->''"You ''coward''. We are at ''war'' with these animals! You think you're better than him?! You let the Joker keep on killing! You couldn't save Lois, or Jason, or '''anyone!'''"''
-->-- '''Robin''' to '''Batman''', ''VideoGame/Injustice2''

All right, I have no idea [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever what's]] [[AlienInvasion going]] [[ZombieApocalypse on]], but thank you for saving me from-- Hang on, where's [[AliceAndBob Alice? And Bob? And Carlos? And Danielle?]] Shouldn't they be here, too? ... What do you mean it's too late for them?! They were right next to me!

Why couldn't you save them?

This is basically when a character is saved from being killed/infected/captured/whatever, but their friends aren't and they hate the fact that they lost them all just because their rescuer didn't have time to save them.

Sometimes happens after someone says "ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive"--if the guy saves only you and not your friends, you know that makes him a dark and edgy AntiHero with a pragmatic outlook. Or they [[TheMole set the whole thing up]] in order to separate you from your friends.

Subtrope of ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike. Related to SurvivorGuilt, and to the first listed outcome of ItsAllMyFault where it turns into [[NeverMyFault blaming someone else]]. Compare FailureToSaveMurder.

'''WARNING: As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, spoilers below will be unmarked.'''
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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the Buu saga, Goku and Vegeta picked up [[ChekhovsGunman Mr. Satan]] and Dende leaving Gohan and the young [[HalfHumanHybrid half Saiyans]] behind on Earth when Buu destroyed it. Vegeta then asked this to Goku, who then realized that with no Earth, there's no Dragonballs and saving Dende didn't do much but provide a [[TheMedic healer]] to get their butts kicked again and again.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', All Might admits this is the FatalFlaw of being TheCape; As powerful as you are, you are just one person, and can't be everywhere at once. For every person that All Might has saved, there have been others that suffered because he wasn't there. This eventually becomes a plot point when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Shigaraki's hatred of All Might also comes form the fact that, despite he shows himself to the public as someone who can save everyone, he never saved him, and Shigaraki was actually saved by All For One]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/SupermanGrounded'' had a woman chiding Franchise/{{Superman}} for not saving her husband. However it was cancer that killed him, something that is beyond Superman's powers and even if it was, he was busy dealing with another matter that threatened the whole world. So one gets the feeling she's just dealing with grief and trying to find something to blame.
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', Moose Manfield tried to have the Carnage symbiote used to cure his father of his cancer. Spider-Girl ends up destroying the symbiote, resulting in Moose resenting Spider-Girl and blaming her for his father's death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', when Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes are tied up next to barrels of oil, each independently expecting Batman to save them. He goes after Rachel, but because the Joker lied, he gets to Dent in enough time to save him from death, but not from getting half his face burnt off. Needless to say, Rachel [[AlasPoorScrappy had even worse luck]].
* Serves as the lead character's reason for hating robots in ''Film/IRobot''. A robot saved him while letting somebody else die as he was statistically more likely to survive. As that someone was a twelve-year-old girl, he has a pretty severe case of SurvivorGuilt. "That was somebody's baby. Eleven percent is more than enough. A human being would've known that."
* Played with in the children's Christmas film ''The 12 Dogs of Christmas'', where Mikey's beloved pet dog, Yeta, is presumed dead -- she was first taken by the dog catcher and then was 'already gone' when his friend tried to get her out. The fact that the friend, Emma, was able to rescue her own puppy leads Mike to think that she just didn't try. [[spoiler: So Emma sneaks out to try to find out what happens to the dogs that vanish from the dog catchers, is able to find ''and'' save Yeta, and brings her home]].
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[[folder:Literature]]
* A large part of Katniss' trauma after the events of the second Quarter Quell in ''Literature/TheHungerGames: Catching Fire'' when it is explained to her that she was always the target for rescue. She is furious that Peeta wasn't a priority and that he hadn't been saved.
* Invoked in ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen''. When escaping death from a collapsing dream world, Tiffany can only grab UpperClassTwit Roland, but can't reach her brother. So she doesn't even try. She and Roland appear to escape but Wentworth and the Pictsies are left behind. The Queen of the Elves then takes pleasure in describing their deaths and what an awful person Tiffany must be to ''willingly'' save the idiot who didn't personally matter to her rather than her own brother. Tiffany tries to comfort herself by telling herself that it would be better to save Roland, and live than try to save Wentworth and die. A small part of her, goaded by the Queen, tells her that this might be logical, but it still doesn't feel... right.
** Roland does it again in a later book after his father dies of natural causes and he asks Tiffany why she didn't save him (when she had to deal with a nurse who thinks prayer is better than medicine).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor gets called out on this a LOT, especially by companions, but even more so by himself as part of his ChronicHeroSyndrome. Subverted in the episode [[Recap.DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii "The Fires of Pompeii"]] as Donna actually convinces the Doctor to at least save ''someone''. He chooses the family they first met at the beginning of the episode.
* In ''Series/TwentyFour'' season 7. Renee Walker promises Marika that she will protect her from his boyfriend Colonel Dubaku, who she has just learned is TheDragon. She fails as Marika does a HeroicSacrifice while Jack Bauer and Renee are chasing Dubaku to cause his car to flip over, and when Marika's wheelchair-bound sister finds out, she accuses Renee of being responsible for her death. ''Ouch''.
* There was a guy in that ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode with the stolen Wraith teleporter/[[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} ecto-containment device]]. When he learned his wife couldn't be saved, he decided to kill everyone.
* In the ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' episode where [[spoiler:Jeff Collier]] dies, the staff of the ED and the paramedics waiting there know that there was an explosion at the crash site some of their number are still at. When Dixie returns with a single patient and two other paramedics, when ambulances are double-crewed, Tamzin demands to know why Dixie didn't bring [[spoiler:Jeff]] back, even if it was just his body.
* The doctors of ''Series/{{ER}}'' have occasionally gotten hit with this by distraught loved ones, even though they've clearly done everything possible to save the patient.
* In ''Series/Charmed1998,'' Piper briefly expresses this sentiment toward Leo after [[spoiler: Prue dies]], because he got there too late to heal them both and she feels he prioritized her only because she's his wife. Though the next episode reveals that the real source of her anger is [[spoiler: Prue herself]].
* In the backstory of Tony [=DiNozzo=] of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', he saved a young boy from a fire, but failed to save the boy's sister. Said boy would grow up resenting Tony because of this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Kurtis from ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}''.
* Heather Ross from ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'', after Emilio's death.
* Dr. Chakwas does this in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' if you wait so long before starting the Suicide Mission that she's the only survivor of the Normandy's crew.
** Happens on Horizon as well, when one of the colonists you saved complains that the Collectors got away with [[ForeShadowing some of his friends]].
* Snow from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' gets this a lot from Hope early on. He spends a significant amount of the game trying to answer why.
* Madison from ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', if you rescue her instead of defusing the bomb in the museum.
* In the first ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' game the player is given a SadisticChoice to save either Jean Grey or Nightcrawler at the cost of the other's life. If Nightcrawler is saved, he will give the player [[WhatTheHellHero a huge chewing out]] for not saving Jean instead. Jean on the other hand, though also upset will be a bit more understanding in that it was clearly a lose-lose situation from the get-go.
** If you save Jean, Mystique will [[spoiler: be revealed to have decimated the X-Men in a DistantFinale for not saving her son]]. When Mystique asks this question, she doesn't play around! Meanwhile, if you save Nightcrawler, [[spoiler: Jean will become Dark Phoenix again.]] You just can't win, huh? If you want the good ending, you'll have to [[spoiler: [[BribingYourWayToVictory have gotten Magneto as DLC]]; only he can save both.]]
[[/folder]]
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