Current apocalypseArisen: while the rest 0f the party w0uld absc0nd
CAA: 0ur duplicates w0uld buy us time
CAA: they w0uld all be killed
CAA: again
CAA: all except f0r me
CAA: this is just as well i supp0se
CAA: what w0uld we even d0 with all th0se c0pies anyway
CAA: 0ur duplicates w0uld buy us time
CAA: they w0uld all be killed
CAA: again
CAA: all except f0r me
CAA: this is just as well i supp0se
CAA: what w0uld we even d0 with all th0se c0pies anyway
VRISKA: You've got real Eridan, and then pretty much a whole 8unch of pretenders out there.
SOLLUX: they're all real!!! SHIT, i d0n't even LIKE eridan, but here i am sticking up f0r his c0pies.
VRISKA: See? You just called them copies. Even you can't avoid accidentally using a pro8lematic slur which reveals that no matter what you 8elieve a8out your morals, deep down you're always gonna favor the original, while viewing all the others as duplic8tes of lesser value.
SOLLUX: they're all real!!! SHIT, i d0n't even LIKE eridan, but here i am sticking up f0r his c0pies.
VRISKA: See? You just called them copies. Even you can't avoid accidentally using a pro8lematic slur which reveals that no matter what you 8elieve a8out your morals, deep down you're always gonna favor the original, while viewing all the others as duplic8tes of lesser value.
The problem with these alternate universe/divergent timeline tropes that Nomura is obsessed with is that, unless you're a very clever writer [...], it's incredibly easy to make your characters feel like they're not special. It's incredibly easy to make them feel expendable. I think this fatal side effect of these tropes is the core reason why a lot of people hate this ending. For instance, Cloud Strife is no longer the Cloud Strife; he's just a Cloud Strife. I don't care about what happens to this dude because [the game] told me he's an alternate universe doppelganger. I don't care what happens to any of these people now.
—Robot Co-Op discussing
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake"Ours is the only reality of consequence."
— Teal'c (immediately after killing his own Alternate Universe counterpart), Stargate SG-1
Morty: What about the reality we left behind, Rick!?
Rick: What about the reality where Hitler cured cancer, Morty? The answer is: Don't think about it.
Rick: What about the reality where Hitler cured cancer, Morty? The answer is: Don't think about it.
Picard: Guinan, they will die moments after they return. How can I ask them to sacrifice themselves based solely on your intuition?
Guinan: I don't know. But I do know that this is a mistake. Every fiber in my being says this is a mistake. I can't explain it to myself so I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'm right.
Picard: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?
Guinan: I suppose I am.
Picard: Not good enough, damn it! Not good enough! I will not ask them to die.
Guinan: Forty billion people have already died! This war's not supposed to be happening. You've got to send those people back to correct this.
Picard: And what is to guarantee that if they go back they will succeed? Every instinct tells me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile.
Guinan: We've known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This timeline must not be allowed to continue. Now, I've told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it.
Guinan: I don't know. But I do know that this is a mistake. Every fiber in my being says this is a mistake. I can't explain it to myself so I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'm right.
Picard: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?
Guinan: I suppose I am.
Picard: Not good enough, damn it! Not good enough! I will not ask them to die.
Guinan: Forty billion people have already died! This war's not supposed to be happening. You've got to send those people back to correct this.
Picard: And what is to guarantee that if they go back they will succeed? Every instinct tells me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile.
Guinan: We've known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This timeline must not be allowed to continue. Now, I've told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it.
— Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Only want one future!
Only want one world!
Only need one answer!
Could this be it?
Throw away everything to bring a dead world back to life!
Sacrifice another self!
Life and death must balance in the end!
Throw away the world that you do not need!
Throw it away, throw it away, throw it all away!
Throw it away, throw it away, throw it all away!
Only want one future!
Only want one world!
Only need one answer!
Return to life!"
Only want one world!
Only need one answer!
Could this be it?
Throw away everything to bring a dead world back to life!
Sacrifice another self!
Life and death must balance in the end!
Throw away the world that you do not need!
Throw it away, throw it away, throw it all away!
Throw it away, throw it away, throw it all away!
Only want one future!
Only want one world!
Only need one answer!
Return to life!"
— The Book III Boss Theme neatly summarizing Líf AKA Alfonse's motivations, Fire Emblem Heroes
"Screw the Monitor, Oliver, and screw you, too! None of this would have happened if you hadn't shown up on my Earth in the first place. All of those people that you saw die, they weren't real to you. They were just copies of the people that you love. But that is my home, and those people, those are real people who are counting on me!"
— Laurel Lance (Earth 2), Arrow, "Welcome to Hong King"
Superwoman: Why would you want to destroy the world?
Owlman: Because it's the only action one could take that would have any purpose.
Superwoman: (beat) You lost me there.
(Owlman activates a hologram that shows an image of Earth endlessly splitting into similar images.)
Owlman: Every decision we make is meaningless. Because somewhere, on a parallel Earth, we have already made the opposite choice. We're nothing. Less than nothing.
Superwoman: How can you say that? We're rich! We're conquerors!
Owlman: (pointing at alternate Earths) And here we're poor. We're slaves. And here, our parents never met, so we were never born. Here, the world ended in nuclear war. Here, no fish was brave enough to crawl upon land and humans never evolved. And so on, ad infinitum.
Bunnyx: Minibug—!
Marinette: Leave me alone.
Bunnyx: You cannot ignore me just because we have a disagreement!
Marinette: ...A disagreement? Is that what you call rejecting my timeline because it isn't yours? Or was it the bit where you acted like my pain and my experiences don't matter because I'm not your Marinette? To you this is a bad dream. You get to go back to a defeated Hawkmoth and a happy, healthy Marinette. But for me? This is reality. Get used to it.
Johnny: Ben... Should we be doing this? What if we just have a shrinking reservoir of power left? This isn't even our universe! It's one of a million! And we have to find our Reed and Sue still!
Ben: Pal... Think you could look our Reed and Sue in the eye after not helping these people?
Ben: Pal... Think you could look our Reed and Sue in the eye after not helping these people?
