great-smelling food, which the gods found pleasing, and calmed Zeus' anger. Prometheus, upset at seeing his creations burning up the best parts of their food, decided to change this. He ordered the humans to butcher a cow and split it into two piles: one was all the steaks, ribs, etc. (the good eating parts) covered in bones and sinew. The other pile was all the organs and viscera covered in "snow-white fat". Prometheus then asked Zeus to come down and pick for himself which pile he wanted for his daily sacrifice. Zeus, being powerful but not terribly smart, picks the better-looking pile, and ends up the fool, which reignited his rage. Essentially, Prometheus wasn't punished for stealing fire, he was punished for cheating the gods.
94	** Odysseus arranges for his rival Palamedes' death (both for Palamedes threatening Odysseus' newborn and for showing up Odysseus once), either by trickery or by murder. Palamedes' father Nauplius goes to the siege of Troy to ask for justice, but is denied. In revenge, Nauplius goes home but drops by the homes of the Greek kings, informing their wives that their husbands will bring home a number of Trojan women as concubines, leading to the wives independently plotting their husbands' murder. Chief among them is Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra, whose murder of her husbands sparks yet ''another'' CycleOfRevenge involving her children.
95	* ''Literature/TheBible'':
96	** Adam and Eve, who ate the ForbiddenFruit from the Tree of Knowledge which resulted [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom in sin entering the world]].
97	** Thanks to the economic policies Joseph put in place to take advantage of his prophetic dreams, [[NephariousPharaoh a future Pharaoh]] will enslave virtually the entire known world, including his own people.
98	* Myth/NorseMythology: Fenrir was originally beloved by all, since he was basically a cute wolf puppy. Over time, however, he grew large and fierce, until only Tyr dared to approach him, and one of Odin's visions foretold he was one of the monsters destined to end the world. Eventually the gods decide to chain him, and Fenrir swears revenge. It is ambiguous, though, whether or not he would have become evil anyway.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Pinballs]]
102	* During the development of Creator/{{Atari}}'s ''Pinball/{{Superman}}'' pinball, Creator/SteveRitchie and Creator/EugeneJarvis figured out how to use a guitar echo chamber to make a continuous background sound that intensified with the game action. For some reason, Atari management nixed the idea; Ritchie ended up using it on his next pinball, the top-selling ''Pinball/{{Flash}}'' from Creator/WilliamsElectronics.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Podcasts]]
106	* ''Podcast/TheBlackTapes'': The second season ends on the reveal that the Axis Mundi, the place where a five part symphony had to be played to usher in the apocalypse, is not Mount Ararat, as originally suspected, but [[spoiler:the Pacific Northwest Stories studio itself, and that the show has ''been'' playing that symphony on the show on the show via the Unsound and the other audio files Alex and Nic thought had been coming from someone they knew]].
107	* ''Podcast/DarkDice'': In the final battle of season 1, Iaus Innskeep kills a bone devil, kicking its body into an abyss, [[spoiler: which provides the last blood sacrifice needed to release [[EldritchAbomination the Nameless God]].]]
108	* ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'': In the Gemini arc, the girls are sent to a BadFuture dimension and later find out it became that way because [[spoiler: they were ''too'' good at defeating their StarterVillain Scorpio. The Night Queen responded by launching a full scale invasion of Earth, desolating the girls' home town just by touching it, and sending out hordes of stars and foot soldiers to wipe out humanity.]]
109	* ''Podcast/InterstitialActualPlay'': Criss' plan to defeat the Smoke Monster is to use his magic to portal away the plug that keeps the island's magic contained. [[spoiler: It brings the Smoke Monster down to normal, but also causes the island to begin to self-destruct]].
110	* Revealed in the ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'' prequel comic that [[spoiler: Caiden hitting Tellie with his car ended up causing its amnesia and preventing it from giving the Sequinox girls important information on their destiny.]]
111	* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone: Balance Arc'': It turns out that [[spoiler:our heroes were directly responsible for the creation of three of the seven Grand Relics that have been causing untold chaos and destruction. Also, Lucretia, in an attempt to fix the problem, wiped the memories of the tres horny boys, Lup, Barry Bluejeans, and Davenport. All this to prevent the Hunger from finding and devouring the Light of Creation.]]
112	* ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'': Jon destroys a table that he believes gives life to a monster that has been terrorizing him and his friends. After he breaks the table, he learns the table was actually keeping it contained, and that he's made it much more powerful than before.
113	* ''Podcast/WithinTheWires'': In the Black Box season, the pilot's efforts to see his wife and child end up causing [[spoiler:an IID raid on their commune]].
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Radio]]
117	* A radio station several years ago held a "Hold your 'wee' for a Wii", challenging listeners to hold their pee in as long as they could for a change to win a Wii game. A woman took the challenge and subsequently died of water intoxication.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Roleplay]]
121	* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
122	** When Michal panics and [[WreathedInFlames accidentally sets himself on fire]], Edward attempts to put him out by creating a fireproof clone to smother him. Not only is said clone not actually fireproof, but its attempt to grab Michal also breaks Ciro's attention, which dispels the barrier that Ciro had put around Michal to extinguish the flame's oxygen supply.
123	** From the same incident, Simon attempts to use his own superpower to absorb the flames. However, his attempt at doing so only freaks Michal out and causes his flames to intensify even more.
124	** During the final exams, Harriet gets into an altercation with Daigo. Ivan covertly uses his fate manipulation power to calm down Daigo and make him leave. However, this leads to Daigo assuming that Harriet had messed with his head, which then leads him to confront her again later, and ''that'' leads to Carlie and Devin getting seriously injured in the ensuing scuffle.
125	* In ''RolePlay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'':
126	** DS unknowingly made a few comments that inspired the ImpossibleThief Emolga to steal Tagg's cynical side. As a result, Nihilist!Tagg was unleashed, and some of the trainers had to fight for their lives while DS went off to find the Emolga and get Tagg's cynical side back so he could be returned to normal.
127	** Tagg ends up starting the Keystone arc by taking Annoski's Keystone to the spot it needs to be for him to revive.
128	** During PMD-B Tagg's group allowing the last two Super Mutants to get away doomed Necropolis by having the Master send his army to destroy the place in reprisal.
129	* In ''RolePlay/YuGiOhEastAcademy'', we have a subtle example from Marcus during his Tag Duel with Denero. While his strategy is solid, it unfortunately has the unforeseen consequence of being indirectly responsible for Denero merging his mind with the Meteor and becoming more aggressive and unstable as a result.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
133	* In ''Ride/FastAndFuriousSupercharged'' at Ride/UniversalStudios, after the protagonists dedicate a large amount of time telling the riders to shut off their cell phones in order to avoid their location getting traced by the ride's main villain, it turns out that Roman forgot to turn off his cellphone, a goof that launches the ride's main conflict.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Toys]]
137	* The whole goal of the heroes in ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'' is to awaken the sleeping Great Spirit Mata Nui. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Makuta]] (who put Mata Nui to sleep in the first place) plays them all for [[UnwittingPawn Unwitting Pawns]]: he allows the heroes to succeed and during a window of opportunity in the revival commits GrandTheftMe, taking control of the body of a PhysicalGod and therefore also the world's very laws of nature. Nice Job Waking It, Heroes.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Web Animation]]
141	* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': In Dylan's attempt to foil the Overlord of Evil's plan in the flashback in "Over and Under", he just makes things worse. And in the third flashback in "The Mystery of Melinda", Dylan accidentally spills the beans to Betty about her sister Melinda, which was the key to breaking her seal.
142	* At the end of ''WebAnimation/{{Ducktalez}} 3'', Vegeta is defeated by being thrown into the sun, which explodes the sun and covers the world in eternal darkness. Nobody seems to mind though. Every Ducktalez since then takes place at night.
143	* In ''WebAnimation/DusksDawn'' Star Whistle caused a storm that ravaged Ponyville.
144	* In ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'', Splendid appears to be incapable of ''not'' doing this.
145	* ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting''.
146	** There's a double-barrelled example in the second episode. Marckus and Door decided it would be a good idea to force their captured vampires into a death match ForScience... which leads to [[spoiler: Pyotr [[MonstrousCannibalism diablerizing]] the other two and escaping]]. They don't know about [[spoiler: diablerizing, because Big D keeps most information about vampires to himself because he's too concerned his sons will be KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade.]]
147	** In the fifth audiolog, Marckus taunts Brock during their drinking contest about how he got the bartender (who also hates Brock) to give him non-alcoholic cider. Brock immediately sobers up out of pure rage, cue bar fight.
148	* Tlaloc's death in ''WebAnimation/NoEvil''. Prior to the series beginning, there was the Tezcatlipoca Mirror, which was created to embody the concepts of Justice, Mercy, Freedom and Peace, and unify the world. Sadly, it became an AppleOfDiscord, with people fighting over who had the most right to it. To shatter it, the spirit Tlaloc [[HeroicSacrifice traded his life]], hoping to end the division. Unfortunately, it turned out that the pieces of the mirror were ''very'' driven to express the concepts they embodied, which led to the "Peace" portion, the Black Tezcatlipoca, becoming a horrible ooze that sucked the life from everything it touched.
149	* ''WebAnimation/PuffinForest'': In the video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjLXuKHkKxE "We Were Just Making Everything Worse]]," the players have a HeelRealization when they think about all the things they accomplished in the campaign and realized that they had unintentionally caused several disasters. They caused the sinking of a ship they were trying to save, killed a zombie who was actually trying to help them and came back for revenge, and helped a villain obtain the means to cause the apocalypse by being too trusting.
150	* ''WebAnimation/TeamServiceAnnouncement'':
151	** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuvE3y4LspE Ranged Combat]]'', just as the RED Sniper Jarated the BLU Spy, his Heavy, Soldier and Scout teammates all pose as snipers, confusing and scaring off said BLU Spy. Then when the Sniper tried to get a clean kill off the running Spy, his focus got broken by the teammates trying to shoot the Spy with their short range weapons, allowing the Spy to run free. That really pissed the Sniper off.
152	** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfizLF4-Pdo Subtlety]]'', the BLU Spy is about to land a backstab on the RED Heavy... only for the BLU Scout to rush forward and start whacking the Heavy with a frying pan. [[UnstoppableRage The Heavy is not pleased]], and neither was the Spy.
153	* ''WebAnimation/UniverseFallsTheSeries'': At the end of episode 6, Peridot announces that she's taken the liberty of fixing the "damaged warp pad" she found in the basement... meaning she somehow reassembled and reactivated the Dimensional Portal. Cut to Soos and Melody [[{{Cliffhanger}} lost in another dimension]] with [[CreepyGood a creepy but affable skull-monster]] who communicates in gibberish.
154	[[/folder]]

Context Main / NiceJobBreakingItHero