Basic Trope: A character rejects or ignores another character's apology.
- Straight: Bob apologizes to Alice for accidentally ruining her favorite shirt, but Alice rejects his apology.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob apologizes to Alice for accidentally stepping on her foot — but Alice beats him up badly, leaving him helpless.
- Alice shuns Bob before he could ever apologize to her.
- Bob comes to Alice's house to apologize, only for Alice to chase him away with a shotgun before he can even speak.
- Downplayed:
- Bob apologizes to Alice for accidentally ruining her favorite shirt, but although not quite angry, Alice ignores him.
- Alice acknowledges that Bob is genuinely remorseful but doesn't answer out of spite.
- Alice gave a sarcastic "apology accepted" to Bob.
- Alice may genuinely want to forgive Bob, but she doesn't feel that she's able to because she's frightened that Bob will make the same mistake again.
- Alice does forgive Bob, but it's going to take a lot more than a simple apology to earn her trust back.
- Justified:
- Bob needs to learn that a simple "sorry" isn't going to fix everything.
- Bob's actions, such as raping Alice or killing her family, were really that bad. A verbal apology will not cover anything.
- Alice is just a Jerkass who always holds grudges.
- Alice sees that forgiving someone who wronged you is a sign of weakness
- Alice doesn't think that Bob's apology was truly sincere, because he was forced to.
- Bob was genuinely remorseful, but the emotional wound is too soon for Alice, and Bob's apology was unintentionally rubbing salt on her wounds. After all, the reason why her favorite shirt was her favorite is because it held very sentimental value to her.
- A long time ago, Alice forgave someone who wronged her, only for that person to do it again. She vowed to herself to never forgive someone ever again.
- Bob Apologizes a Lot when it really isn't called for, so others reject his unwarranted apologies.
- Bob's "apology" conveniently leaves out the worst of his actions, and subtly places blame on Alice herself. To add insult to injury, Bob's apology angered Alice even further since the former believes that a single apology will undo all damages.
- Alice had forgiven Bob one too many times, but only for Bob to continue to mistreat Alice again and again. She then becomes frustrated and betrayed, that Bob won't learn his lesson, and she finally reaches her Rage Breaking Point. Whether or not Alice felt she Was Too Hard on Him or sees that as the only way Bob will learn, Alice does not forgive Bob this time.
- Bob's apology comes long after the fact; Alice considers it "too little, too late".
- Alice doesn't believe Bob's "crime" necessitates an apology.
- Alice would rather play the victim card than forgive Bob so she rejects his apologies.
- Bob is a bully and Alice has realized that to forgive him would effectively just give him a pardon and let him continue as he pleases. So she rejects his apology on the grounds he's just asking for permission to continue bully her.
- Bob is chiefly apologizing because he knows he’ll soon need something from Alice. Alice knows this, so she rejects his apology.
- The apology was lame to begin with; whether it's a cheap Apology Gift or a half-assed verbal apology, it was worth rejecting on Alice's part.
- Inverted:
- Redemption Rejection: Alice gave Bob a Last-Second Chance to apologize to her, but Bob refuses.
- Bob never apologizes to Alice, but Alice forgives him anyway.
- Bob consistently refuses to forgive himself, despite everyone else forgiving him.
- Bob apologized but Alice refuses to forgive him out of spite, instead choosing to run his name through the mud and keep playing the victim card. Eventually, Bob gives up after seeing that Alice will never forgive him and it's not worth it.
- Subverted:
- It's found out that Alice got over her grudge and forgives Bob completely.
- The argument lasted so long that Alice forgot they were fighting.
- Double Subverted:
- But then Bob makes another mistake, perhaps ruining something else that Alice really cared about - and Alice vows to never forgive him.
- Alice revealed that she lied to Bob just to spite him.
- Parodied: It appears that the majority of people were angry with Bob for accidentally stepping on Alice's shoe and insists that he apologizes to her, but as he did so, Alice kicks Bob on the groin.
- Zig Zagged: After holding onto her grudge for a month and abusing Bob every time she saw him, Alice later finds out that the mistake he made was an accident. Feeling guilty for how she treated Bob, she goes to him to apologize - only he won't forgive her now.
- Averted: Alice accepts Bob's apology.
- Enforced: "We need a Downer Ending for the episode of Troperville. Let's have Alice reject Bob's apology."
- Lampshaded:
- "I thought that you weren't the type to hold a grudge."
- "He's practically crawling and begging for forgiveness, Alice. Just what did Bob do to you that was so unforgivable?"
- Invoked: Alice was convinced by Bob's rival to never forgive him.
- Implied:
- Exploited: Because Alice knows that Bob is truly sorry for her actions, she acts unforgiving towards him in a way for him to make up for what he did.
- Defied: Alice didn't say anything after Bob apologized, only giving him a withering look. After that, she stopped responding to his texts and calls.
- Rejecting Bob's apology would make her look like like an unforgiving jerk in front of everyone, so Alice, albeit sour grapes about it, accepts his apology. But made it clear to Bob that she's still upset with him, and must atone himself to earn her trust again.
- Because Alice is more than likely never going to forgive him for his actions, Bob decides not to apologize to her.
- Discussed:
- "How can you not forgive Bob, Alice? He wants to change for the better."
- "It's too late Bob! Did you actually believe I will accept a mere apology after what you did to me?"
- "You're not sorry, Bob. You never were. You'll just take my forgiveness and abuse it, you'll take it as a pardon to keep hurting me over, and over, and over again. And even if I do scare you into submission, eventually you're going to grow and fester your anger towards me, you'll get your sweet, sweet revenge when it's Best Served Cold. What makes you think I'll just let you get away with it? What makes you think I'm going to forgive you, and trust that you won't continue your hurtful ways? Nothing, Bob. NOTHING. I don't just think, I don't just believe, I KNOW that my forgiveness to you is a big, bold green light for continuing this idiotic cycle of torment. You can't just cut it with begging for forgiveness; There's only one way to end the misery."
- Conversed:
- "How could someone like Alice be so grudging?"
- "I wonder what Bob did to Alice that was so unforgivable?"
- Deconstructed:
- Alice's rejection of Bob's apology earned her the hostile treatment of other characters.
- Because Alice rejected his apology, Bob becomes vengeful and wrathful as he plots to take down Alice for not accepting it.
- Alternatively, Bob was hoping he could at least be on better terms with Alice. But since she rejects his apology, he simply takes it back since she would still feel bitterly the same, apology or not.
- Since Alice never gave an answer to Bob's apology, he keeps trying to apologise because he either; has self-esteem issues, doesn't understand what he did wrong in the first place, can't comprehend her hatred of him, or she keeps putting him through hoops for her forgiveness. Eventually, Bob finally accepts that some things can't be forgiven and some people will choose to hold grudges and play the victim even when it's not in their best interests. This makes Bob accept Alice's hatred of him and hate her too for making him feel guilty for petty reasons.
- Or, because Alice rejected his apology, this has caused Bob to never apologize if he makes the next mistake, devoids himself of pity, and thus beginning his sociopathic lifestyle.
- Reconstructed:
- But Alice has other characters who don't chew her out for her grudge and assures that she has every right to reject Bob's apology, especially if they were victimized by Bob.
- Alice reveals to the characters who chewed her out on why she is so unforgiving is because last time she'd forgiven someone who wronged her only had them doing it again; although not sympathetic, the characters understands why she holds grudges.
- Even if Bob knows Alice will never forgive him, he comes to terms that he respects her decision in not doing and tells the others not to hold against Alice before moving on with his life, vowing to avoid making the same mistakes; after all, he has a share of people that he isn't willing to forgive himself.
- Because Alice is so adamant on not forgiving Bob for his mistake, and to the point of calling him selfish for wanting it despite putting in a genuine effort of atonement, the latter comes to the conclusion that trying to earn her forgiveness is a lost cause and moves on with the encouragement of other, more forgiving people that do acknowledge his efforts. By the time Alice does find it in her to forgive Bob, it's way too late since it's coming from someone who held a grudge against him for an unreasonable amount of time for it to mean anything to him anymore, leaving her despondent as he simply brushes it aside and walks off.
- Bob realizes that a simple apology isn't enough, and does something more meaningful to both earn forgiveness and get back Alice's trust. Alice, seeing how hard Bob has worked to improve himself, does finally forgive him.
- Since Alice refuses to speak to Bob about what happened, Bob can't let it go and starts warping the argument in his head, either punishing himself too much over what happened or he starts blaming Alice for what happened. By the time Alice and Bob see each other again, Bob is overwhelmed with rage and calls her out in front of everyone for making him feel bad and for rejecting his apologies.
- Played For Laughs: Bob broke his back and did everything to earn Alice's forgiveness, from housework to saving her life numerous times but Alice still refuses. Bob's crime? Bob accidentally stepped on her foot.
- Played For Drama:
- Bob ended up killing himself out of despair and believing that ending his life will finally earn his forgiveness. Alice either calls Bob a coward for committing suicide or realized what she has done. Either way, the characters ended up hating her for it, and now Alice begins to know how it feels to never be forgiven.
- Alice's rejection of Bob's apology begins her Start of Darkness.
- Plotted A Good Waste: The only reason Alice turned down Bob's apology was due to his Guilt Complex! where even he doesn't think she or anyone else should forgive him, so it would probably would have insulted him more to accept it.
Back to Rejected Apology or I'll never forgive you!
