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5->'''Gamora:''' Did you do it?\
6'''Thanos:''' Yes.\
7'''Gamora:''' What did it cost?\
8'''Thanos:''' ''...Everything.''
9-->-- ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''
10
11A situation that takes place when a character goes too far in their methods to achieve its goals, and the general feeling once all it's said and done is [[PyrrhicVictory the sense that all the effort, despite the outcome]], was almost for nothing.
12
13In this case, [[TitleDrop "Was it really worth it?"]] it's a valid question. Maybe [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim killing their opponent made them just like their foes]]. Maybe they had to shatter their closest friends's best weapon (or worse, [[KickTheMoralityPet their actual best friend!]]) In any case, the deeds raise serious moral questions for them, and the answer isn't necessarily "Hell yeah, it was WorthIt!"
14
15Note that the question doesn't necessarily even have to be asked, nor must it be after the deed's been done.
16
17Not to be confused with WhatTheHellHero, which is about the character being called out for purposefully doing flat-out evil acts; in this trope the other characters don't hold it against the sacrificer. They may justify their actions saying "IDidWhatIHadToDo." If they decide it's not worth it after all, but only ''after'' the fact, it's MyGodWhatHaveIDone.
18
19If the 'it' was something like an HeroicSacrifice, this usually causes a BittersweetEnding. After all, the BigBad may be dead, but so is TheHero, and that's no cause for celebration.
20
21A subtrope of ArmorPiercingQuestion and PyrrhicVictory. If a character's actions or victory eventually result in him being bored because of it, then you have a case of VictoryIsBoring. Compare AndThenWhat.
22[[noreallife]]
23!! As a {{Morality Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease real-life examples are off-limits]].
24----
25!!Examples:
26
27[[foldercontrol]]
28
29[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
30* In ''Anime/AfroSamurai Resurrection,'' after Afro kills [[spoiler:Shichigoro in front of his adopted son Kotaku,]] ''the show itself'' compares him to the villain of the first season, with flashbacks to Afro's father being killed. ''Afro'' makes the comparison at the end, [[spoiler:leaving the Number 2 headband in Kotaku's hands with a quiet "Whenever you're ready."]]
31* In the ''Anime/AndroidKikaiderTheAnimation'' OVA ending, Jiro gains the full spectrum of human emotions, in a sense achieving his goal of becoming human. However, this came about thanks to being implanted with the submission chip which in turn gave Jiro the capacity for evil and led him to kill Gill. Referring back to the motif of Pinocchio, Jiro wonders if the puppet was actually happy after gaining his dream.
32* The ending of ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is a great example of this applied to a HeroicSacrifice. The manga seems to answer: "Yes, it was worth it." The anime ''seems'' to agree with the manga, but acknowledges the severity of [[spoiler:Rosette]]'s sacrifice to a greater extent.
33* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': During the Future Trunks Saga, [[spoiler:Goku Black and Future Zamasu]] embark on a crusade to kill all mortals in TheMultiverse. In the process, they slaughter all of the other gods in Future Trunks' timeline to prevent them from interfering, [[spoiler:[[FusionDance fuse together]] to get an edge on Goku and friends]], and finally undergo a PowerUpgradingDeformation in his rage. Gowasu even ponders over this, wondering if [[spoiler:Zamasu]] will really be happy once his crusade is completed.
34-->'''Gowasu''': [[spoiler:Zamasu]] seeks beauty. Yet, look at [[BodyHorror his body. It's distorted by hatred and rage]]. I wonder, is that really the result he craved? A broken, misshapen god alone in a vacant cosmos. How fulfilled will he be then?
35* At the end of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', after finally killing DIO, Jotaro tells DIO's dead body that the outcome could have been slightly different if DIO didn't go out of his way to piss Jotaro off while asking if the effort was worth it.[[labelnote:note]](said only in the dub)[[/labelnote]]
36* ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'': When Sesshomaru comes across Rin's dead body in the Underworld while undergoing his mother's test and discovers that the Tenseiga [[ItOnlyWorksOnce can't bring her back to life a second time]], he's so heartbroken that he promptly throws the sword to the ground and curses it, outright stating that ''nothing'' he could have gained was worth losing Rin. Once he's learned the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility lesson]] his parents needed to teach him, Rin is resurrected to ensure she didn't have to suffer for Sesshomaru's mistakes.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Comic Books]]
40* Previously [[HoYay/ComicBooks very close]] teammates, the [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 last conversation]] between [[Characters/MarvelComicsTonyStark Iron Man]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] has the latter in a cell, awaiting trial, and asking the former, "Was it worth it?" Later, an opportunistic villain assassinates Captain America on his way to trial, and Iron Man, confronted with his body, finally answers the question. Was it worth it? [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone No.]] [[PyrrhicVictory No, it was not.]]
41** Even worse, the fracture between the heroes left them unprepared to deal with [[ComicBook/WorldWarHulk an extremely angry Hulk]], [[ComicBook/SecretInvasion The Skrulls invading Earth]], and [[ComicBook/DarkReign Norman Osborn being in charge]].
42** Later averted after Tony erases his memories and, after reading about Civil War, proclaims that he would do it all again. Maria Hill, who was on his side during Civil War and now firmly believes that it wasn't worth it, walks out, leaving him to yell about her having sided with him.
43* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' ends with [[spoiler:Ozymandias successfully completing his plan to create world peace, but at the price of millions of lives]]. His face, after Dr. Manhattan tells him before leaving the galaxy, "Nothing ends, Adrien. Nothing ever ends," suggests he's asking himself whether it was worth it.
44* In a comic by Joakim Pirinen, a young boy has murdered his mother and almost made it look like suicide. The cop investigating asks him, as he is about to be taken away:
45-->'''Inspector Liikanen''': But why did you kill your mother?
46-->'''Boy''': To become [[AbusiveParents happy]].
47-->'''Inspector Liikanen''' (gently): Are you happy now?
48-->'''Boy''' (breaks down in tears): No...
49* In an early arc of ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', which chronicled the first meeting between Characters/BlackCanary and [[Characters/BatmanHuntress Huntress]], the adventure was summed up thusly:
50--> '''Oracle:''' You travelled five thousand miles. You hooked up with a loose cannon--possibly psychotic--vigilante who doesn't place much value on life...and a world class felon. You stressed my network to the max. You faced the world's deadliest martial artist. [[WomanScorned All to get back at a guy who]] ''[[WomanScorned didn't call you]]'' [[WomanScorned the next day]]. Was it ''worth'' it?\
51'''Black Canary:''' [[WorthIt Yeah, it was.]]
52* At the end of ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'', in light of of Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face and his subsequent killing of Carmine Falcone, Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} and Jim Gordon have this moment.
53-->'''Batman''': The promise that we made to bring down the Roman. [[PyrrhicVictory What it cost us.]] [[FaceHeelTurn Harvey...]]
54-->'''Gordon''': If you're asking me "Did the good guys win?" Yes, the good guys won, Batman. But, I won't know if it was worth it for a very long time...
55* ''[[Series/{{Angel}} Angel & Faith]]'': Nadira spends most of the first season's run [[RevengeBeforeReason singlemindedly obsessed]] with getting revenge on Angel/Twilight, Pearl, and Nash for their slaughter of her Slayer squad, of which she was the SoleSurvivor thanks to Willow's intervention. In the final issue, after being nearly burned to death by Nash and killing him in turn with Faith's help, Faith tries to comfort Nadira by assuring her she had finally gotten her revenge, but Nadira just tells her that it was never worth it in the first place.
56* After Loki called her out on her plan ([[spoiler:It involved allying herself with an evil future Loki, to damn the young one to a life of evil and villainy hated and feared by all to ensure Asgard's golden future.]]) in ''ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'':
57-->'''Freyja''': "[[spoiler:King Loki.]]" When you came to this time, you promised a '''golden future''' for Asgard. ''Now I find I question the '''price''' of gold''.
58* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': [[spoiler:The Black Lantern Arin Sur asks her husband Sinestro this when they fight through the streets of Korugar, asking if he's happy with what he did to Korugar, and himself, in the name of peace.]] It's one of the few times Sinestro isn't capable of speaking, he can only stutter out "I... I don't...". It's hard to say if this is due to genuine doubt on Sinestro's end or [[spoiler: due to his wife being the one asking.]]
59* Caleb Hammer asks this question of Rawhide Kid in ''ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory''. Rawhide dismisses the question by arguing that WeAllDieSomeday.
60* ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'':
61** A recurring theme throughout the series is the question of whether or not what Scrooge gains is worth what he gives up in exchange while pursuing his goals. His earlier escapades have him suffering for little if any substantial gain while his later endeavors showcase that the pursuit of wealth has directly cost him anyone to share his life with, be they family or friends. By the end of the series Scrooge has wound up as a recluse who achieved his goal of becoming the richest in the world but has lived in complete isolation for years.
62** There is only one incident where Scrooge finds a definite answer to this question, during Chapter 11 where for the first and only time Scrooge chooses to make a profit dishonestly. As a result of forcibly driving a tribe off their land so he can buy the rights Scrooge drives away his family, his own conscience won't let him ignore what he's done, and revenge from one of the tribe members literally haunts him for years which eventually costs him one of his most valuable discoveries ever. Scrooge got what he wanted but the price was so steep that he decides ''no'' it wasn't worth it.
63* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In the story arc ''ComicBook/ThePhantomZone'', before sending Zod back into his prison, Superman remarks his latest scheme has only resulted in defeat, humiliation and dead people. Superman asks if it was worth of it, and Zod answers a resounding "Yes".
64-->'''Superman:''' It's back to the Zone, Zod-- to the twilight where you belong. Was it worth all those lives-- just for this?\
65'''General Zod:''' To be free? To conquer?? That would be worth those lives and a billion more! And yours will be among them, Kal-El!!
66* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'': In ''ComicBook/VenomDonnyCates'', a flashback story shows a run-in between [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsVenom Venom]]. During their fight, Logan straight-up tells [[Characters/MarvelComicsEddieBrock Eddie]] that his vendetta against [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]] wasn't worth it and that he hasn't accomplished a damn thing beyond mildly hurting Spider-Man's feelings. This ends up being the epiphany that makes Venom become a "lethal protector" instead of just harassing Spidey.
67* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': At one point, a disillusioned Royal Williams wonders if getting revenge on his parent's killers is worth it if he loses his brother Charles along the way.
68* ''ComicBook/UltronForever:'' In the BadFuture, Ultron has killed the Avengers, conquered humanity, and taken over the known universe. And he still can't understand why he even did any of it
69-->'''Ultron:''' Yet I! Do not! See ''why''! WHY? '''WHY?'''
70[[/folder]]
71
72[[folder:Fan Works]]
73* ''Fanfic/BegrudgingAssistanceRequests'': Dmitri's final words to Ellie before [[spoiler:putting her back in his prison complex for betraying their alliance]] is essentially him wishing that she thinks about her actions and regret them, because they only brought trouble upon her. [[spoiler:Ellie does eventually regret her actions and has a mental breakdown in her cell]].
74* ''Fanfic/CheatingDeathThoseThatLived'': Baron trains for the games so that, as a victor, he can get the medicine to save his sick mother. After this gives birth to the Career system, he feels a great deal of guilt and wonders if it was a fair trade to give his mother another twenty years of life at the cost of hundreds of teenagers being turned into killers or sadistically killed in the arena.
75* ''Fanfic/{{Game Theory|LyricalNanoha}}'' has Nanoha pondering this, after all the pain and suffering everyone went through because of the quest to revive Alicia. [[spoiler:But in the end, Alicia is brought back successfully, and Nanoha decides that it ''was'' worth it.]]
76* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11781093/23/Strawberries-and-Lemons Heartbreak]]'', [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] breaks up with her (very adorable and loving) boyfriend, Garnet, because she was gradually falling in love with a new student, Sygnus. Garnet tries to be [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy happy for her]], [[BreakTheCutie but he breaks down in tears and runs off]] before he can finish what he wanted to say. The chapter ends with Yang feeling guilty and wondering if it was really worth it. [[spoiler:[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11781093/33/Strawberries-and-Lemons The sequel chapter]] reveals that no, it wasn't. Yang only wanted to date Sygnus because she was LovingAShadow and that her heart always belonged to Garnet.]]
77* Used spectacularly in [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109581/1/i-did-not-want-to-die/i-did-not-want-to-die I Did Not Want To Die, ]]and it is heartbreaking because the protagonist had so much to live for, and he chose to go to war, where he is about to [[DyingAlone die alone]] hundreds of miles from home. Combined in HesitantSacrifice in that he laments that no, it wasn't worth it.
78* ''FanFic/EscapeFromTheHokagesHat'': Sakura asks if begging Naruto to bring Sasuke back to Konoha was worth it. While Naruto accomplishes this, Sakura finds the answer is no, because she gets to see Naruto brought into the hospital with part of his chest and right arm either bleeding, burnt '''AND''' melting. As she states herself: "It wasn't worth ''this''."
79** [[CuteMonsterGirl Isaribi]] is offered two options to cure her [[HalfHumanHybrid "condition"]] by Tsunade. Option 1 doesn't change anything but prevents her body from poisoning itself. Option 2 makes it possible for Isaribi to control her transformations but she has to live near the ocean (and swim in it '''EVERYDAY''' for a couple of hours so the sea water can break down the poison in her body). In her haste, she picks option 2 and realizes too late that she effectively traded freedom just to fit in with people and [[GildedCage has effectively chained herself to the ocean.]]
80* Spoofed in the Australian FanFilm ''WebVideo/StarWarsDownunder'', about a battle against the evil Darth Drongo who's stolen all the beer on the planet. After defeating Drongo, our hero ponders whether it was all worth the death and destruction, but thinks it was after [[SeriousBusiness downing a cold one]].
81* ''[[FanFic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy Wisdom and Courage]]'': Link finds himself arguing with both Navi and Tatl over whether or not using the Fierce Deity's Mask to beat Veran is worth the risk of losing his soul to it. Navi and Tatl insist that it ''isn't'' worth it, but Link is prepared to do [[GodzillaThreshold whatever it takes]] [[YouAreWorthHell to keep Zelda safe]].
82* ''FanFic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'': [[AntiVillain Deadlock]] has spent most of the fic obsessed with vengeance on Spyro and Cynder, because it was due to the raid on the Dragon Temple the night of Spyro's hatching that Deadlock's husband and unborn eggs perished, and because Dark Cynder killed all of her elder children during the war with Malefor. At the very end, she has Spyro and Cynder at her mercy and is about to kill them... but her adoptive daughter Cyros jumps in the way of her [[FireIceLightning triple element Fury]] and is critically injured. Deadlock is left in tearful remorse over this fact and agrees with her other adoptive child Pyrus that her revenge was never worth ''this.''
83* ''Fanfic/{{A New World|IcedFairy}}'': Lunarian warrior Shoutoku is asked by Tenshi Hinanai if her revenge is worth the death of the Lunarian civilization, the attempted genocide of humanity and youkai, and most importantly, the murder of Tenshi's OnlyFriend. When Shoutoku admits the answer is no, and tries to kill herself, Tenshi decides to show her ''[[CruelMercy exactly]]'' what she thinks of her...
84* Jon Whitewolf from ''Fanfic/ADovahkiinSpreadsHisWings'' is distraught to learn the affair that allowed his birth also was responsible for the last great devastating war of the Seven Kingdoms. His bodyguard Enzo firmly believes it ultimately was WorthIt, as Jon is the Last Dragonborn who saved the world. [[TheNeedsOfTheMany Several thousands deaths is a paltry price to pay compared to the End of Times]].
85* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeNyame'': Richard Dragon is completely appaled to learn his EvilFormerFriend Sandra Wu-San threw her daughter away, letting the girl grow up mercilessly abused in the name of "strength". Shiva sneers she doesn't care about Dragon's outrage.
86* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': After everything that happens in the Fog Car, and the AwfulTruth upon AwfulTruth placed upon her, Grace is left to question if her making the Apex was absolutely worth the suffering she's caused to herself, Simon, the kids, Hazel, Tuba, all the denizens and passengers she's injured/killed [[spoiler:especially Chloe]].
87* ''Fanfic/AMothersTouch'': Yoko gives Sylvio a scathing rant on how he was close to ruining the lives of You Show Duel School through his actions, whether it be by framing Yuya for an attack he didn't commit or the deaths of four children, all so he can have ''power'' through two measly cards. She then asks if this was worth salvaging his broken pride.
88* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': [[spoiler:After Vera is captured following the failure of her [[RogueAgent self-appointed]] suicide mission and taken to Snowpoint's dungeons, Amelia asks from her cell if getting her personal revenge was worth lying to the rest of their team as well as getting them all captured and nearly killed. [[NeverMyFault Vera refuses to own up to anything and shifts the blame for the failure on her former friends.]]]]
89* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Fiora's origin story chronicles the web of sex, politics, and blackmail she orchestrated to learn magic despite the wishes of her clan, ending in everything blowing up in her face and getting her exiled (narrowly escaping execution with one final underhanded gambit.) As she's being escorted from her home village, the matriarch's final barrage of snippy comments is a mixture of this and "[[AndThenWhat Now What?]]'', since Fiora may be free to practice magic now, but she's almost certainly going to die in the wilderness without anyone to help her survive.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
93* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', the Soothsayer, [[BigBad Lord Shen's]] adviser and ParentalSubstitute, asks him if, in the end, everything he's done will be worth it. While he says it will, even Lord Shen seems to wonder whether it will be or not.
94* In ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'', Leo and Raph have a grudge match, in which Leo is the dominant fighter, but Raph breaks his swords when he decides to take it to the line, and Leo is consequently captured not long after.
95* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': When Ralph wins his bet with the Nicelanders, but realizes that his game is about to be unplugged due to his actions.
96* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', when Judy is reprimanded by Chief Bogo for behaving like a CowboyCop, he sarcastically charges her with:
97-->'''Chief Bogo:''' Abandoning your post, inciting a scurry, reckless endangerment of rodents. But, to be fair, you did stop a master criminal from stealing two dozen moldy onions.
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
101* In ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'', the ArmorPiercingQuestion that convinces Derek Vinyard to stop being a Neo-Nazi skinhead after he's been sent to prison for killing a black guy is ''"Has anything you've done made your life any better?"''
102* By the end of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:Thanos has assembled the Infinity Stones despite our heroes' best efforts, and proceeds to do the [[BadassFingersnap fingersnap]] that kills off half the universe's population. However, this quest has cost him the lives of all his adopted children in the Black Order, most if not all of his army, and the life of his estranged daughter, Gamora, [[KillTheOnesYouLove who he was forced to kill]]. Afterwards, he's visited by a vision of Gamora as a child, and the small exchange quoted above occurs]].
103* The question in ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' "Was Wisconsin ''really'' that bad?", an eternity there as opposed to destroying the entire universe and making war on God to get home.
104* He doesn't say it out loud, but Snake Plissken is clearly thinking this at the end of ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', after the President he just risked his life and lost dear friends to save [[BitchInSheepsClothing doesn't even take the time to eulogize the people who died rescuing him before rushing off to get made-up for a saber-rattling conference]]. He proceeds to ask the President what he thinks about all the death that just occurred, and when the President confirms his thoughts by offering nothing but generic, obviously rehearsed platitudes, [[spoiler:Snake deliberately gives him the wrong tape to play at his previous conference to ensure he humiliates himself in front of the whole world]].
105* In ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', Arthur ends up in a fight "to the death" against "a knight who is not [his] enemy" for a bridge he could "easily ride around," and ends up not only almost killing Launcelot, but, more importantly (to him), shattering Excalibur. Luckily, the Lady of the Lake forgives him and mends the sword.
106* Marge Gunderson in ''{{Film/Fargo}}'' asks Grimsrud if "a little bit of money" was really worth all that murder.
107* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
108** The ending of the original ''Film/Godzilla1954'' has the main surviving humans wondering if using the Oxygen Destroyer was worth the HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:[[EyepatchOfPower Dr. Serizawa]]]] and worrying that another Godzilla may appear.
109** Given that ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' featured ''two'' Godzillas, a technology extremely close to the Oxygen Destroyer [[spoiler:(Serizawa sacrificed himself to keep something like that from happening)]], and a monster created by the use of the original Destroyer, the answer seems to be "No."
110* In ''Film/TheGreatEscape'', [[spoiler:Hendley is informed by the SBO that 50 of the 76 escaped [=POWs=] have been executed, but the escape itself caused havoc behind the German lines, tying up thousands of troops that would have been utilized elsewhere. Hendley asks of all his dead friends, "Was it worth it?" and is told "It depends on your point of view, doesn't it?"]]
111* At the end of ''Film/HamburgerHill'', there is a sign reading: "Hamburger Hill... Was it worth it?"
112* From 1985 film about corporate life, ''Film/HeadOffice''.
113-->'''Jane Caldwell:''' Don't fall for it, Jack.\
114'''Jack Issel:''' Fall for what?\
115'''Jane Caldwell:''' For the lie we keep telling ourselves. We do the dirty stuff to get the power. It'll give us all the good things we really want. [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget Then we get the power, we can't even remember what goddamn thing it was we wanted it for in the first place.]]
116* ''Film/JeremiahJohnson'': Jeremiah came to the mountains looking to find a new life. After many years, in which he has lost everyone he cared about and killed numerous men, he runs into his old mentor, Bear Claw.
117-->'''Bear Claw:''' You've come far, pilgrim.\
118'''Jeremiah:''' Feels like far.\
119'''Bear Claw:''' Were it worth the trouble?\
120'''Jeremiah:''' *Pause* Ah... what trouble?
121* ''Film/TheMonumentsMen'': President Truman asks whether the two Monuments Men who died would have considered their deaths worthwhile. Despite having said to the men earlier in the movie that their deaths weren't worth a piece of art, their commander says that they would have.
122* The 1993 direct-to-video action film ''Film/RageAndHonorII'' has supposed nice guy Tommy turn out to be a criminal mastermind who murdered his own father to get his hands on some diamonds. After beating Tommy down in the climax, hero Preston pours the diamonds onto Tommy's head and asks the question verbatim as the cops take him away.
123* At the end of ''Film/ThePrestige'', both Alfred Borden and Robert Angier face this question regarding their [[EscalatingWar increasingly vicious and personal professional rivalry]] over [[StageMagician stage magic]] that destroyed their lives and caused the deaths of multiple people. [[spoiler:Borden decides that no, it absolutely was not worth it, and it never would have even reached that point if he had his way (his hot-tempered twin brother was not so restrained). Angier, on the other hand, [[AesopAmnesia is totally unrepentant]], even as he dies as a direct result of his actions.]]
124* ''Film/SpyGame'':
125** The stories told in it about the efforts of one long-time CIA agent, Nathan Muir, and his protege Tom Bishop, show the extreme lengths and sacrifices they will go to accomplish their objectives — the film itself is very much the "stale beer" flavor of SpyFiction (as opposed to "martini" flavored glamorous ones like Franchise/JamesBond).
126** Implied and lampshaded by Bishop in the debriefing of a mission in Beirut to assassinate a terrorist leader, where after going to such great lengths to get the target's family doctor to apply a poison to him during a check-up (including persuading him to turn on him in the first place by bringing up his murdered family and Bishop rushing him through war-torn streets to get him to his appointment at an apartment building before they lose track of him) only for Muir to call in their back-up plan...[[StuffBlowingUp a huge truck bomb that blows up the whole apartment and kills everyone there.]] The objective was accomplished, but...
127-->'''Bishop:''' We got a [[PrecisionFStrike fucked-up]] barometer for success, don't we?
128* ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon:'' At the climax, as the final battle's raging, Carly finds Megatron slumped in a heap, not taking part in the fight, and asks him if everything's been worth it. Megatron answers "obviously", until Carly points out that for all his scheming, he's no longer in charge of his own troops.
129* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as Older Erik lies dying in the BadFuture, he laments to Charles about all the time they lost to ideological and political differences when they could've been close friends and fighting alongside each other instead. Considering their [[AfterTheEnd current circumstances]], it looks like it wasn't worth it. At all.
130-->'''Magneto''': All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles... To have a precious few of them back...
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Literature]]
134* In Creator/BenCounter's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Galaxy in Flames'', [[spoiler:Abaddon]] expected to feel "savage joy" at [[spoiler:Loken and Torgaddon]]'s deaths. Instead, he just feels empty. Though his reaction to [[spoiler:Aximund]]'s MyGodWhatHaveIDone and TearsOfRemorse is that he needs to be watched.
135* In Chris Roberson's Imperial Fists novel ''Sons of Dorn'', Captain Taelos knows, objectively, that sacrificing the scouts [[WeNeedADistraction as a distraction]] was a sound move, but he finds the cost very bitter.
136* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Wings of Fire'', Patrick [=McLanahan=] says this after the Night Stalkers receive very large paychecks for the mission where [[spoiler: Paul was killed and Wendy went missing]].
137* At the end of Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/RingworldsChildren'', Louis Wu has lost his son and the woman he was in love with to the depths of space, never to be seen again. Billions of sentient beings on the Ringworld itself were on the verge of madness, and Luis, himself, forced himself to voluntarily give up his status as a Protector-stage human in order to safeguard everything and everyone he cared about. It had to be done, but he hated it.
138* In ''Literature/TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas'', each individual must decide whether UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans — and [[PoweredByAForsakenChild with good reason, too]].
139* This is a running theme in Creator/IainMBanks's ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. The Culture fought a war with the Idirans in ''Literature/ConsiderPhlebas''. The ethics and ramifications of the war were still being discussed up to ''Literature/TheHydrogenSonata''.
140** In the epilogue of ''Literature/ConsiderPhlebas'', it's mentioned that Perosteck Balveda put herself in suspended animation along with millions of others until the Culture could statistically 'prove' that the war had been morally justifiable; e.g. enough years of peace had passed to show that more would have died from the Idiran expansion and occupation than were killed during the war to stop them. She's duly revived when this happens, but then kills herself a short time later, clearly feeling that it was not really worth it.
141* ''Literature/TheBible'': Mark 8:36
142-->For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
143* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. As detailed in Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories is "The Dance of the Dragons". Over a century before the events of the main story (ASOIAF starts in 298 and TDOTD took place in 129-131), Viserys I wanted his daughter Rhaenyra to succeed ahead of his son from a later marriage despite the inheritance laws of most of Westeros favoring sons before daughters. However, after his death, his son was crowned Aegon II, leading to "The Dance of the Dragons", a major civil war in which most of the dragons and Targaryens were killed, including both claimants. Rhaenyra's son Aegon III then became King and shortly after this, the last of the line from Viserys' last marriage died out. Aegon suffered from depression, partially from seeing the death of his mother, and the dragons died out during his reign. To cap it all off, the stigma against females inheriting the Iron Throne remained, as when Aegon's sons died without issue, his brother Viserys II took the throne ahead of Aegon's daughters (Aegon and Viserys could claim male line inheritance due to their father being Viserys I's brother Daemon).
144* In Richard Holdstock's (as Richard Kirk) ''[[BarbarianHero Raven, Swordmistress of Chaos]]'' stories, the FramingDevice of each novel takes place AfterTheEnd, an elderly man with a mutilated hand and an old golden sword that's beyond the current age to make, wanders into a barely surviving settlement and in return for hospitality he tells a tale of Raven, the woman who ended the current age and unleashed the Age of Chaos. The Age of Chaos was to sweep away the previous age of tyrants and supernatural horrors that threaten humanity. It also saw the end of island of [[AncientOrderOfProtectors sorcerers who protect humanity]] at her hands and the falling out between Raven and her lover/companion Spellbinder. At the final book, the elderly man (who's an aged Spellbinder) laments the primitive conditions of this new age and wonders "Was it really worth it?" to the missing and presumed dead Raven (answer is yes... our world eventually emerges from their Age of Chaos).
145[[/folder]]
146
147[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
148* In Season 2 of ''Series/{{The 100}}'', Clarke's [[CharacterDevelopment character]] [[StoryArc arc]] is built around her trying to save her people, but doing so many horrible things to other people in the process that, in the season finale, she can't take any pleasure in having finally succeeded, and can't even bear to be around the people she's saved, their faces constantly reminding her of the evils she committed for their sake.
149* In the First Season Finale of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', part of Coulson's ToThePain speech to [[spoiler: Ward]] is to let him know that part of his punishment will be to sit in his cell and wonder if it was really worth it to throw his lot in with HYDRA and a crazy cyborg mentor.
150* ''Series/BabylonFive'': In the fourth season, while the Centauri are ending their occupation of Narn, Vir and Londo talk [[spoiler:about Vir's killing of Cartagia]].
151-->'''Vir:''' What was it all for, Londo? What was any of it even for?
152* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walter laments how working in the drug industry has caused his wife to fear him and keep their children away from him and says that the meth empire he's building is all he has left to be proud of. His partner, [[AntiVillain Jesse]], calls him out on this, intending to help Walt quit the business as well, but it doesn't work. In the end, [[spoiler: despite said meth empire inevitably destroying ''everything'' Walt ever held near and dear, for him it was all still WorthIt]].
153-->'''Jesse Pinkman:''' Mr. White... is a meth empire really something to be that proud of?
154** Gets this almost word-for-word from Saul [[spoiler:when he sets the car he got for Walt Jr. on fire after Skyler refuses to let Walt Jr. keep it because she is afraid that an expensive car will raise questions with the IRS and the Schraders. The resulting damage to both the car and the parking lot, plus fines and legal fees after he was charged with destruction of property, came out to over $50,000]].
155* The murders on ''Series/ColdCase'' are sometimes these, as the suspects killed the victim because of something they thought was important at the time.
156* Every ''Series/{{CSI}}'' series has numerous cases of the team asking the arrested party if all their work was worth it, given they're going to be behind bars for the rest of their life.
157** ''Series/CSIMiami'' has a series of seemingly unrelated deaths at Spring Break turning out to be a woman seeking revenge for the trio bullying her the year before. As the episode ends, she has a smile as she imagines herself in her "original" overweight and unattractive form having gotten justice. When the door slams, however, the smile fades as she shifts to her "regular" self and realizes how she let some bullying ruin her life.
158* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
159** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]], when the Doctor confronts a villain:
160--->'''The Doctor''': I could have killed that Dalek in its cell. But you stopped me.\
161'''Henry van Statten:''' It was the prize of my collection!\
162'''The Doctor:''' '''YOUR COLLECTION?!''' Well, was it worth it?! Worth all those men's deaths?! Worth Rose?!
163** At the end of ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'', in order to defeat the 456, Captain Jack has to [[spoiler:kill his grandson]]. He can't live with himself afterwards (ironic, given he's immortal) and leaves the Earth.
164** A more uplifting version occurs when [[spoiler:Professor Jericho]] is about to face his demise in "The Vanquishers" and comforts himself with the excitement and purpose of his recent adventure to save the entire Universe. "Who has had a life like mine?"
165* Roshuo from ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' is responsible for the near extinction of his species because he adopted a SocialDarwinist mentality in which he allowed the strong to rule over the weak. Sadly, the "strong" were a bunch of sadistic monsters, who unfortunately are the only other ones left living of his species. As a result, Roshuo is the only sane being left in a broken world forever regretting his mistakes.
166* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'': Ryuse Sakuta's goal to being Kamen Rider Meteor is to find a cure for his friend, Jiro, who used a faulty Zodiarts Switch and ended up in a coma. After searching, he finds Aries Zodiarts who can cure him...if he agrees to one little task. ''Kill Kamen Rider Fourze''. [[spoiler:Not only does Ryusei fulfill his goal and Aries fulfill his vow, Jiro is not happy to learn that Ryusei killed someone for his sake and goes back to his despair coma. Ryusei then walks away in the rain, recalling Gentaro willingly saying he'd help his friend out, and comes to the heavy realization that no, ''killing Gentaro was not worth this.'']]
167* In an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', [[EscalatingWar a series of ever-escalating pranks]] lands Malcolm and Reese in the hospital after they tied in GameOfChicken with go-cars. When they're brought home, Hal grounds Malcolm and tells him to cancel the plans he had for his birthday. As Malcolm and Reese attempt to start another fight, Lois asks them what they remember doing on past birthdays, only for them to sadly remember not having any birthday parties because one did something to the other to get grounded. Lois then asks them if their desire to get revenge for whatever little indiscretion was done to them is worth having nothing but miserable memories on what should be a happy occasion. To drive the point home, to apologize for missing Dewey's solo performance in the school play, Hal gives him Malcolm's birthday present, a rare and expensive, comic book. Dewey takes it and the video game they gave him, [[ABirthdayNotABreak and wishes Malcolm a happy birthday as he and Reese do menial work around the house]].
168* In ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' Morgana has a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome dream of the far-distant future]], one that implies that both she and Arthur die on the battlefield. She reaches for Merlin standing above her, who asks her: "Is this really what you wanted, Morgana?" Oddly, when these events play out in real-time, no such question is asked of her.
169* The ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Hell's Grannies" sketch, as a reporter addresses the viewers while walking on a sidewalk:
170-->'''Reporter:''' The whole problem of these senile delinquents lies in their complete rejection of the values of contemporary society. They've seen their children grow up to be accountants, stockbrokers, and even sociologists, and they begin to wonder if it is really all...(''he suddenly disappears in a manhole; two grannies replace the cover and scamper away'')
171* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Blind Run", [=CI5=] is assigned to protect an incognito Arab dignitary from an army of assassins. [=CI5=] chauffeur Charlie gets shot through the lung, and wants assurance from Bodie that the man they were protecting was important so his death will mean something. Bodie can only urge him not to die as he has no idea himself.
172* The pilot episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' ends with Sheppard asking Weir if the hundred or so people he saved were really worth reawakening the Wraith.
173* ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'' episode "The Christmas Show":
174-->'''Danny Tripp:''' Was sleeping with him for that information really worth it?
175* Given the nature of ''Series/{{Survivor}},'' which requires contestants to backstab and eliminate almost every other contestant then somehow convince a jury of defeated players to vote them SoleSurvivor, this is a very common question at Final Tribal Council. Generally, the correct answer is "Yes," because a jury is [[WorthyOpponent more likely to respect a player]] who [[AtLeastIAdmitIt owns their game]] over someone being wishy-washy.
176* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Veep}}'', Selina [[spoiler: throws Gary, the man who stuck by her through thick and thin, to the feds to save herself; bans gay marriage (which includes her own daughter's) to win votes which alienates Catherine forever; drives away all her few supporters and is basically alone when she returns to the Oval Office. At first, Selina, a massive narcissist, thinks it was worth it...but it turns out her ultimate legacy is to lose her next election to her main rival, followed by her supposed idiot handler becoming a much more successful President after that and is nothing more than a historical footnote remembered at all for her bad choices]]. As the final topper, when [[spoiler: Selina dies at 74, not only does barely anyone she knows show up for her funeral but the networks immediately cut away at word Creator/TomHanks has passed away]].
177* ''Series/TheXFiles'', a MythArc episode "Redux II": Agent Scully is dying of cancer and her brother Bill accuses Agent Mulder that it's his fault, summarizing and ridiculing his quest for the truth and uncovering the conspiracy as search for "little green men".
178-->'''Bill Scully''': I've already lost one sister to this quest you're on, now I'm losing another. *struggles to hold back tears* Has it been worth it? To you, I mean. Have you found what you've been looking for?\
179'''Mulder''': No...\
180'''Bill Scully''': No. You know how that makes me feel?
181[[/folder]]
182
183[[folder:Music]]
184* Music/{{Cher}}: "Strong Enough":
185-->And I hear your reasons why\
186Where did you sleep last night?\
187And was she worth it\
188Was she worth it?
189* Music/{{Sabaton}}: What's the [[TitleDrop Price of a Mile]]?
190* Music/EricBogle's song about UsefulNotes/WorldWarI "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda". As the old man sits on his porch, watching the veterans march past every ANZAC Day, he muses:
191--->The young people ask, "What are they marching for?" and I ask m'self the same question.
192** His other famous song, "The Green Fields of France", has the words:
193--->Did you really believe, when you answered the call,\
194Did you really believe that this war would end war?\
195For the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,\
196The killing and dying were all done in vain,\
197For Willie [=MacBride=], it all happened again,\
198And again, and again, and again, and again.
199* Music/TaylorSwift asks the question in "Should've Said No".
200-->I can't resist\
201Before you go, tell me this:\
202Was it worth it?\
203Was she worth this?
204* Lazlo Bane's "I'm No Superman" ([[{{Series/Scrubs}} Yes, that one]]) talks about personal sacrifices people make to succeed professionally, and asks:
205--> You've crossed the finish line\
206Won the race but lost your mind\
207Was it worth it, after all?
208* Music/{{Queen}}'s "Was It All Worth It?", is essentially this trope as a song.
209-->Was it all worth it?\
210Giving all my heart and soul and staying up all night\
211Was it all worth it?\
212Living breathing rock n'roll, a godforsaken life\
213Was it all worth it? Was it all worth it?\
214All these years
215** But ultimately, at the end of the song Freddie proclaims ''"Yes, it was a worthwhile experience!"''
216[[/folder]]
217
218[[folder:Theatre]]
219* Said verbatim in ''Theatre/FreewillIn2112,'' after [[spoiler: [[ShrinkingViolet Amanda]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness of all people]], gives her husband [[TheFundamentalist Samuel]] a much-needed WhatTheHellHero speech]].
220%%--> '''Amanda''': [[A
221* In ''Theatre/TheGoldenApple'', Ulysses goes through this after he ultimately obtaining the titular MacGuffin at the cost of losing all of his friends. He decides that he's learned his bitter lesson and there's nothing left for him now except to return home.
222[[/folder]]
223
224[[folder:Video Games]]
225* In ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad 2'''s ending, [[spoiler:Arc and Kukuru are dead, along with much of humanity. Elc is left to question why the hell he even bothered]].
226--> '''Elc:''' [[spoiler:"It makes me wonder what we were fighting for. Arc died, and for what? So we could inherit this desolate and hopeless future? We didn't stop the world from ending, we survived it. And now we are left with nothing.]]
227* ''VideoGame/AstraHunterZosma'': Saros set up a casino in order to bring entertainment and joy to people, but eventually became disillusioned because her casino just caused people to become addicted to gambling and ruining their lives over it.
228* Glenn and Janus from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', in BOTH directions.
229* At the end of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', if you side with the Templars, [[spoiler:and your sister Bethany is in the Circle, you have the option to stand up for her alone after killing her teacher and most of her friends. If you defer to Meredith, her last words are "I hope this was all worth it, sister/brother." Then Meredith runs her through]].
230* In ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'', after you kill Jack of Blades, and have the opportunity to get the Sword of Aeons, your sister gives you a short speech, asking if striking her down would be worth it for the power. It's up to the player whether it is or isn't. [[spoiler:Canonically, you don't kill her. She's the same Theresa as the one in [[VideoGame/FableII various]] [[VideoGame/FableIII later]] [[VideoGame/FableTheJourney entries]].]] Of course, with the expansion it isn't worth it at all unless you're already cartoonishly evil, as refusing to kill Theresa results in a short sidequest to gain an equally powerful sword.
231* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': After manipulating and backstabbing his way to the top, [[spoiler:Delita]] is king over a land that finally has peace after a ''decades'' long war... But his 'idiot' friend who stayed true to his "be manipulated as long as I get to kill and save who I choose", killed an archangel and became an urban legend, while's he's reduced to asking this question after executing his now angry / paranoid wife who tried to shank him.
232--> "Ramza, what did you get? I got this."
233* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' poses this question when [[spoiler:Tidus fades from existence]] after the heroes defeat the big bad. They decide that it was indeed worth it, but [[spoiler:Yuna's]] regret over the situation has a big effect on [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 the sequel]].
234* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', the ''Shadowbringers'' 5.3 story boss's theme for Elidibus, aka [[spoiler: the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior of Light]]]] has this in the lyrics in his theme song, "To the Edge," describing the war the [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Darkness]] has had with Elidibus as well as the [[AbusivePrecursors Ascians]].
235* At the end of the ''VideoGame/FrostPunk'' "New Home" scenario, if the player adopted morally questionable laws, the epilogue will question whether the city went too far, and that Order or Faith were abused. "Was this city worth it?"
236* At the end of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', Kratos finally gets his revenge having killed everyone who ever wronged him...but by that point he realizes just how much of his misery was his own fault. He also finally notices the devastation he wrought upon the world during his campaign for vengeance and he's been changed enough to actually give a damn about it.
237* During the climax of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', major recurring villains [[spoiler:Ansem and Xemnas]] are finally KilledOffForReal. The former admits his heart wasn't even in the FinalBattle and he's been suffering from clinical depression ever since he figured out that he didn't stand a chance this time around. The latter (who Sora actually invokes this trope to nearly word for word), confesses that he now regrets being such a BadBoss to his underlings that none of them are left to help him (nor would they want to), and that for all his work to gain his own heart, the pain of loneliness wasn't worth it.
238* At the end of ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'', [[spoiler:Seedle]] sarcastically asks Zetta if becoming the strongest Overlord was worth [[spoiler:his former pupil and lover Salome slowly and willingly killing herself by feeding him all of her {{Mana}} energy]].
239* Shepard (as in you, the player) from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' can throw this at Mordin, asking him accusingly if upgrading the genophage, a thousand-year-old bioweapon which reduced the fertility of the ProudWarriorRaceGuy, was really worth it. For the record, he says [[spoiler:yes. Though by the time of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', his answer has changed to an emphatic no]].
240** Shepard also gets confronted by a human reporter with a distinctly anti-alien bias, who demands to know if [[spoiler:spending human lives to save the Council in the previous game was worth it]]. Shepard's responses consist of either completely flooring the reporter [[TheDeadHaveNames by telling her she's disrespecting the dead and their sacrifice]], [[TalkToTheFist or flooring her with a fist to the face]].
241* All but spelled out by ''VideoGame/NieR''[='s=] [[MultipleEndings endings A and C]], as [[spoiler:Nier tries to enjoy his life with Yonah, having sacrificed so much for her]] in the former, and mourns [[spoiler:Kainé's death]] in the latter. ''Heavily'' implied [[WhatTheHellPlayer to the player]] in Ending D.
242* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': After escaping from the Phantom Thieves' second attempt to cooperate with them, Haru asks Morgana if he's really adamant on not going back with them. This shows that she's starting to have second thoughts about their collaboration.
243-->'''Morgana''': Hmph, serves them right!
244-->'''Haru''': Are you sure that's what you wanted?
245-->'''Morgana''': [[BluntYes Of course it was!]]
246* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' has [=GlaDOS=] ask "Well, you found me. Congratulations. Was it worth it? Because despite your violent behavior, the only thing you've managed to break so far is my heart." However, she is asking it in the context of attempting to save her own skin (figuratively speaking) from a test subject who has gone OffTheRails and is trying to destroy her. It isn't until the second game that we find out that Chell's actions may have inadvertently made things much, much worse.
247* In Blue's story in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'', after killing Kylin for the gift for Space magic, Mei-Ling asks "All this for the Gift?" A very valid question, as apparently, Kylin maintains a paradise for all children that exists which gets destroyed on his death.
248* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' the player is given two options at the end: [[spoiler:go after Killbane]] or [[spoiler:rescue Shaundi, who is about to be killed in a terrorist attack STAG had set up to blame the Saints on]]. Choose the former and you get the bad (good?) ending, where [[spoiler:Shaundi dies, the Saints are blamed as terrorists, the Boss is asked if it was worth it (s/he can't answer) and STAG attempts to destroy Steelport during her funeral, then the Saints basically go terrorist when they fight the army off]].
249* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'': To explain it would ruin the game, though the feeling does stand over every [[YouBastard victory]] over a Colossus as well, with the possible exception of [[BattleInTheRain Malus]].
250* In ''VideoGame/{{Soul Nomad|AndTheWorldEaters}}'', we have the [[DarkerAndEdgier Demon Path]] ending where [[spoiler:[[CanonName Revya]] [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum destroys the world]]. After the deed is done, you get one last line to read: ''It doesn't matter. It was fun'']].
251* This is pretty much the entire theme of ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'':
252** Nate and brother Sam find Libertalia, the legendary "pirate utopia" created by Henry Avery, Thomas Tews and other captains. They find it all in ruins as it turns out [[spoiler: the entire thing was all a huge con to scam colonists out of their money and gold. The populace rose up in revolt and the pirates put them down. The pirate lords then fought among themselves so Avery and Tews poisoned the lot of them for the treasure...then ended up killing each other for gold neither could possess so Libertalia turned into a mass graveyard]].
253** Rafe [[spoiler: spent years hunting the treasure and even having a mercenary group on his side as he's willing to do what it takes to get the treasure. He ends up completely losing it at the end to duel Nate inside a ''burning ship'' and meets an IronicDeath being crushed by a pile of gold]].
254** On his quest, Nate finds notes and remains from the grandson of one pirate, out to find the treasure for his family honor. It soon becomes clear the quest consumed the man to the point of him willing to let his crew die so they abandoned him. Just before the climax, Nate finds his skeleton with a note to his beloved wife where he seems to realize, too late, how his quest ruined him and his final line is "forgive me."
255** In flashbacks, Nate and Sam meet Evelyn, a woman who had been a Lara Croft style explorer making great finds. She dedicated her life to various hunts and searches to the point that she couldn't even attend her husband's funeral because she was abroad. Their son never forgave her for that and cut off all ties. In the end, Evelyn is a lonely old woman living in a mansion of treasures that she refuses to sell off and [[spoiler: is only found after her death because of the police showing up just after the brothers had been there]].
256** The whole adventure clearly affects Nate as [[spoiler: he realizes a life of nothing but treasure hunting leads to nothing good. He and wife Elena buy up a salvage company so they can go on legal adventures. In a TimeSkip finale, it's shown the two are very successful with a record of historical finds and consider their daughter, Cassie, their greatest treasure]].
257** It's all summed up when [[spoiler: Nate finds himself in the hold of Avery's ship loaded with gold but also on fire as the culmination of a quest that has claimed countless lives]]. He says the trope verbatim as he wanders about.
258* ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'' indicates that [[TheGrimReaper Death]] has been asking himself this question ever since he lead the Horsemen into [[GenocideFromTheInside betraying and murdering the rest of the nephilim]] in order to save mankind and all of Creation from their conquest, culminating in him killing their leader/his oldest brother Absalom and imprisoning the nephilim's souls into an amulet but refusing to destroy it out of guilt. It says something that easily ''thousands'' of years later he's still trying to decide either way. [[spoiler:Judging by how he ultimately sacrifices said souls [[HeroicSacrifice and himself]] to revive humanity and [[BigBrotherInstinct absolve his brother War of his falsely-accused crime of killing them]], however, it seems he finally decided the answer was "yes."]]
259* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'', detectives Cole Phelps and Stefan Bekowsky ask Adrian Black as much when they bust him for his ridiculous attempt at faking his own death just so he can run away from his unhappy marriage and into the arms of his mistress.
260-->'''Phelps:''' Why not just come clean with her, Black? Why the melodrama?
261-->'''Black:''' I thought it would be easier.
262-->'''Phelps:''' No, it just got a whole lot harder. Adrian Black -- you're under arrest for conspiracy and fraud. We'll see what the [=DA=] has to say about wasting police resources on a wild goose chase like this.
263-->'''Bekowsky:''' You're gonna lose your wife, lose your job and probably end up in the big house. I hope she was worth it, Adrian.
264
265* At the end of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', Chris Redfield has this little monologue, once he finally takes down Wesker for good:
266-->"More and more I find myself wondering if it's all worth fighting for. For a future without fear?" ''(looks at Jill and Sheva and smiles)'' "Yeah, it's WorthIt."
267* In the ''Revenged'' ending of ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Henry Stickmin - Completing the Mission]]'', Henry, after being betrayed by the Toppat Clan's former leader, Reginald, is upgraded with cybernetics and decides to seek revenge on them. He manages to defeat the Right-Hand Man and Reginald before bringing down their airship on the launch site for their rocket, making it unlikely the group will ever recover. However, thanks to his fights and a shot in the back from Reginald, Henry is too injured to escape the crashing airship. As he lays dying, Reginald asks him if taking down the clan was really worth it. Considering Henry only manages to just limp away from the crash site and collapse against a rock before [[DiesWideOpen quietly dying himself]], it wasn't.
268-->'''Reginald:''' ''*cough*'' Well... you got us. ''*cough*'' Was it... worth it?
269* Darth Sion in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' is "alive" thanks to the Sith ability to draw power from pain. He is in such utter agony that he can keep his body together, despite the fact that it should be falling apart just from moving. The Exile can't kill him, since any strike she makes will simply empower him to keep living. She can only ask him if living in utter agony is worth it. [[spoiler:He decides that it is not]].
270''VideoGame/VirgoVsTheZodiac'': In the Fixed Ending, Virgo wonders if her quest to bring back the Golden Age and rule over it was worth everyone she killed, [[spoiler:including her friends]]. She also wonders if it was worth [[spoiler:losing Pisces, who was killed by Scorpio as revenge for Virgo killing Taurus. She then concludes that Pisces must still be alive out there somewhere despite there being evidence to suggest otherwise, and becomes determined to find her]].
271[[/folder]]
272
273[[folder:Web Animation]]
274* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Corsac and Fennec Albain [[spoiler:pulled the strings to have [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Adam]] take over the White Fang and kill Sienna Khan to advance their own goals, and carried out his orders to assassinate Blake's parents. In the end, all they manage to achieve is getting Fennec killed, getting Corsac arrested, and turning all of Menagerie against the White Fang. When Saber Rodentia - Ghira's bodyguard - asks Corsac this very question as he's being taken away, Corsac just hangs his head, indicating that no, it wasn't worth it]].
275** [[spoiler:Neo manages to make Ruby undergo ascension, which will cause CessatationOfExistence... and then she finally realizes ''everyone'' who ever loved her or wanted to do great things alongside her is dead. Even though she has everything - revenge after six seasons, and enough power to make [[PocketDimension the Ever After]] her own paradise - she's forced to face the fact that she's still the sheltered little girl who couldn't lift a finger against her neglectful parents without Torchwick to guide her. All that power and no shred of ambition or support to back it up. Then it ''definitely'' stops being worth anything when the Curious Cat uses her unleashed mental trauma to forcefully infest her brain and take over completely.]]
276[[/folder]]
277
278[[folder:Webcomics]]
279* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Klaus's [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071203 attitude]] to the pain he suffered getting to the window, and the real risk that doing so paralysed him for ''life'', it would still be worth it after seeing his son pull off that.
280* In ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'', the Demiurge, Maya, derided her mentor's moral lessons as weak and abandoned her family to be slaughtered by warlords so that she could become one of them. Her career as a MyopicConqueror was highly successful, and by stepping on the corpses of the thousands of innocent lives she herself ended, she became one of the most important figures in the multiverse. But no matter how much she pillaged, her mentor's assertion that she had already lost kept bugging her. In the end, her mentor's ArmorPiercingQuestion made her realize that it wasn't. If she had stayed a humble noodle vendor, she would have spent those days living a happier life. While that life would have been a short one, with her dying at the hands of a warlord, her thousands of victims would have been spared.
281* In ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'', {{Mad Scientist}}s are seemingly asked this a lot. In a [[EvilGloating less-than-coherent explanation to his girlfriend]], Dr. Haas quotes from the Bible passage above: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Well, he [[ComicallyMissingthePoint profits by]] [[WorthIt the entire world]], [[SanitySlippage for starters]]." But despite all that, it's interesting to note that Dr. Haas [[WouldNotShootACivilian never harms or deliberately endangers a civilian]], even when this costs him a great opportunity to take out the protagonists. Apparently some things are ''not'' WorthIt to him.
282* In ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', the ambitious, slick, social-climbing Stan wins the election for class president (important to him for his college applications), but at the cost of the only serious relationship he'd ever had. When Aggie tells him he'd better be ready to face the consequences of choosing "power over love and friendship," he responds sadly, "I kinda have to be...don't I?"
283[[/folder]]
284
285[[folder:Web Original]]
286* ''Literature/{{Worm}}''
287** [[spoiler:Taylor]] becomes TheUnfettered in pursuing the defeat of [[SerialKiller Jack Slash]] and his Slaughterhouse Nine in order to prevent the prophecized end of the world, going so far as to [[spoiler: shoot a child held by Jack that could have caused the end (though to be fair, said child might've been trapped in an AndIMustScream state with no way to be saved)]]. In the end, though, after [[spoiler:she ultimately fails]], she questions whether it was worth it and decides that it wasn't.
288** At the end of the story, [[spoiler:Contessa]] asks Taylor if she feels that the actions she resorted to [[spoiler:to stop Scion]] were worth it. Even though [[spoiler:she was successful this time, Taylor feels it wasn't worth it]]. She doesn't regret [[spoiler:saving the world]], but she wishes she could have found another way to do it.
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291[[folder:Web Videos]]
292* ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' ends this way for [[spoiler: Billy/Doctor Horrible. He defeats Captain Hammer and is admitted to the Evil League of Evil, but it came at the cost of accidentally murdering his love interest in the process of defeating Captain Hammer. (And her last words were "Captain Hammer will save us", to twist the knife further.) The final shot shows a downtrodden Billy looking at the camera, hinting the answer was 'no']].
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294
295[[folder:Western Animation]]
296* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
297** Firelord Sozin asks himself at the end of his life if [[spoiler: making the world [[WellIntentionedExtremist a better place]] by [[WhiteMansBurden spreading Fire Nation culture]]]] was really worth the genocide [[PerfectPacifistPeople of the Air Nomads]], [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife the deaths of thousands of both his people and those of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes in the war,]] [[spoiler:and betraying Avatar Roku, his best friend as he was growing up, [[MurderByInaction leaving him to die when he could have saved him]]. He somberly concludes that it was not]].
298** Sozin's great-grandson, Zuko, spends the entire first half of Season 3 asking himself this question. After three long years, he's finally welcomed back to the Fire Nation, has his [[AbusiveParents father's]] approval, and pretty much everything he wanted all along. The only thing he had to do was betray his uncle [[ParentalSubstitute who had given everything for him]]. After much soul-searching, [[spoiler:he comes to the same conclusion Sozin did. The big difference is Zuko has the opportunity to make things right and [[HeelFaceTurn he takes it]]]].
299* When Hemlock Holmes asks [[WesternAnimation/TheDickTracyShow Dick Tracy]] if it was worth the trouble he went through to rescue the Retouchables from Stooge Viller and Mumbles:
300-->'''Tracy:''' [[OneLinerNameOneLiner I wonder, Hemlock. I wonder.]]
301* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "Timmy's 2D House of Horrors", Timmy Turner [[RevengeBeforeReason lets Vicky and her family's house destroyed as payback for all the abuse he got from Vicky over the years]]. Vicky and her family then move into the Turners' house and Timmy is literally thrown out of the house and forced to sleep in a doghouse in the cold rain and his food gets confiscated to make room and board for [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave Vicky]].
302* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the episode "Wasted Talent," Lois, desperate to beat her snobby rival Alexis Radcliffe in a piano competition, discovers that Peter is a piano virtuoso when drunk and thus enters him in the competition, keeping him constantly wasted in the process. Lois does indeed win first place, but finds it a hollow victory, openly acknowledging that she put Peter's health in jeopardy for her own selfish need to win.
303* Macbeth in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''
304** He uses Revenge as the 'it': "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. And I have waited nine hundred years for this meal." However, Goliath points out to him and his nemesis Demona that every time either of them has attempted to get revenge, it only made their lives worse. "What profit vengeance?" [[WordOfGod has been described by producer]] Creator/GregWeisman as one of his favorite themes.
305** Subverted when it's revealed in "City of Stone" that his true goal isn't really revenge. He knows his life is a wreck because of his pursuit of revenge, [[DeathSeeker and he just wants to end it]]. It's just a bonus that he can only die if he and Demona kill each other.
306* A Subversion in ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsBattleForce5'' during the second season finale "Unite And Strike!" [[BigBad Krytus]] asks [[BigGood Sage]] if it was worth freezing the entire Red Sentient civilization just to stop his multiversal conquest. Sage's response is that Krytus was such a threat to not only the Blue Sentients but the entire multiverse that [[GodzillaThreshold she had no choice]] but to resort to her NuclearOption. Krytus responds that she was absolutely right, not that he cares.
307* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
308** The villain Discord does this to ''[[spoiler: himself]]'' in the episode "Keep Calm and Flutter On". [[spoiler: As he taunts Fluttershy for believing in him, he asks if she really thought he'd give up his WorldOfChaos for her friendship. As soon as he says it, he realizes the answer is: yes, he is willing to give it up for her.]]
309** ''The Cutie Remark Part 2'' has [[spoiler:Twilight]] perform a nonverbal version of this to [[spoiler:Starlight Glimmer to stop her MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight revenge plan: she grabs onto her after the latest change Starlight made and drags her back to the BadFuture the change created (which was the ''worst'' one seen so far) in hopes showing her the consequences of her revenge would convince her to stop. While it takes time to sink in fully, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Starlight's expression then and her demeanor]] after her HeelFaceTurn makes it clear that no, it wasn't worth it at all]].
310* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
311** In the episode "Casa Bonita", Cartman effectively holds Butters hostage for over a week in order to take his place at Kyle's birthday celebration, which is being held at the eponymous establishment. In the final scene, a cop asks Cartman if it was worth making the town panic, alienating his friends, and going to juvenile hall. Cartman dreamily responds [[WorthIt "Totally." ]]
312** In the season 12 episode, "Canada on Strike", the entire population of Canada goes on strike after being disrespected too many times by the Americans. Their reward for their strike was $3,008 in Bennigan's coupons and gumballs, according to Terrance and Philip, while also noting that Canada lost $10.4 million. As a result, the Canadians banished World Canadian Bureau President Stephen Abootman, who started the strike, from Canada.
313* In the Robin vs. Speedy fight during the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "Winner Take All", Robin wins, but snaps Speedy's bow while doing so, in what had been a friendly match. After Robin celebrates his victory, Speedy asks this before being teleported away. An odd example, as both Robin and Speedy had both explicitly expressed that they'd do anything to win, and Speedy's bow didn't seem particularly irreplaceable (in fact, it inexplicably is repaired by the end of the episode). Although later when Robin learns that the entire tournament of heroes is nothing but a ploy for the Master of Games to capture and draw on the power of the losers to make himself stronger, and recalling that he'd ignored Cyborg who'd been suspicious, he quickly decides it wasn't worth it, and fights to gain the freedom of the losers.
314* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''
315** In an episode, an upgraded Prowl beats (clone) Starscream. Unfortunately there's a lot of collateral damage - including a torn down tree and broken bird eggs, earlier that day he made it a point to protect a similar nest on Dinobot Island. Seeing these, Prowl realizes what a total asshole he's being.
316* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', when a beautiful woodland glen was wrecked when Autobots and Decepticons fought over possession of the pool of Blaster-reflecting electrum at its center. The final scene has the Autobot Beachcomber glumly viewing the devastation and saying "We won", in tones that embody this trope.
317** That said, the Aesop was undercut by the fact that the Decepticons '''already''' wrecked much of the glen when they discovered the electrum and celebrated by shooting at each other, sending the reflected blasts all over and burning much of the glen. Even worse, Beachcomber had actually discovered the glen and the electrum, but decided to keep quiet about it. Even when the Autobots were pushed to the brink by the now-invulnerable Decepticons, Beachcomber kept quiet, and he continued to do so after the Autobots independently discovered the electrum and used it to even the odds. It made him seem like a {{Hypocrite}}, and at least part of the reason why the character gets so little respect in other Transformers media (Animated presents him as a drugged out hippy, while Shattered Glass presents him as a plodding, moronic oaf).
318* In the end of Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Qilby]]]] is asked whether his crimes, primarily causing the near-total genocide of the Eliatropes, were worth it (by the only being that still remained somewhat sympathetic to him, no less). His answer? "[[ItsAllAboutMe Yes, yes, for me it was.]]"
319[[/folder]]

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