History Main / WhyCouldntYouSaveThem

'''WARNING: As this is a DeathTrope, spoilers below will be unmarked.'''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[TitleDrop Why Couldn't You Save Them?]]

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', when Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes are tied up next to barrels of oil, each independently expecting Batman to save him or her. 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]].

This is basically when a character is saved from being killed/infected/captured/whatever, but his/her friends aren't and s/he hates the fact that s/he lost them all just because TheHero or the rescue team only had time to save him/her.

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 he [[TheMole set the whole thing up]] in order to separate you from your friends.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the Buu saga, Goku and Vegeta picked up [[ChekhovsGunman Hercule]] 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.

* [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Snow]] gets this a lot from Hope early on. He spends a significant amount of the game trying to answer why.

* 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.

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

->"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!'''"

->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!'''

[[folder: Comic Book]]

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* Invoked in ''Discworld/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.

[[TitleDrop Why Couldn't YouS ave Them?]]

[[TitleDrop WhyCouldntYouSaveThem]]

WhyCouldntYouSaveThem

* One ''{{Superman}}'' story had a woman chiding 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.

[[folder: Comic Book]]
* One ''{{Superman}}'' story had a woman chiding 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.
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* 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.

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 he [[TheMole set the whole thing up]] in order to separate you from your friends.

Alright, 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!

Subtrope of ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike. Related to SurvivorGuilt, and to the 1st listed outcome of ItsAllMyFault where it turns into [[NeverMyFault blaming someone else]].

* Heather Ross from ''TraumaCenter'', after Emilio's death.

* Madison from ''AlphaProtocol'', if you rescue her instead of defusing the bomb in the museum.
* In the first ''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: have gotten Magneto as DLC; only he can save both.]]

This is basically when a character is saved from being killed/infected/captured/whatever, but his/her friends aren't and s/he hates the fact that s/he lost them all just because the rescue team only had time for him/her.

* A large part of Katniss' trauma after the events of the second Quarter Quell in ''TheHungerGames:CatchingFire'' 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.

* 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]].