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Anime and Manga
"All my days were happy, fun and cheerful. I liked that world and peace in that we had. In that world, there was only thieves who stole wallets and we played who would get him first. But one day they came... that thing came. My friends are dead! My family was killed in front of me! My happy world fell into darkness and despair!
— Hitori explaining his life after DEM oppression, Date A Live
I think it was after you were gone... that I found her diary. I confronted your mother. She apologized to me crying. I didn't understand the big words... But I knew the pain I suffered should've been yours. That you weren't Aceman... and that you were the reason for my suffering. You then meant nothing to me.
— Shiro, reflecting on the day she found out that she was a replacement subject for Ganta in Deadman Wonderland
Now, I have nothing left...No hope...No joy...My life has no meaning anymore...I have no one left to protect...
— Akira Fudo after Miki is murdered, Devilman
You robbed me of the most precious thing I possessed...I would honestly like to cry for you...but all of my tears have dried up...
— Akira Fudo to Ryo Asuka/Satan, DEVILMAN crybaby
Shinji: Nobody wants me. So, everybody can just die.
Rei: Then, what are those hands for?
Shinji: Nobody cares whether I exist or not. Nothing will change. So, everybody can just die.
Rei: Then, what is that heart for?
Shinji: It'd be better if I wasn't here either. So I should just die, too.
Rei: Then, why are you here?
Shinji: Is it okay for me to be here?
(silence)
Rei: Then, what are those hands for?
Shinji: Nobody cares whether I exist or not. Nothing will change. So, everybody can just die.
Rei: Then, what is that heart for?
Shinji: It'd be better if I wasn't here either. So I should just die, too.
Rei: Then, why are you here?
Shinji: Is it okay for me to be here?
(silence)
— End of Evangelion the moment Instrumentality/The Third Impact begins.
Dammit! Why... By letting myself be worshipped as an emissary of God, I was meant to lead everyone... but I can't even save one girl?
— Kugel, after Linaria succumbs to her illness in the second OVA for Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
I'M WEAK!!!!
— Monkey D. Luffy, having a complete psychological meltdown after losing his beloved crew and watching Ace die in One Piece
I was stupid... So stupid...
So this is a Witch. My emotions have all come back to haunt me. I can't remember anything but glimmers of light and regret. Ah, so this is my... despair.
— Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion
The future... isn't needed anymore.
Losing to Chozo. Sukuna's rampage. Kento Nanami's death. Yuji Itadori's resolve... had reached its limit a long time ago.
— Jujutsu Kaisen after Yuji Itadori witness Nobara Kugisaki's death.
Comic Books
Jack Hawksmoor: Is that all you can do? Make cheap, tasteless jokes when your friend dies? Have you given up? Have you given up completely?
The Doctor: It wasn't a joke. But yes, I have given up. Sort of. Look around, Jack. Look at what's happened. Look at what's happening. Face it - no matter what I saw - we're not getting out of this in one piece. Jenny really was the spirit of the twenty-first century. If she's dead, that means the century - and everyone living in it - dies with her. It's time you did what I did, Jack. Not give up. Not exactly. But accept the inevitable. If these are the last moments of the universe, do you really want to spend them whining and fighting?
Hawksmoor: No.
The Doctor: It wasn't a joke. But yes, I have given up. Sort of. Look around, Jack. Look at what's happened. Look at what's happening. Face it - no matter what I saw - we're not getting out of this in one piece. Jenny really was the spirit of the twenty-first century. If she's dead, that means the century - and everyone living in it - dies with her. It's time you did what I did, Jack. Not give up. Not exactly. But accept the inevitable. If these are the last moments of the universe, do you really want to spend them whining and fighting?
Hawksmoor: No.
Stood in firelight, sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night. Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion; bear children, hell-bound as ourselves, go into oblivion. There is nothing else. Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank world. Was Rorschach. Does that answer your questions, Doctor?
— Rorschach, Watchmen
As my beautiful daughter dies, so does something inside me. Hope. The hope of a future. The hope of happiness. The hope of there being a benign force in the universe. It all dies...
— Atrocitus, Red Lanterns #0
Nobody knows me anymore. Even the little kids I remember are old men now. You should have left me in the ice where I belonged, General Fury. Everything I ever loved is gone.
— Captain America, The Ultimates
Ami: Hey... uh— you okay?
Horseshoe's Owner: I don't know who you are, or what you've just done. But it'll come back. Again. And again... It's not actually that nice a night, is it? I felt warmer before. I've been dreaming of this for nearly five years. Connecting to the real world again. Just for a moment... I don't think I can do it anymore. It should feel good... but I'm just scared. And I can't go back. Not to that numbness.
Ami: I get it. I lost everyone. One by one. When I was just a kid. After my mom died, I had... they called it a break. I felt nothing, for years. But now... I have people. Friends who've been through shit too. Who are coming through it. I think it can be done. Things can be put back together. That's what I told the House.
Horseshoe's Owner: I don't want to put things back together. I just want it to stop.
Horseshoe's Owner: I don't know who you are, or what you've just done. But it'll come back. Again. And again... It's not actually that nice a night, is it? I felt warmer before. I've been dreaming of this for nearly five years. Connecting to the real world again. Just for a moment... I don't think I can do it anymore. It should feel good... but I'm just scared. And I can't go back. Not to that numbness.
Ami: I get it. I lost everyone. One by one. When I was just a kid. After my mom died, I had... they called it a break. I felt nothing, for years. But now... I have people. Friends who've been through shit too. Who are coming through it. I think it can be done. Things can be put back together. That's what I told the House.
Horseshoe's Owner: I don't want to put things back together. I just want it to stop.
Fan Works
It was too much for her. She'd never wanted any of this. The flame washed out of her like a torrent; she heard the people behind her burst into flames and die, but she didn't care. If this was the world, she wanted to destroy it. Better that nothing exist, if the Outer Gods were all there was. Humanity would be better off dead.
Nylarathotep tried to speak, but her flames rushed through him, charring him to ash in an instant. But he wasn't dead. He would rise again, she knew, and that knowing infuriated her more.
She gathered her strength. This world would burn. Burn, burn, burn. If it burned hot enough, maybe she would die herself, and not have to live in it.
Nylarathotep tried to speak, but her flames rushed through him, charring him to ash in an instant. But he wasn't dead. He would rise again, she knew, and that knowing infuriated her more.
She gathered her strength. This world would burn. Burn, burn, burn. If it burned hot enough, maybe she would die herself, and not have to live in it.
He knew, somewhere deep inside, that Asuka was not answering because she couldn't. His dreams, his hopes, and everything else he wished for the future simply ebbed away, leaving behind only an empty vacuum.
All those who had meant something to me, all those I had cared for... they were all dead. I had nothing, nothing left. Nothing to expect. No hope.
— Shinji, The One I Love Is..., chapter 12
I went into the bathroom and cried my eyes out. The whole affair had been an elaborate hoax! The two of them probably planned the whole thing just to get back at me. I was devastated, crushed out of any hope. I had nothing to live for. But if I wasn't ever going to be happy again, then I would make sure that they wouldn't be alive to enjoy their happiness.
Someday for sure, I will bring death upon her.
— From Yuyuko Saigyouji's final diary entry, Touhou Tonari
"Linda, it's like this. Christmas is the big time of the year when everybody's supposed to be happy. Santa Claus is comin' to town, ho-ho-ho, all the candy canes and stuff under the tree and Sears catalogs and people freezin' their rear ends off out caroling. So everybody's supposed to love each other and all those good vibes just floating around. But sometimes, if you don't feel the good vibes, that makes it so much worse. Depression increases at Christmas. The fact that it's near the shortest day of the year doesn't help much. Suicides go up. You know what I'm sayin'?"
— Dick Wilson, A Very Kara Christmas
One of the boxes had moved. Was it alive in there? He didn’t want to see. He stepped back and away from this nightmare; away from the dangerous edge. But it was too late. He had slipped now, and the abyss was swallowing him up. What had been an assault from a solitary invader was now a raid by an unceasing army. They had been built too many and too quick. He was not special at all. He was just another blank faced boy hanging from a wall.
He was Mecha; built specific; just another one of many.
Duplicable. Replaceable.
And alone.
He was Mecha; built specific; just another one of many.
Duplicable. Replaceable.
And alone.
His fears didn't matter.
His hopes didn't matter.
His actions didn't matter.
He didn't matter, and never had.
So in the end, he simply lay there as he grew weaker and weaker, unfeeling and uncaring. The pain didn't trouble him, nor did the cold, the smell of death, or even darkness encroaching on his vision.
He didn't want anything now.
His hopes didn't matter.
His actions didn't matter.
He didn't matter, and never had.
So in the end, he simply lay there as he grew weaker and weaker, unfeeling and uncaring. The pain didn't trouble him, nor did the cold, the smell of death, or even darkness encroaching on his vision.
He didn't want anything now.
Film — Animated
Beavis: Dammit, this always happens! I think I'm gonna score, and then I never score! It's not fair! We've traveled, um, um, uh, a hundred miles 'cause we thought we were gonna score! But now it's not gonna happen! Dammit!
Bus Driver: Hey, buddy, sit down!
Beavis: Shut up, ass-wipe! I'm sick and tired of this! We're never gonna score! It's just not gonna happen! We're just gonna get old like these people, but they've probably scored!
Bus Driver: Hey, I'm warning you! SIT DOWN!
Beavis: It's like, this chick's a slut! And look at this guy - he's old, but he's probably scored a million times!
Old Guy: Oh, yeah!
Beavis: But not us! We're never gonna score! We're never gonna score! WE'RE NEVER GONNA SCORE!
Bus Driver: Hey, buddy, sit down!
Beavis: Shut up, ass-wipe! I'm sick and tired of this! We're never gonna score! It's just not gonna happen! We're just gonna get old like these people, but they've probably scored!
Bus Driver: Hey, I'm warning you! SIT DOWN!
Beavis: It's like, this chick's a slut! And look at this guy - he's old, but he's probably scored a million times!
Old Guy: Oh, yeah!
Beavis: But not us! We're never gonna score! We're never gonna score! WE'RE NEVER GONNA SCORE!
Why are you here? How can you possibly bring me lower? What more can you take away from me?!
— Mr. Incredible, thinking his family are dead, The Incredibles
I've seen dark before, but not like this.
This is cold, this is empty, this is numb.
The life I knew is over, the lights are out.
Hello, darkness. I'm ready to succumb.
This is cold, this is empty, this is numb.
The life I knew is over, the lights are out.
Hello, darkness. I'm ready to succumb.
— Anna, Frozen II
It's no use now, the lungwort's gone! We've failed.
— Abigail, Once Upon a Forest
''Hey there, autopilots. Got some bad news. Um, Operation Clean-up has... well, uh, failed. Wouldn't you know, rising toxicity levels have made life unsustainable on Earth. Well, darn it all, we're gonna have to... cancel Operation Recolonize. So... *sighs*... just stay the course. Um.... rather than try and fix this problem, it'll just be easier for everyone to remain in space. Ok, I'm giving overide Directive A113: Go to full autopilot. Take control of everything. And do not return to Earth. Repeat: Do not return to Earth. Let's get the heck outta he—"
— Shelby Forthright in his final message, WALL•E
Film — Live-Action
It's over. Everything, I did everything wrong. I want my life back. I want it back before everything got fucked up. I want to be a baby again. I want to be new. I want to be new.
— Susan Orlean, Adaptation.
Mike: Josh, just quit it. She's had enough. Come on, man, you got her back. Good one.
Josh: No, she's still making movies, man, that's my point!
Heather: Please stop...
Josh: This is my point here!
Heather: IT'S ALL I FUCKING HAVE LEFT, OKAY?! Just please stop. Please stop. Just please stop yelling at me, please...
"When I found you out there tonight, I truIy beIieved you were the best chance I had of getting out. But now we have no chance. There is no out. There never was. [...] Do you think I Iike being part of this fucked-up family?! Do you think I chose to run with the pack? No! I chose you. But now you're out of luck, and I'm out of time."
—Megan, Dog Soldiers
All my orders have been ignored. How can I be a leader under these circumstances? It's over. The war is lost. But if you think this means that I'll leave Berlin, you're wrong. I'd rather shoot a bullet through my head. Do what you want.
They look like big, good, strong hands. Don't they? I always thought that's what they were. My little friends. The little man with his racing snail, the Nighthob, even the stupid bat. I couldn't hold on to them. The Nothing... pulled them right out of my hands. I failed.
— Rockbiter, The Neverending Story
Once I knew how the world worked
You earned your bread, said your prayers well
You loved your own, helped your neighbour
Now I don't know anything anymore
Once I knew what was wrong and right
God was good, black was never white
Once I knew what I was living for
Now I don't know anything anymore
I see her face everywhere
I hear her voice across the air
I drove all kindness from my door
Now I don't have anything anymore
No, I don't know anything... anymore...
You earned your bread, said your prayers well
You loved your own, helped your neighbour
Now I don't know anything anymore
Once I knew what was wrong and right
God was good, black was never white
Once I knew what I was living for
Now I don't know anything anymore
I see her face everywhere
I hear her voice across the air
I drove all kindness from my door
Now I don't have anything anymore
No, I don't know anything... anymore...
—Jim Ryan, One Night The Moon
"The grief from his wife's death became greater and greater agony. The home they had so long shared became a tomb, a sweet memory of her joyous living. The sky to which he had once looked was now only a covering for her dead body. The ever-beautiful flowers she had planted with her own hands became nothing more than the lost roses of her cheeks."
—Criswell, Plan 9 from Outer Space
It's not over! Everybody betrayed me! I'm fehd up with this world!
— Johnny, The Room (2003)
There was a time I could see. And I have seen... boys like these - younger even - their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that.
— Colonel Slade, Scent of a Woman
Literature
"I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear."
— Paul Bäumer, All Quiet on the Western Front
"Someone had drilled a large hole through ever vital part of my body. All spirit, all life, had drained out, leaving a shell that might have blown away if I'd stepped from the house. There was no danger of that. My universe shrank to the size of the couch."
— Chad, Dunk
The world was as hard and comfortless as the bench she was sitting on, as barren as the whitewashed walls around her. She felt her tears like cold rain on her face. She hadn't understood until now what it meant to be alone, utterly and completely alone... There was no God. There was no magic. There was only Death.
—Novelization of Pan's Labyrinth
Sitting there on the floor, Louis put his face in his hands and began to weep. He had lost all interest in his father-in-law, in the MX missile, in permanent versus dissolving sutures, in the heat death of the universe. At that moment, Louis Creed wished he were dead.
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted — nevermore!
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted — nevermore!
It wasn't just the baby that died that day; something inside Sick Boy was lost and never returned. It seemed that he had no theory with which to explain a moment like this. Nor did I. Our only response was to keep on going and fuck everything: pile misery upon misery, heap it up on a spoon and dissolve it with a drop of bile, then squirt it into a stinking, prurient vein and do it all over again; keep on going, getting up, going out, robbing, stealing, fucking people over, propelling ourselves with longing towards the day that it would all go wrong, because no matter how much you stash, or how much you steal, you never have enough. No matter how often you go out and rob and fuck people over, you always need to get up and do it all over again.
— Renton, Trainspotting
What they found outside the cottage killed Brian. It was as if he had been drop-kicked in the chest by Bruce Lee. He felt his heart stop. Pain spread through his ribs, and his limbs stopped sending signals to his brain. His ears popped as if he were undergoing severe decompression in a crashing Concord.
Abigail lay on the front path, a smoky hole above her eyes, the back of her head fanned out on the gravel behind her. Jason was in the doorway, in segments.
He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. His jaw ached, and the hammering at his temples increased. He tore out two fistfuls of hair, and ripped at his shirt with bloody fingers.
Then the scream started. First, it was a whistling, gulping cry somewhere in the back of his throat, then it took hold and boomed forth, emerging from his mouth like solid vomit. Inside, his lungs tore, his windpipe distended. In that wordless screech, Brian cursed the world. He damned God, the University, the Unwin Chemical Corporation, the Vice-Chancellor, Abigail, Lynch's Zombies, the fucking disease, Jason, Jean, Monica, Debbie, blind moronic chance. And, most of all, himself.
Meryl: Well, anyway, you were right all along. The spirit of Borrigarde is gone and there's no room for the pride of our people anymore. That's why I came back to Yawnbore to find you. So I could join your quest and get myself deleted as well.
Jim: For god's sake, Meryl, you don't have to!
Meryl: Jim, it's okay. This is what I want. There's something else. I've learned the Truth.
Jim: The truth?
Meryl: No, the Truth. The one Barry's followers were spreading around back in Lolede. The one that makes some people calm and some people crazy. Si-Mon told it to me. And... I just don't really care anymore.
Tom was defeated. Desperate. He spent his time wishing he could die. He had given up any hope of escape. Given up.
<That's how it always is,> the Yeerk said. <At first the host fights, or at least tries. But hour after hour and day after day they see that they cannot rule their own bodies. The host sees that no-one even knows what has happened to him. No one knows he is lost in his own head. And, over time, hope dies. The host becomes a faint, shattered creature. Like your brother.>
The Yeerk was telling the truth. That was what made it so terrible. It was true. I could feel Tom's complete, utter despair. I could feel that he had accepted defeat. I knew that all he wished for now was an end.
—Animorphs #6: The Capture
Lister spent the next few days going to pieces.
There seemed to be little point in getting dressed, and so he wandered around naked, swigging from a bottle of whisky.
He didn't know what to do.
He didn't know if there was anything to do.
And worst of all, he didn't much care.
—Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
It was all real – it wasn't a dream or a psychotic hallucination — but they weren't going to let her have it. There was a place out there that was so perfect and magical that it had made even Quentin happy. There wasn't just magic there, there was love too. Quentin was in love. But Julia wasn't. She was out in the cold. Hogwarts was fully subscribed, and her eligibility had lapsed. Hagrid's motorcycle would never rumble outside her front door. No creamy-enveloped letters would ever come flooding down her chimney.
She lay there, thinking, on the rich graveyard grass, before the tomb of some modest parishioner - Beloved Son, Husband, Father - and what she thought was this: she'd been right about almost everything. She'd gotten nearly full marks. A-minus again. Blew only one question. Here's the one thing I got wrong, she thought. I thought that they would never wear me down.
Here then at long last is my darkness. No cry of light, no glimmer, not even the faintest shard of hope to break free across the hold.
— Will Navidson, House of Leaves
Live-Action TV
You know, apart from the fact that I'll never again experience joy in my life, I don't think Red Zone Cuba had any kind of negative effect on me.
— Crow T. Robot, Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Red Zone Cuba"
Once hope is gone, dying is just a formality.
—"John Smith", Cold Case, "The Road"
Doctor no more.
— The first words of the War Doctor, Doctor Who, "Night of the Doctor"
Maritza Ramos: I can't believe, of all people, that you're giving up! You are the stankass who pissed herself back at camp so the guards wouldn't touch you! Bitch, you stood on tables!
Blanca Flores: That's not who I am anymore. I already had nothing. And now I have less than nothing because of you, dumbass!
Maritza Ramos: Don't blame me because your boyfriend abandoned you! At least I'm trying!
Blanca Flores: Well, stop! Stop trying! Stop hoping! Because look around you! Nobody is coming for us! (she sniffles) And it's not a fucking dove, you fucking idiot! It's a pigeon!
Maritza Ramos: Okay. Pigeon, dove. It's the same fucking thing!
Blanca Flores: No. It's not. Nobody gives a fuck about pigeons.
Blanca Flores: That's not who I am anymore. I already had nothing. And now I have less than nothing because of you, dumbass!
Maritza Ramos: Don't blame me because your boyfriend abandoned you! At least I'm trying!
Blanca Flores: Well, stop! Stop trying! Stop hoping! Because look around you! Nobody is coming for us! (she sniffles) And it's not a fucking dove, you fucking idiot! It's a pigeon!
Maritza Ramos: Okay. Pigeon, dove. It's the same fucking thing!
Blanca Flores: No. It's not. Nobody gives a fuck about pigeons.
— Orange Is the New Black, "And Brown Is The New Orange"
Music
Now I can't go on, I can't even start
I got nothing left, just an empty heart
I'm a soldier, wounded so I must give up the fight
There's nothing more for me, lead me away
Or leave me lying here
I got nothing left, just an empty heart
I'm a soldier, wounded so I must give up the fight
There's nothing more for me, lead me away
Or leave me lying here
I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find.
I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind.
I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind.
— Black Sabbath, "Paranoid"
I just wanna sleep forever
I like it better when I dream
Želim zauvek da spavamnote
Dok svet gorinote .
I just wanna close my eyes
And just get it over with
Želim zauvek da spavam
Dok svet gori.
I like it better when I dream
Želim zauvek da spavamnote
Dok svet gorinote .
I just wanna close my eyes
And just get it over with
Želim zauvek da spavam
Dok svet gori.
— Luke Black, "Samo Mi Se Spava" (Serbian entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023)
Leave me alone.
God let me go.
I'm blue and cold.
Black sky will burn.
Love pull me down.
Hate lift me up.
Just turn around.
There's nothing left.
God let me go.
I'm blue and cold.
Black sky will burn.
Love pull me down.
Hate lift me up.
Just turn around.
There's nothing left.
— Breaking Benjamin, "Dear Agony"
She speaks no word to her doctor,
for fear her pain disgrace her kin.
For weeks she dared not sleep or dream.
for fear her pain disgrace her kin.
For weeks she dared not sleep or dream.
— Cormorant, "Junta"
Don't push me,
Cuz I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head...
Cuz I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head...
I believe that the stars keep shining all through the night
I believe if we just keep trying, it'll be alright
I believe that someday we’re gonna find our way
And I believe in a beautiful day
I believe in lovers walking side by side
I believe that someday we’ll be satisfied
I believe the angels listen, God hears us pray
And I believe in a beautiful day
Yeah I believe it’s gonna work out okay
But not for me
and not for you.
...Sometimes all our dreams just don't come true.
I believe if we just keep trying, it'll be alright
I believe that someday we’re gonna find our way
And I believe in a beautiful day
I believe in lovers walking side by side
I believe that someday we’ll be satisfied
I believe the angels listen, God hears us pray
And I believe in a beautiful day
Yeah I believe it’s gonna work out okay
But not for me
and not for you.
...Sometimes all our dreams just don't come true.
—Mellissa Hollick, "I Believe"
No one but me can save myself, but it's too late
Now I can't think why I should even try.
Now I can't think why I should even try.
— Metallica, "Fade to Black"
This cannot be happening to me.
It's all wrong, just a dream. What have I done?
No hope, no way to get out of this.
Please just let me die now. I don't want this fate.
I don't want to be a hero anymore.
Can't breathe, can't do it, just let me fall.
We're all lost. Fighting enemies that don't exist.
And they turned us into this.
It's all wrong, just a dream. What have I done?
No hope, no way to get out of this.
Please just let me die now. I don't want this fate.
I don't want to be a hero anymore.
Can't breathe, can't do it, just let me fall.
We're all lost. Fighting enemies that don't exist.
And they turned us into this.
— Keldian, "Never Existed"
Saw all of the saints
Lock up the gates
I could not enter
Walked into the flames
Called out your name
But there was no answer...
And now I know my heart is a ghost town
Lock up the gates
I could not enter
Walked into the flames
Called out your name
But there was no answer...
And now I know my heart is a ghost town
— Adam Lambert, "Ghost Town"
That little boy quit trying.
He just walked away.
There were teardrops on his face.
Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.
He just walked away.
There were teardrops on his face.
Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.
— Joe Nichols, "If Nobody Believed In You"
When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse.
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child has grown, the dream has gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child has grown, the dream has gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
— Pink Floyd, "Comfortably Numb"
This cruel country has driven me down.
Teased me and lied.
Teased me and lied.
I've only sad stories to tell to this town.
My dreams have withered and died.
Teased me and lied.
Teased me and lied.
I've only sad stories to tell to this town.
My dreams have withered and died.
— Richard Thompson, "Withered and Died"
So this is how it ends.
I promise to never go outside again.
Am I going crazy?
Would I even know?
Am I right back where I started fourteen years ago?
Wanna guess the ending? If it ever does...
I swear to God that all I've ever wanted was
a little bit of everything all of the time.
A bit of everything all of the time!
Apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime.
I'm finished playing and I'm staying inside.
I promise to never go outside again.
Am I going crazy?
Would I even know?
Am I right back where I started fourteen years ago?
Wanna guess the ending? If it ever does...
I swear to God that all I've ever wanted was
a little bit of everything all of the time.
A bit of everything all of the time!
Apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime.
I'm finished playing and I'm staying inside.
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know.
Goes away in the end.
And you could have it all.
My empire of dirt.
I will let you down.
I will make you hurt.
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know.
Goes away in the end.
And you could have it all.
My empire of dirt.
I will let you down.
I will make you hurt.
— Nine Inch Nails, "Hurt"
Radio
Natalia Pushkin: I was the first one to be taken; I only wish I could have been the last as well. Even as we speak, Tev is preparing another one of his kindred to make the transition and... usurp the body of an innocent man. It is my weakness that brought them, and now we are all doomed to die in their stead.
Alexei Korolev: No! How can you say that?! You can't just throw any hope away!
Natalia Pushkin: Hope, Alexei? Look around you: this is the end of existence. There is no place for hope here.
Alexei Korolev: No! How can you say that?! You can't just throw any hope away!
Natalia Pushkin: Hope, Alexei? Look around you: this is the end of existence. There is no place for hope here.
Historians would later write: "The hope of mankind crumbled on this day."
— Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Side Red, detailing mankind's response to the death of Ky Kiske.
Tabletop Games
Unwanted by both Bishop and Koba, Blotto's clowns are the rejects and outcasts of the circus hierarchy: the Midnight Circus has ground them down and is about to devour them. They are skeletal scarecrows stripped of all desire; many turn to mind-numbing drugs or alcohol provided by other circus personnel. Within their tent, they can be seen sleeping and nodding off, aware of their fate but unable to fight it.
Ancient sadness. Star-city circling the burning nest. The silver horde has re-arisen. Kaelis-Ra awakes afresh, the ancient war resumed, spiderscuttle sorrow, all interlinked. Death in wraithsword, spirits infinity-bound. All is cyclical, all goes round yet remains the same. Always the dirges of echoes, always the bonework reflections. There is nothing new; just regret and impotence. We are lost in the dark, and there is no morning.
— Psychic reading of Eldar artifact, Warhammer 40,000: Xenology
Theatre
And now I'm on my own
Never again to wonder what's out there
Let it remain unknown
And my one human eye
Will evermore be dry
Until the day I die
As if I
Were made of stone
Never again to wonder what's out there
Let it remain unknown
And my one human eye
Will evermore be dry
Until the day I die
As if I
Were made of stone
— Quasimodo, Der Glockner Von Notre Dame, "Made of Stone"
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me;
And if I die no soul shall pity me.
Nay, wherefore should they? Since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.
And if I die no soul shall pity me.
Nay, wherefore should they? Since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.
Video Games
He emerged from that hole in the ground, into a waking nightmare. Everything that wasn't gone was twisted upside down. The world was frozen, air thick with ash. What few faces he saw on the street stared back at him with gray and vacant eyes. He found his wife-to-be asleep in her home. But when he reached out to her, she joined with all the ashes in the sky.
And so Zulf returned to where he proposed in the Hanging Gardens. And there he stood, as if the gods would answer him.
And so Zulf returned to where he proposed in the Hanging Gardens. And there he stood, as if the gods would answer him.
I can almost hear your mewling now. "How could he betray us?!" "Why, Avitus, why?!" Look at this planet! Look at it! That is why! The entire galaxy is the same: Broken. Shattered. Rotten to the core! Honor, brotherhood, duty — they are no more than delusions and lies. We use them to justify the slaughter left in our wake. I cannot tolerate it any longer! I have seen the rot that runs through our chapter's honor — and it justifies nothing! My memories are full of the screams of those I have killed. Where others see life, I see only death. We all know how this will end. We have always known. It ends in blood.
— Sergeant Avitus after his treachery is exposed, Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
My... son. Murdered in the heart of the Chantry, by those who held a sacred trust. What hope for this city, when we fail our own so completely?
— Viscount Dumar, Dragon Age II
Look at it all. Why don't they just drown us as infants? Why wait? Why give us the illusion of hope?
— First Enchanter Orsino, Dragon Age II
Doesn't really care about anything anymore.
— Appears in the profile of any sufficiently traumatized character in Dwarf Fortressnote
I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal, Kratos; flesh that burns, bones that break. But to break a man's spirit, is to truly destroy him!
— Ares, God of War
The gods of Olympus have abandoned me. Now there is no hope.
—Kratos, God of War
Cynder: Fight back!... Why won't you fight back!
Spyro: Because you've left me nothing to fight for...
Spyro: Because you've left me nothing to fight for...
— The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, after Malefor turns Spyro's girlfriend Cynder against him
Naught remains. Alone. Utterly alone. Cast out. Unloved. Outside the grace of gods.
— Oersted, Live A Live
But it cannot be! This would mean that all my work has been for nothing! Everything that I've tried to- A FAILURE! It can't be! Be! BE! Be... I... don't think that I can continue. Continue? To have done the things I have done... in the name of progress... and healing... It was madness. I can see it now, madness. Madness? There is no hope. Leave now. Leave... while you still have hope...
I'm already a dead man. I don't sleep. Food has no taste. Some days... I just want it to be over.
— Lantar Sidonis, Mass Effect 2
Even since the day I killed The Boss... with my own hands... I... was already dead.
— Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Five years ago, I lost thirty thousand men in the blink of an eye....and the world just fucking watched. Tomorrow, there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots. I know you understand.
—General Shepherd, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The moment when someone loses all hope... I really do love to watch that moment.
— Ghetsis, Pokémon Black and White
Our time has passed, John.
I do not care, Father! A world without her is empty.. A LIFE without her is empty.
It seems in the end... that I... was the greatest fool of all...
I... Used to be so beautiful...
I looked into the eyes of the dragon... and despaired.
— Archibishop Benedictus, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
There can be no hope in this hell. No hope at all.
—The Narrator, Darkest Dungeon, upon a hero gaining the Hopeless affliction.
Suffer not the lame horse, nor the broken man.
Another soul battered and broken, cast aside like a spent torch.
Slumped shoulders, wild eyes, and a stumbling gait — this one is no more good to us.
Another soul battered and broken, cast aside like a spent torch.
Slumped shoulders, wild eyes, and a stumbling gait — this one is no more good to us.
—The Ancestor, Darkest Dungeon, when dismissing heroes driven mad with despair
A blade can be sharpened. Armor mended. The soul is forever shattered.
I would rest these bones in a cool dark grave.
I need... help. Please.
I would rest these bones in a cool dark grave.
I need... help. Please.
— The heroes, Darkest Dungeon, after they visit the Darkest Dungeon
Dismas: Who was I kidding, playing at heroics...
Paracelsus: What good is dominion over death?! Far worse awaits me!
Sarmenti: I LISTENED to you all! I DARED to hope...!
Paracelsus: What good is dominion over death?! Far worse awaits me!
Sarmenti: I LISTENED to you all! I DARED to hope...!
— Darkest Dungeon II, when characters suffer a Meltdown.
If I am being honest, I care only to give hope to the frightened, huddled masses so that when I come upon them they will have more to lose. Their pain will be greater. Their screams more pure.(...) Nothing dies like hope. I cherish it.
—Dredgen Yor, Destiny
The Soldier: What drives a man to such madness?
The Archer: To be tested... and to fail.
The Archer: To be tested... and to fail.
— Overwatch, "Junkenstein's Revenge"
It wasn't the torture that broke me. It wasn't the indoctrination. It was time. Time rots everything, Booker... even hope.
— Elizabeth Comstock, Bioshock Infinite
O' Architect! Is this the world that you intended?
— Amalthus, after witnessing a soldier whose life he saved killing and stealing from an innocent family, Xenoblade Chronicles 2
He no longer wanted anything, he didn't even want to live anymore and despite that, his life was the one thing he hadn't lost, because he couldn't!
— Malos, Xenoblade Chronicles 2
I don't wanna go back out there...I can't do this anymore...
The last of the Goo Balls were...
uh oh...
there aren't any more Goo Balls. They must have all been sucked away by the pipe system... All the Goo Balls from the entire world! ...all sucked up and sent to the former World of Goo Corporation campus where they have been building a giant tower into the sky! Probably a good thing too. The telescope is useless anyway. It's unable to see past that layer of smog and dust. Well, without any more Goo Balls, I guess that's it. We'll never know what the telescope can see... Or what's really up there. The End. Thanks for playing. Time to go do other things now. Maybe write a travel companion. I'm going into the Telescope now. Goodbye.
uh oh...
there aren't any more Goo Balls. They must have all been sucked away by the pipe system... All the Goo Balls from the entire world! ...all sucked up and sent to the former World of Goo Corporation campus where they have been building a giant tower into the sky! Probably a good thing too. The telescope is useless anyway. It's unable to see past that layer of smog and dust. Well, without any more Goo Balls, I guess that's it. We'll never know what the telescope can see... Or what's really up there. The End. Thanks for playing. Time to go do other things now. Maybe write a travel companion. I'm going into the Telescope now. Goodbye.
— The Telescope Operator, formerly known as The Sign Painter, World of Goo
His eyes meet yours when you look up from the page. They are dull as old iron. "I am done, sir. I am done. I have one last thing to ask of you." The truth has broken him. He buries his face in his hands. "Even if I could remember, I would not want to. But it is only a matter of time until this-" he runs a finger over his sigil "-takes something I can't do without. Maybe I will forget how to breathe. Or which way is north. Perhaps I will strand us all at zee again and it'll be oaths of silence and straws in the dark. Be rid of me, sir. Put me ashore somewhere I can be forgotten."
—The Sigil-Ridden Navigator, after reading his own confession, Sunless Sea
This was the only dream I really wanted. They offered me Gaia and I took her because I didn't have a choice. But she chips, chips away at us. Can't you feel it? Don't you know what she's taking from you? You can't feel it, can you? You don't even know. And now you're going to bring me back. I don't want to go. I don't want to be back there. This was the only way..."
That's where they come from. That's why they hate us... that's why they need us. That's why they take us.... that's why they feed us. But the true abomination... is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka... my love... The Stone has punished me, dream-friend. I am dying of something worse than death. Betrayal.
—Hespith, Dragon Age: Origins
I had to burn it. All of it. Murkoff took so much from us. Used us. Turned us into these... things... because nobody cares about a few forgotten lunatics. So let it burn. Burn the whole god damned thing down. Get out. If you want to live, you can get out through the kitchen.
—The Pyromaniac, Outlast
The world is dead, Richard. Even if we got inside Omicron, what's left? Grab a couple suits and head for Tau? Strasky, Jonsy, Hart... everyone is dead and we are right behind them. We're probably the last people left alive. The last moments of mankind...
—Emma Alvaro, SOMA
I AM HOLLOW.
MY MISTAKES LEAVE NOTHING BUT HATE IN THEIR WAKE, AND INFINITE PAIN TO FOLLOW...
I CAN'T TAKE MORE OF THIS GUILT AND REGRET, FOR ME THERE IS NO TOMORROW.
I AM HOLLOW.
— Testament V, implied to be written by God himself, ULTRAKILL
"For a while, I believed in you, Connor. I thought you might restore my faith in the world... But you just showed me that androids...are our creation... Creation in our own image. Selfish, ruthless, and brutal... You opened my eyes, Connor, made me realize it's hopeless..."
— Hank Anderson, Detroit: Become Human
"Ah... And here you are. I know you two feel the same. That this world...is utterly meaningless. As far as I'm concerned, my brother...was everything... And now...EVERYTHING MUST DIE!"
— Eve, NieR: Automata
"Even in death... Wasn't I right? Wasn't I ALWAYS right? The corruption is here... Troms is in ruins. The province is in ruins... Dead or dying. Now I must scrounge and scrape for new life... No saviors, no heroes. You being alive is nothing short of a miracle. Isn't this such a miserable lot? I don't want to die... But so little to live for. Not as though it matters much..."
— Corrupted Slykaar, Wynncraft
"I know... in my bones... A Tarnished cannot become a Lord. Not even you. A man cannot kill a god..."
—Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing, Elden Ring
Visual Novels
Web Animation
Kevin: This story comes to no good end. I cannot follow my dreams. I must scrounge to stay alive or sane, I... I cannot remain human any longer. My only hope is to embrace a shadow of this dream, to embrace the Beast, and hope freedom is on the other side.
Big-D: Freedom never comes through surrender.
Kevin: Perhaps not. But it's the only chance I have left.
Webcomics
HOPESPLODE!
— Homestuck, sums it up in a single word
Web Original
(Raises his head sobbing) Witch & Wizard... has ruined my life... When I go outside... I can't feel the sunlight's warmth on my skin. When I eat... my food turns to ash in my mouth... My food...(Goes back to sobbing)
— Furious Literature Geek reviewing ''Witch & wizard''![](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/external_link.gif)
![](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/external_link.gif)
Well, Nietzsche was right. Dead as a doornail.
— Mike Nelson in the Rifftrax for The Star Wars Holiday Special
You need to be just pessimistic enough to keep your guard up for a sucker punch but just optimistic enough to keep lowering your guard at the worst possible time.
— The Sports Guy explains what it takes to be a "fully tortured" team
(weary sigh) Remember when shooters were about killing demons from hell? Those were good days. Perhaps this is an inevitable part of gaming growing up as our childish fantasies are torn from us, and we are forced to confront consequences in an unfair, uncaring and unavoidable world of hatred, misery, and death.'' (farts)
— Yahtzee reviews Spec Ops: The Line, Zero Punctuation
In the event of an unsuccessful Action 10-Israfil-B, no further action will be necessary.
Nothing will make me feel better! Even the victory will be bittersweet!
Well, it took 11,000 years but something has finally ground down whatever optimism Rose had left. I guess its been a rough couple of months for her. Finding out your fiancee isn’t dead, also he’s evil, and by the way, your fuck up basically doomed the planet, has to be pretty rough.
It's pretty interesting that its a lot more common for RPG characters to start off horribly flawed but find their way forward. But in this case the humanity of the party has kind of broken what was left of Rose. So long she's basically been all alone. Now she has people look up to her and respect her and its a lot easier to see she's on the edge of a cliff and it's a long fall down. She's no longer the confident, experienced party member guiding us on. She's just hoping she can make it to the end before the last hammer blow falls and shatters what's left.
—Lets Play Archive
, on the final act of The Legend of Dragoon
![](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/external_link.gif)
''I-I I think I've stopped caring? I've become this, like, nihilistic shit-lord...That I'm just like, eh, I know my computer's suffering, but...meh..."
— Joel of Vinesauce, Windows XP Destruction
"Every single day, Dream would come here, and he would erase my progress. He would erase, quite frankly, any will to live, that I used to have. And every day, I'd think maybe it'd get better! May– maybe there'd be hope, that people would show up at the party. Maybe Ghostbur would... would start seeing me again. And every day, a little bit of that hope left. And left. And left. 'Till I broke."
— Tommy, Dream SMP
Western Animation
I can't keep pushing this down any deeper
Why do I keep trying if I can't keep her?
Why do I keep trying if I can't keep her?
— Finn singing "All Gummed Up Inside," Adventure Time
Bill: What's wrong?
Cricket: I tried, Dad, but I just couldn't get into Lil' Abe, either! Maybe the problem isn't books, it's me and my stimuli-chasin' brain.
Bill: Don't give up on yourself just yet. We can come back another day and try again.
Cricket: Yeah, I guess... Let's go home.
Cricket: I tried, Dad, but I just couldn't get into Lil' Abe, either! Maybe the problem isn't books, it's me and my stimuli-chasin' brain.
Bill: Don't give up on yourself just yet. We can come back another day and try again.
Cricket: Yeah, I guess... Let's go home.
— Big City Greens, "Quiet Please"
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take my last bathroom break as an employed man.
— Benson, Regular Show, "Busted Cart"
Who cares anymore?! There's no way home! There's nothing to fight for!
I've fought Aku for ages. I've seen countless innocents die. I've lived this nightmare for what seems like an eternity. There is no way to defeat him. There is no hope. No way out.
—Jack, Samurai Jack
I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not coming back...
—Ahsoka Tano, declining Anakin's offer to rejoin the Jedi Order, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, S5E20, "The Wrong Jedi"
How messed up is that? That I've gotten away with this for so long? You have no idea how bad I am! You think I'm so great and I'm so mature and I always know what to do, but that's not true! I haven't learned a thing from my problems. They've all just made me worse! You think of me as some angel but I'm not that kid anymore! I'm a fraud. I'm a fraud. I'M A MONSTER!
— Steven Universe just seconds before his corruption, Steven Universe: Future, "Everything's Fine"
My confidence has been destroyed! My self-worth shattered! That little voice inside my head that once said “Hudson, you’re okay” is long gone! WHATEVER WILL TAKE ITS PLACE?!! *Bursts out crying*