I've Come Too Far

aka: I Have Come Too Far

"If I apologize or feel regret, everything will be over. I'll never... be able to reach this place."

— Griffith, Berserk

In a moment of crisis, a hero or a villain might look back and declare: "I've come too far..." to stop now. This is a desperate kind of determination. A common variant on the phrase is, "We haven't come this far just to give up now!"

A frequent reason for why a villain may not do a Heel–Face Turn and have an Ignored Epiphany instead. They may cross the Moral Event Horizon as a result. It may also be a case where the villain realizes that he's evil but feels he's gone too far to deserve redemption or even a shred of sympathy from a third party. Alternatively, they may realize they already have crossed the Moral Event Horizon, so why bother turning around now? This is occasionally a case of the Sunk Cost Fallacy, in which you reason that everything you sacrificed was for nothing unless you sacrifice even more to reach your goal. If you've come so far that reaching your goal requires only a tiny push, it's "more economical", so to speak, to go through with it.

Compare Tiger by the Tail, where they can't turn back without terrible consequences. Also compare Beyond Redemption, where it's a hero deciding that a villain's gone too far to be helped. Contrast Be All My Sins Remembered, where they maintain a similar mindset but are still capable of redeeming themselves.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Attack on Titan:
  • This is at least part of what drives Reiner and Bertolt to continue their mission regardless of personal feelings or growing doubts. After everything they've already done, the only thing they believe is left for them to do is complete their mission or die trying.
  • After the four-year Time Skip, this is the stance that Eren Yaeger has taken. They know their actions are just as atrocious as what the above-mentioned have done, they are going against their own ethics, and are willing to throw themselves past the Moral Event Horizon, if it means that their extreme actions result in peace for the people they wish to protect.
• Griffith of Berserk has this at the end of the Golden Age Arc that solidifies him Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. Broken, mutilated, having lost all status, he ultimately decides to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk so he can become Femto, a member of the immortal Godhand. Even when shown with a semi-idyllic future where he lives peacefully with Casca, he finds he cannot abandon his dream when the Godhand show him a vision in which he steps over the corpses of those who have already died following him.
  Griffith: If I apologize or feel regret, everything will be over. I'll never... be able to reach this place.
• In Chrono Crusade, Aion reflects on how only six of the Sinners survived the first battle of their rebellion, and as the survivors, they were obliged to honor the sacrifice of the fallen by continuing to fight.
• In Code Geass, Lelouch justifies his uncertainty about the Zero Requiem plan by claiming that too many people have been sacrificed for them to stop. This would ordinarily not fit the trope, except that he was responsible for many of those sacrifices. For that, he makes sure his own sacrifice is the very last.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, Scar is a Warrior Monk turned Vigilante Man who hunts the State Alchemists in his quest to avenge the genocide of the Ishvalans. He rejects his master's plea for him to stop his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, saying that he's gone too far to turn back. Subverted when he has a Heel–Face Turn and later is there to stop Mustang from passing the Moral Event Horizon.
• In Future Diary, Yukiteru begins wholesale slaughtering of bystanders and eventually killing his closest friends in his quest to become Deus' successor. His justification for Jumping Off the Slippery Slope is that once he becomes God, he can resurrect all the people he killed. Unfortunately, death isn't cheap, and while he may be able to restore their bodies, he cannot bring back their souls, and at best he would only have lifeless shells - a fact Yuno knows only too well, since she won the game in an Alternate Universe and traveled to the current one after failing to resurrect Yuki.
• Gundam:
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, Zeheart Galette has seen many comrades die, often at his command, for the sake of Lord Ezelcant's Project Eden. When he later finds out that Project Eden is not a cause he agrees with, he pushes on trying to fulfill it regardless, because if he didn't, then all the lives he sacrificed would be for nothing. He repeatedly tells himself that he's come too far to stop now as he orders more and more people to their deaths, which of course only compounds the problem.
  • In Gundam Build Divers, this is Ayame's reasoning for trying to stick with the Break Decal mastermind's plans as she's ruined so many people's fun in GBN for the mastermind's drive to destroy GBN just so she can try to get back a beloved Gunpla that she feels she can't accept a Heel–Face Turn. Thankfully for Ayame, Riku and Sarah are stubborn and kind-hearted enough to help her through and make the turn.
• Maria no Danzai: After Maria kills Kowase and disposes of his corpse, she suffers a brief emotional breakdown. Once she calms down, she mutters to herself how many targets she has left to kill before her work is finished.
• In Naruto, Hashirama tries to reason with Madara one last time before their final battle. Madara replies with this trope.
• One Piece: At the end of the Onigashima Raid, Hawkins reveals to X Drake that while he considered asking to become Kid's ally once more, he felt that doing so after betraying him to Kaido once would've been disgraceful (not that Kid would've accepted him either way). Instead, he calculated that he had a 1% chance of surviving the Raid, and grimly decided to fight on and accept whatever happened to him.
• School Zone Girls: This trope is the mantra and motivation of Fuji Matsuri, a high school girl who's blown 80,000 yen on a crane game trying to win a 2,000 yen stuffed animal.
• In Tokyo Shinobi Squad, supermodel Maki Mizuno refuses to back out of a career-boosting runway show because she went through hell to make it in the modeling business. She remains undeterred even when she's told that she's getting targeted by assassins for her position in the show.

Comic Books

• In Disney Ducks Comic Universe, the second time Flintheart Glomgold tries to beat Scrooge McDuck in a contest of wealth, Glomgold resorts to trickery to win: "I've betrayed my dear old mother's fondest hopes! I've turned myself into a scoundrel — all to win the title of world's richest duck! I've got to win!"
• The Killing Joke: At the end, Batman tries to reason with the Joker, insisting that they've got to stop before one of them kills the other and offering to help rehabilitate him. Joker briefly considers the offer before solemnly turning it down.
  Joker: No. I'm sorry, but... no. It's too late for that. Far too late.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Geoffrey St. John has been working as Ixis Naugus' apprentice for years, trying to make him king of the Kingdom of Acorn under the belief he could strengthen the kingdom and prevent the deaths of many people. He ultimately succeeds, but finds out the hard way he made a terrible mistake and Naugus is just a power-hungry tyrant when he discovers Naugus intends Mass Hypnosis to subject the Council to his will, an equivalent of roboticization; sadly, he's prevented from turning on him when Naugus points out Geoffrey has burnt all his bridges and none of the Freedom Fighters would believe him if he tried to tell them. Realizing he's come too far and has no other options, Geoffrey solemnly agrees, even telling Silver as such when he tries to recruit him for help.
  Geoffrey: Like I said, it's too late for me. You've got a future to save, I... don't. See you around, kid.
• In World War Hulk, the Earth-based heroes and the Warbound start swapping "too far!"s like trading cards.

Fan Works

Crossovers

• The reason Spike doesn't reveal that he accidentally killed Prince Blueblood in the first chapter of The Dragon's Notebook is that he believes that he's already done too much.
• In A New World A New Conflict, this is what Sev feels about his hatred of humans and why he can't let it go: "I want the hatred to stop, but my heart still holds it close. If I forget it, then I will forget my friends who’ve…died helping me fight them. What would they have thought of me if I renounce everything right now? Weak, that is what."
• Peace of Mind, Piece of Heart: Catra rebuffs Steven's attempts to learn more about her on the basis that she's guilty of far too many atrocities to deserve any sort of kindness.
  Catra: Dammit! Don't you know a lost cause when you see one?
• RWBY: Epic of Remnant: Right before Roman Torchwick tries to kill Ruby Rose by blowing up a Fire Dust crystal, he hesitates, asking himself how he went from a thief to a murderer. He then decides he's in too deep with Cinder Fall's organization to back out now.
• This And That: Iori Discusse this with Roland before sending him to the Library of Ruina, bringing up all the bridges she burned in the process of taking him under her wing as her apprentice.
• When they activate in The Winx Club Loops, the Trix reveal they had realized how bad they had become in baseline, but felt they had done far too much evil to be ever accepted back. This leads to them trying to atone the very moment they start Looping.

Arrow

• Blackbird: Part of Dinah's "rationale" (the rest is pure Insane Troll Logic) for trading Laurel for Sara to the League of Assassins. She's finally found Sara and is unwilling to let her go now; and acknowledges that between abandoning Laurel after the Gambit sank and letting Sara get on the Gambit, she's already lost Laurel. But she won't lose Sara too.

Hellaverse

• Revelation: While preparing to go on a Suicide Mission in an attempt to prevent Stolas' execution, Moxxie pleads with Octavia to save herself. Octavia retorts that she hasn't come this far just to turn away now.

Highschool of the Dead

• World of the Dead: In chapter 3, Takashi rejects Saya's suggestion that they eventually end it all, stating they've come too far to give up now.

The Legend of Spyro

• In The Legend of Spyro: A New Dawn, Deadlock turns Pyrus' plea for her to stop down because she believes she can't turn back anymore.

Lilo & Stitch

• In Starlight Series, Experiment 628 argues that it's too late for him, that he's 'chosen his path' and there can only be destruction upon it after Lilo offers him forgiveness and a new life.

Love Hina

• The Beast That I Am: One of Keitaro's biggest issues is his reluctance to do anything that might change the status quo, such as punishing or evicting the abusive tenants or applying to another school. To his mind, that would invalidate all the years of effort he's already invested. Problem is, not only is the status quo incredibly toxic (for instance, the story opens with Naru assaulting Keitaro for daring to get changed in his own room), Shinobu gaining She-Hulk's powers means that things will change regardless of what he wants.

Mega Man

• Limitless Potential: By the time X arrives to challenge Chill Penguin, the Reploid is having serious second thoughts about throwing his lot in with Sigma's rebellion. However, he decides that he can't turn back at this point and fights to the bitter end.

Miraculous Ladybug

• Cut My Life Into Pieces, This Is My Last Resort: After Marinette is seemingly killed by one of Truth Bomb's explosions, Hawkmoth is absolutely horrified — all the more so when the death sticks and isn't reversed by the Miraculous Cure. While he seriously contemplates retiring, he ultimately decides that he can't give up when he's come so far already, much to Mayura's disappointment. However, he later goes to great lengths to make sure his Akumas can never truly harm civilians ever again.
• Missing: While Hawkmoth is deeply disturbed upon realizing that one of his akumas caused Marinette's disappearance, he convinces himself that he must continue; otherwise, what happened to her will have been All for Nothing.
• True Blue opens this way, with Marinette deeply regretting everything she did at Hawkmoth's command. While still offering to help the heroes, she doesn't consider this to be proper atonement, convinced that she's beyond redemption.

My Hero Academia

• Venality has several members of the League, including Shoto, Ochako and Momo, start to regret their actions over the course of the series, believing that the League has lost sight of its original goals of fixing the issues in Hero Society. However, they all recognize that they're too embroiled in the conflict to simply back down now, and continue fighting in hopes that whatever comes of the war will ultimately be better.
• In Viridescent, Himiko sincerely regrets her villainous actions, but also believes that she's already Beyond Redemption.
• Whispered Tribulation: Aizawa and his co-conspirators refuse to accept the notion that he might have leapt to all the wrong conclusions about Izuku, as they already kidnapped and attempted to torture a False Confession out of him. Admitting they were wrong would mean facing that their horrific treatment of one of U.A.'s students was All for Nothing, so they double down.

RWBY

• Tournament Arc: Pyrrha is firmly convinced that nobody could ever love her for being anything less than The Ace. After she pushes Jaune away by hitting him with a Breaking Speech, she's convinced that she's completely beyond forgiveness and has nothing left in life but to continue pursuing perfection.

Super Smash Bros.

• Steal Your Way In: Yoshi's crimes pile up from tax fraud, to stealing from someone's bank account, to screwing over a political rival and more, and eventually his narration stops even pretending to feel guilty about it.
  I've gotten myself in too deep. I'm not backing down anymore.
  There's no point.

Temeraire

• In Black Wings, Black Sails, William Laurence has become a dangerous pirate with a penchant for attacking the slave trade, with an ever-growing bounty on his head, and knows full well that the moment he's captured, he's going to be executed. The events of this story's premise have so soured him to the concept of duty to his country that he figures he'll just have to do as much as he can before his time runs out.

Umineko: When They Cry

• Following the first murder in Redaction of the Golden Witch, the one responsible decides that since they've already got blood on their hands, they might as well kill somebody else so they can make the human sacrifice.

Films — Animated

• Coco: Ernesto's motive for trying to kill Miguel. "I've worked too hard, Héctor! Too hard for him to take away everything!"
• In Finding Nemo, Marlin and Dory have finally made their way to Sydney from the Barrier Reef... only to get scooped up by a hungry pelican. Unfortunately for the pelican, Marlin declares "NO! I DIDN'T COME THIS FAR TO BE BREAKFAST!!".
• Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 rejects the Soothsayer's constant plea for him to stop his quest for conquest. With the only people whose love he craved having died from grief due to his own paranoid actions, he feels he has nothing left to live for anyway.
  Lord Shen: My parents... hated me. Do you understand? They wronged me. I… will make it right.
  Soothsayer: They loved you! They loved you so much, that having to send you away killed them.
  (This gives Shen pause, but then his expression slowly hardens.)
  Lord Shen: (solemnly) The dead exist in the past, and I must tend to the future.
• In Joseph: King of Dreams, Judah is clearly heartbroken as he sees Joseph being dragged away by slave traders, but one of the others dejectedly states that they've gone too far to renege on the deal.
• The Pebble and the Penguin: "I didn't come three thousand miles and lose my best friend to lose to the likes of you!"

Films — Live-Action

• The Avengers (2012):
  • Loki says this almost word for word to Fury when Fury tries to convince him not to declare war on Earth.
    Nick Fury: This doesn't have to get any messier.
    Loki: Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else!
  • Later in the movie, Thor tries to convince his brother to change sides and help to stop the destruction caused by the army that was lent to him, but Loki answers that it's not possible to stop the army anymore. Thor assures him that they can do it together but Loki hesitates for a moment before stabbing Thor with a small dagger and fleeing since he still believes that he has gone too far for redemption.
• In Captain Phillips, the lead pirate says "I go too far, Irish", when Captain Phillips (whom the pirates call "Irish"), suggests that they need to surrender because the U.S. Navy will never let them get away.
• The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday
  Sam Longwood: I've survived two avalanches, three blizzards, five Indian uprisings and seven presidential elections, but I've never been owned by no woman nor dog...and I've come too far down the road to let it happen to me now.
• In The Goonies, Mikey in his Rousing Speech mentions that together they managed to come further than the professional Adventurer Archaeologist, Chester Copperpot, which should be enough incentive to keep going searching for the Pirate Booty of One-Eyed Willy.
  Mikey: Don't you see? Don't you realize? [Chester Copperpot] was a pro! He never made it this far. Look how far we've come. We've got a chance.
• Played for Laughs in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. The two leave their apartment and head to the elevator, stoned, on their titular quest. Kumar notices he forgot his cellphone. When Harold offers to run back and get it, he quickly declares, "No...we've gone too far already." It is literally right down the hall.
• In Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Chance admonishes Shadow (who was admitting defeat after seeming to have broken one of his legs, saying he was too old to keep going after such an injury and survive).
  Chance: [to Shadow] You pushed me this far, now I'm pushing you the rest of the way! You know, back in the woods, even when things looked really bad, I always thought we'd make it because I thought you were too stubborn to quit! Well, you're not going to quit, not now, not when we're this close! Now, try again!
• Elsa Schneider from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comes too far in her quest to possess the Holy Grail to leave it behind. Despite Indiana's warnings not to take it, Elsa says, "But it's all our Indy, yours and mine" as she triggers a Cataclysm Climax. During the subsequent Literal Cliffhanger, Elsa reaches for the grail, but her hand comes up inches short. Meanwhile, Indiana tells her to stop because her glove is slipping off. But Elsa, seeing how close her hand is, desperately repeats, "I can reach it." Unwilling to give up the grail after coming so far, Elsa ultimately loses her life when the glove slips off and she falls. In the PC adventure game, Elsa replies to Indiana's continued warnings about the seal with "No! I don't believe it! I won't lose it now!"
• In Labyrinth, Sarah declares "I'm not giving up now, I've come too far!" when she is in the oubliette.
• The Lone Ranger: The Captain joins the villains because, by the time he finds out what's going on, he's already killed too many innocent Native Americans and would be held responsible for their deaths.
• In The Mad Magician, Don Gallico acknowledges that he's beyond all saving as he prepares to murder Bruce and that when the time comes for the legal system to come down hard on him, he'd rather be electrocuted since he'll be going to hell anyway.
  Don Gallico: No thank you, I'll take the chair!
• The Matrix Revolutions:
  Morpheus: Can we make it?
  Niobe: We ain't come this far...
• The Quick and the Dead (the Louis L'Amour adaptation, not the more famous similarly titled work), has the Mantle brothers debate just what is too far. By that point, it's become clear that the family they're pursuing doesn't have any valuables and there's no reason left to pursue them besides avenging the dead outlaws from their Dwindling Party and raping Susanna. The bad weather is making it hard to track them and the family's Mysterious Protector promises trouble if they do catch them. Purdy Mantle repeatedly shows discomfort with the pursuit, and Ike initially scoffs at this but comes to understand Purdy's position (unlike in the book) while still being unable to embrace it.
  Ike: I wanna tell you something, little brother. I'm kinda sorry I ain't been listening to you.
  Purdy: It ain't too late, Ike.
  Ike: Yeah, it is. 'Cause we've done come too far.
  Ike rides ahead while Purdy lingers back, thinking.
  Purdy: It ain't never too late, unless you're dead.
  Purdy turns his horse in the opposite direction and rides off.
• In Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker tries to convince his father, Darth Vader, to make a Heel–Face Turn. Vader says "It is... too late for me, son." He's already realized that what he's doing is wrong, but believes he's so far beyond the possibility of redemption that it would be pointless to try. Later in the movie, he changes his mind when Luke is about to be murdered by the Emperor. Redemption Equals Death ensues.
  • Later works would turn this into Vader's defining character trait. By the time of the original trilogy, there is nothing left of Anakin Skywalker but hatred - of himself, most of all - but he feels that he is too far beyond redemption.
• In Rogue One, when Jyn wants to steal the Death Star plans but doesn't have the support of the rebel leaders who would prefer surrender than going on such suicidal mission, Cassian joins her along with a couple of men, saying that they've done too many dirty things for the rebellion and it all would be for nothing if they just give up.
• Played for Laughs in Tromeo and Juliet. Upon discovering that they are brother and sister, Tromeo and Juliet declare "Fuck it, we've come this far," and move to the suburbs and raise a family of deformed children.

Literature

• Towards the end of A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge has a Heel Realization, but still desperately clings onto the idea that he's come too far to become a good person, saying that he's both too old and has done things that are unforgivable. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come still makes it Scrooge's task to at least try to become better, no matter how impossible or hopeless it might seem.
• A Song of Ice and Fire: This is Daenerys Targaryen's dilemma whenever she has to compromise on her values, particularly when she starts ruling Meereen from A Storm of Swords onward. Her Arc Words echoes this.
  Daenerys: If I look back, I am lost.
• In Star Wars Legends, Ben Skywalker's Sith girlfriend Vestara Khai has a serious case of Heel–Face Revolving Door stemming from this. Because of her love for Ben she desperately wants to join him as a Jedi, but after pulling a Pushed at the Monster on another Jedi to save his life, she convinces herself that there's no room for her in the Light and over the course of the series goes from Sith apprentice to full-fledged Sith Lord while still longing to rejoin Ben. Due to the fact that he had descendants it can be assumed she was eventually successful, but due to the Continuity Reboot after Star Wars: Crucible we may never know for sure.
• Station Eleven: Hinted by the Prophet's last words, when Kirsten quotes the comic book that they both grew up reading in a manner designed to make him think about what he's doing. He is clearly affected, but still remains steadfast and cocks his gun.
  Kirsten: We have been lost for so long. We long only for the world we were born into.
  The Prophet: But it's too late for that.

Live-Action TV

• In the Alias episode "All the Time in the World":
  Irina Derevko: I've come too far to let anything get in my way.
• Angel: The main villain of Season 3, Daniel Holtz, is a vampire hunter whose life was utterly destroyed by Angelus; his entire motive throughout the season is getting revenge on Angel for doing so, soul or not, and making him suffer by any means possible, up to kidnapping Angel's newborn son Connor, taking him to a hell dimension, and raising him as a Tyke-Bomb to make him hate Angel and eventually kill him. In the penultimate episode, Holtz and Connor return to Earth, and he convinces his Dragon Justine to help kill him in a manner that frames Angel for the deed as part of his final revenge. Holtz's final words make it clear he realizes how far he's fallen and that he's most likely going to Hell for what he's done, but he sees no reason to stop anymore.
  Holtz: You promised. You said you'd do anything for me. Come on, Justine. I'm not asking you to follow me into hell. Just help send me there. Do it!
• In the Babylon 5 episode "Knives", despite expressing doubts about the political games that he's been playing for years, Londo Mollari continues to carry on with his co-conspirators on Centari Prime, and the alliance with the Shadows, as he feels that there's too much blood on his hands.
  Londo: I have made many choices lately, Vir. And today, for the first time I am not sure those choices were right.
  Vir: Perhaps some good has come out of this tragedy. It's not too late to make some new choices.
  Londo: No. The blood is already on my hands. Right or wrong, I must follow the path to its end.
• Breaking Bad: In "Rabid Dog", when Walt reluctantly confesses that Jesse tried to burn the house down, Skyler thinks that their best option is to kill Jesse because he's become a threat to them. Walt vehemently argues against that idea, but Skyler states they've already done many terrible things to get this far, what's one more?
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • In Season 4, the villainous Maggie Walsh says "I've come too far to let some little blonde stop me." She then activates her supersoldier prototype Adam, which promptly kills her.
  • After releasing a magic plague over London, causing people to painfully mutate into monsters, Angel forces Whistler to look at what he's done to innocents in an attempt to get through to him. While he is briefly swayed and appears unsure, Whistler brushes it off, telling Angel that no matter what, he's come too far in his plans to stop now.
• In the infamous ER episode "Love's Labor Lost", as Mark struggles with a complicated delivery, Susan urges him to wait for OB. Mark name-drops this trope, adding on "...and I'm going to see it through!" Unfortunately, what's meant to be a rallying cry for him ends up being completely averted — the woman dies and the baby barely survives.
• Game of Thrones:
  • After Theon Greyjoy spends a whole season kicking dogs to better fit in with his brutal family, and the payoff is finally inevitable:
    Maester Luwin: "I've known you many years, Theon Greyjoy. You're not the man you're pretending to be."
    Theon: "You may be right... but I've gone too far to pretend to be anything else."
  • In season 3, Theon acknowledges that the Starks were his real family, not the Greyjoys, but by that point, he's done so much to hurt them that he knows they will never accept him again.
    Theon: "My real father lost his head at King's Landing. I made a choice, and I chose wrong. And now I've burned everything down."
  • In Season 6, Jaime Lannister seems aware that his continuing support for his sister Cersei is this. His exhausted, sad tone suggests that some part of him knows Cersei is insane and her obsessive pursuit of power is dragging him and all of Westeros to hell with her, but he feels their relationship has gone on too long for him to turn on her now.
  Olenna Tyrell: If she's driven you this far, then it's gone beyond your control.
  Jaime Lannister: Yes. It has.
• Kamen Rider Build: Gentoku Himuro spent a decade as a power-hungry tyrant because of the Sky Wall incident. When the effects were removed, he had a Heel Realization but decided that he was so deep he might just as well keep on digging until he came out on the other side.
• Power Rangers Wild Force: Said word for word by Master Org when Princess Shayla reminds him of his former life and calls him by his old name (Dr. Adler). He rejects the idea of turning back, having come too far, and wouldn't go back even if he wanted to.
• Supernatural:
  • Invoked by Lilith on Sam, daring him to use his demon-fueled powers to kill her since it would be a waste for him to turn himself into a monster for the purpose of killing her and then get cold feet at the last second. This successfully goads Sam into killing her, therefore releasing Lucifer. All according to plan.
  • Lilith herself seems to begin having second thoughts about freeing Lucifer as she gets closer to breaking the required amount of seals, though this is mostly because she herself must die in order for him to be free rather than due to any remorse. Unfortunately, she soon resigns herself to her fate once everything's in order.

Religion

• Defied by Orthodox Christianity: the idea of being beyond redemption is a lie, and such thoughts are sent by demons to drive sinners to despair and suicide. As long as they at least repent and tries to avoid sinning in such a way, God will forgive. Only after death is their fate truly sealed... and even then, until The Last Judgement, there's a chance for such people to be saved by God, if someone will pray to Him, even for those who committed suicide. Though to truly repent regarding sin is to never commit it again.
  • There's a story about a Christian who was constantly (or even every day) defeated by the demon of lust, but who constantly repented. This continued for more than ten years...once he committed it again and fell on his knees in the temple, begging God for mercy. Satan himself appeared and raged against God, proclaiming that he committed only one sin of pride, and He didn't pardon him, but He constantly forgave that fornicator, even though he committed many more sins (of course, Satan thought asking God for pardon was beneath him). The God rebuked him for hypocrisy: Satan constantly takes a person as his when they sin, so why can't God, being an All-Loving Hero, do the same if a man repents? He adds that He will forgive this man if he falls a thousand times, and repents after that. The God then reminded Satan that He judges people by the state of their soul at the moment of their death, and now He will take this man as His, as this person didn't despair and had faith in God's mercy. After that, this man died, and the angels brought his soul to God.

Tabletop Games

• In Poker, this is the basic idea behind being "pot committed." Basically, it's when a player has already bet so much of their available stack (of money, chips, or what have you) versus how much is already in the pot that folding is no longer a sound strategy no matter how low the odds of success are. The challenge is knowing when that point arrives; many players have busted out of tournaments for behaving as if they're pot committed (i.e. rather aggressive) when they should have played more conservatively.

Theatre

• In Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, just as Judge Turpin enters his establishment, allowing him to bring his revenge scheme to fruition, Sweeney is pestered again by the Beggar Woman. Declaring "I have no time!", he slits her throat and goes to meet with the judge. It's not that this was really more evil than his usual actions (he had been killing his customers for some time), but it still shows him being willing to sacrifice others to achieve his goals and it comes back to bite him, as the Beggar Woman turns out to be Sweeney's wife- the entire reason for his revenge plan.
• William Shakespeare:
  • Macbeth: "I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er."
• Richard III when he announces his plan to kill his nephews and marry his niece to secure his claim: "But I am in / So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin / Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye."

Video Games

• In Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Dr. Schroeder spends most of the game collecting flight data from each sortie that Mihaly takes in order to improve Erusea's drone army. However, at Anchorhead Bay, he witnesses first hand the chaos and destruction that the drone army has caused, and he also sees that the AIs controlling the drones are smarter than he had originally realized. Despite this, he uploads the data into the drone factory underneath the Lighthouse, because the project was nearing completion. He only relents when Ionela destroys the chip containing the data and calls him out on his motivations to avenge his homeland of Belka, though he admits that he cannot stop the upload he already started prior to their confrontation.
• In Baldur's Gate III, if the Player Character manages to find the letter from the late Melodia Thorm they can use it to attempt Talking the Monster to Death with her husband, Arc Villain General Ketheric Thorm. He initially resists for this reason, before expressing resentment towards the gods after they allowed his wife and daughter to die after he served them faithfully and going into a Villainous BSoD. If the player continues trying to redeem him after catching up to him following his Villain: Exit, Stage Left, he's Driven to Suicide, allowing them to skip the first phase of the boss fight.
• A phrase often said by Litchi Faye-Ling in BlazBlue, she's done too much in trying to save Arakune, including corrupting herself to the same corruption that turned him to the creature he is, and later on, joining the NOL main branch that she personally is uneasy with. If she would stop like how everyone told her to, then all the things she has done to herself would be in vain and she would be doomed with the fate of dying earlier than everyone else or at worst, becoming the next Arakune. That being said, unlike most examples, she's capable of feeling remorse of what she must do (and does show it), but treated it like it was the only path available for her. Interestingly, both the second and third games show that she hasn't gone too far. While the example in the second game can be chalked up to it being non-canon, the third game Retcons it in the middle of the game because the main characters were Trapped by Mountain Lions in what was otherwise the climax, sending her back to the villain's side and having her not attempt her previous (and effective) plan that she did hours before for no reason.
• Leliana of Dragon Age: Inquisition has gone from a sweet, funny bard to something of a Sociopathic Hero spymaster who will do anything to protect those fighting the forces of evil. If one early conversation with her does not go the right way (ordering her to spare the life of a traitor) later pleas for reason invoke this trope.
• Dyztopia: Post-Human RPG: Prime Minister Morgalia actually resents being a pawn of Zeta, but she still follows their plans because defying them would mean all the crimes she committed for her family's sake would be for nothing.
• By the latter part of the third disc of Final Fantasy VIII, it's clear to everyone including Seifer himself that there's no longer anything he could possibly stand to gain from continuing to oppose Squall and company. When confronted for the third and final boss fight against him, however, he refuses to back down, declaring that he's come too far to turn back now, even though his victory condition would now mean the end of the world. By the end of the game, while he is not at all reconciled with Squall, he has in fact turned back, and both of them have apparently decided to live and let live.
• In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Serah is sent to a Lotus-Eater Machine by Caius Ballad. Once there, she is offered a choice by an illusion of her sister, Lightning, to stay with her there in that world. If the player accepts the choice, it results in a Paradox Ending, followed by being dumped back to the same scenario. Once the player finally has her refuse Lightning's offer, she narrates that she couldn't do it, that everyone else had given her hope and there was no way she could desert them.
• The Last Spartan in God of War II says, "I have come too far to fail," right before you fight him.
• The Last of Us: During the Salt Lake City chapter, Joel begins to have second thoughts about delivering Ellie to the Fireflies, and urges her to just come back with him to Tommy's and been done with it. Ellie is undeterred, as she's taken dozens of lives and watched several people she cared about die on the way.
  Ellie: After all we've been through? Everything that I've done...it can't be for nothing.
• By the time The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker starts, Hyrule has been buried under the ocean thanks to The Great Flood. Ganondorf has lost his bid to become King and the Gerudo, the people he originally fought for, are extinct. He still hunts for the Triforce to bring Hyrule back, and when that plan is foiled, he dies in a suicidal final duel against Link and Zelda.
• Left 4 Dead 2: The intro video has "I have not... come this far... to die now!" from Nick. He will also say it randomly while critically wounded during "The Parish", the final campaign in the game chronologically.
• Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!: When Larry is about to enter Captain Thygh's cabin, he sees the previous week's winner in horrid shape warning him not to go in there and the narrator asking if he is sure that he wants to continue. Larry responds by saying "I made it this far, I'm not quitting now!" and continuing.
• Trying and failing to redeem Aribeth in Neverwinter Nights will result in her spouting this trope at you.
• General Azimuth pulls this in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, right before the final boss fight.
  Azimuth: I'm sorry, Ratchet! I've come too far to fail now!
• Resident Evil 2 (Remake): In the Ghost Survivors DLC, you play as a Red Shirt USS operative code-named "Ghost" sent on a mission to retrieve Golgotha Virus from Dr. Birkin. The whole mission goes south after Birkin injects himself with the same virus and kills Ghost's entire squad one by one. As a Sole Survivor, instead of escaping the facility that's about to self-destruct empty-handed, he fights through hordes of zombies to get the virus and finish his mission.
• Spider-Man (PS4): Martin Li/Mister Negative has a vendetta against Norman Osborn, but it's hinted at several times throughout the game that he isn't as fully committed to it as he'd like to be. When snooping around his office, Peter finds a journal entry written on the day of Fisk's arrest, as well as an audio recording, where he openly questions if he can actually go through with his plan, knowing full well that if he succeeds, all the good he has done with the F.E.A.S.T. Foundation will be ruined. He even contemplates turning back and acknowledges his actions are he's becoming a monster, but ultimately concludes it's too late.
  Li: Wilson Fisk has been arrested. I can barely believe it. The day I've planned for — dreamed of — is finally here... but for some reason, I hesitate. Can I really go through with this? Things will happen quickly if I give the word. My men will claim Fisk's arms, his explosives... his secrets. We'll use that knowledge to teach Norman true pain. He'll know what it is to see the things he loves most destroyed by his own hands... But achieving that end will mean giving up so much. Everything I've built here at F.E.A.S.T. — all the good I've done — could be wiped out if my plan succeeds. My chance is finally here yet still I hesitate... should I turn back? A part of me wants to... but the Demon is hungry... and I don't think I'm strong enough to hold it back...
• Count Bleck in Super Paper Mario. He does one of these every time Nastasia tries to talk him out of his goal to destroy worlds, and even when he sees his former love Timpani again and she asks him why he's doing it. Interestingly, he later does have a Heel–Face Turn after being defeated by Mario and his friends.
• This is one of two reasons the Abraxas the Big Bad of Tears to Tiara 2 decided to cause The End of the World as We Know It even after realizing he's wrong and his master Simon was right. The other is Demonic Possession.
• The player gets what is essentially a moment of this during Undertale's True Final Boss: If your health reaches 0, the normal animation of your SOUL breaking in half begins to play... only instead of it shattering into pieces, it reforms with the message "But it refused." and you return to full health, indicating that your sheer determination is preventing you from giving up when the whole Underground's fate is on the line.
• In the Legion expansion for World of Warcraft, the final boss of the Vault of the Wardens dungeon is the former Warden Cordana Felsong, who has turned traitor on her world and everything she used to hold dear in order to achieve her goals. Towards the end of the boss fight, when she's about to be defeated, she screams this almost verbatim: "I will not be stopped! I have fought too long, sacrificed too much! Victory must be mine!".
• Chester Stoddart in Ys: The Oath in Felghana. He feels like he's committed too many sins to turn back in his quest for revenge, and keeps going down further and further until Adol and his sister snap him out of it.

Visual Novels

• In one of the endings of Saya no Uta, where Kouji says that he's gone too far and all that he can see now in front of him is his own demise since he has finally crossed that line of no return.

Web Comics

• In The Order of the Stick, Redcloak forces himself to believe that every goblin (including his brother) that died in service to The Plan has been necessary, unlike his brother, who felt that years after they brought Xykon in they should have eliminated him and tried something else. The advantage of this is that he can go on denying any responsibility for the horrific things he has done in the name of the plan, and both Xykon and Right-Eye have pointed this out to him. When he's offered a chance to get everything he ever wanted, he refuses because it would mean it was All for Nothing... or, to put it another way, that he was wrong.

Western Animation

• In the penultimate episode of Amphibia, Sprig reads King Andrias a letter from his ancestor and Andrias' best friend, Leif, encouraging him to open his heart and not let himself grow cold. The realization that Leif still remembered and loved him until the end of her life causes Andrias to collapse to his knees, crying that the things he has done has made him Beyond Redemption. Unusually for this trope, he does survive and become The Atoner, although it's clear that he does not expect forgiveness.
  Andrias: All this time I thought you had forgotten me. Like I tried to forget you. [tears well up in his eyes] My dear friend... [collapses to his knees, sobbing] But you're too late. The things I've done, the pain I've caused. THERE'S NO GOING BACK!
• In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fire Lord Sozin is implied to have felt at the end of his life that his life was a waste. Even though he regretted beginning the Hundred Year War, causing genocides, and betraying his best friend to his death, he had simply grown too old to change anything or try to make amends for what he had done. He ultimately died humbled and regretful, unable to take any joy in his accomplishments and only able to think back to a time "everything was so much brighter".
  • In the sequel comics, it's implied Azula has a subconcious version of this going on; when confronted with spirit visions that urge her to seek redemption, she is visibly freaked out but doubles down on her worldview that redemption and apologies are for the weak. Since the visions were only using her own thoughts as a basis, this can be interpreted as Azula deep down knowing full well that she's in the wrong but feeling she has done too much.
• Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix, after Gwen had just been eaten by a Florouna (Wildvine) and Azmuth refuses to turn off the Omnitrix, which is about to self-destruct...
  Ben as Cannonbolt: I've come too far! I've lost too much to be stopped now!
• In Gravity Falls episode "Not What He Seems", this is Stan's reasoning to activate the portal's full power to save his brother Ford despite the journal's warnings about using it in extreme manners.
  Stan: Can it, Poindexter! I've come this far. I'm not giving up now!
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Shadow Weaver does ultimately realize she's hurt everyone, and it's what leads her to sacrifice herself in the end. By the time she's confronted with the horrible things she's done, she's already wasted her lifetime being selfish and abusive that the damage is just too grave for her to make amends. She even tells Catra it's simply too late for her to change her ways while Catra has her entire life ahead of her to make up for her own mistakes.

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