Sunk Cost Fallacies in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- All For Luz Reaction: All For One observes that if he managed to kill All Might, then One For All would have died with the hero. While this would have ensured nothing could threaten the supervillain's power anymore, it would also mean he'd never be able to claim One For All for his own, something he's desperately desired ever since realizing that his brother lived on through that Quirk.
- The Beast That I Am: Keitaro believes that if he ever dares to try standing up for himself against Naru, Mokoto or any of the other Hinata Girls, it will negate all of the years of effort he's put into trying to earn their trust. Haruka confronts him about this, insisting that he needs to stop being an Extreme Doormat and letting the girls steamroll right over him, and seriously consider evicting the worst offenders... because if he doesn't do something, Shinobu/Jade will likely end up maiming or outright killing somebody in her efforts to defend him from the abuse.
- Code Jedi: Suzuku knew that Britannia was flawed when he first pledged his allegiance to the Empire, though he wasn't aware of the sheer scope of those issues, believing that he could reform them from within. As time passes, he remains loyal both out of a desire for personal redemption, and because he can't bring himself to admit that all of his efforts thus far have been effectively meaningless.
- In the sequel to The Dark Lords of Nerima, The Dark Lords Ascendant, this is the Big Bad Tanizaki Kazuo's Fatal Flaw. His Evil Plan was to use a clone of Sailor Moon called Unit Zero to take control of the Silver Crystal to reshape reality so he's on top of the entire world. Unfortunately for him, the Nerima Wrecking Crew throw a monkey wrench into this plan, allowing Sailor Moon to survive. Tanizaki, needing to kill Sailor Moon for his plan, tries multiple times to finish her off, getting increasingly desperate as his resources dwindle. For his ultimate plan, Tanizaki makes a deal with The Nameless One that could result in it being freed, which would be The End of the World as We Know It. All the while, Tanizaki kept believing that if he could just get the Silver Crystal, he could fix everything the way that he wanted. Ultimately, Sailor Moon foils him by splitting the Crystal so both she and Unit Zero could survive, rendering Tanizaki's plans All for Nothing. And that isn't even the end of it, since Ranma manages to figure out that Tanizaki's using a Soul Jar to gain immortality, and has Ryouga destroy it, rendering Tanizaki mortal again and allowing Ranma to kill him. All of which could have been avoided if Tanizaki had realized that he should have given up earlier.
- In the Infinity Train: Blossomverse, this tends to go hand-in-hand with Poor Communication Kills... although it also happens in instances where characters are actually aware of what's going down, but still double down on the same tactics they've been using up to this point despite their proven ineffectiveness, either because they don't see any other options or are simply too stubborn to consider that there might be another solution.
- Chloe Cerise, for instance, believes that her father intentionally ignored her suffering at school because he cared about Pokémon more than he did her, preferring Ash and Goh over her. She also deeply resents Ash for being so skilled as to monopolize everyone's attention, and Goh for neglecting their friendship. After bottling up this anger for so long, she runs away from home and ends up on the Infinity Train, where she swiftly decides that everyone needs to earn her forgiveness for their callousness and neglect... despite the Train trying to help her realize that the situation isn't quite so black and white, and that her own choices contributed to her problems.
- Notably, it takes Chloe running into a Foil on the Palimpsest Car for her to have a Jerkass Realization that sticks. After seeing how Casimira created her own Self-Inflicted Hell through her incredibly entitled behavior, hurting everyone around her while insisting that she's the only victim and isn't remotely responsible for her troubles, Chloe is left utterly disgusted and determined to ensure she doesn't stumble down the same path.
- One Foot – Another Multiverse SI: Poe is a Small Name, Big Ego Self-Insert who firmly believes that he has what it takes to improve every one of the 'verses he finds himself dropped into. When his choices don't pan out the way he expects, he doubles down rather than switch tactics; this means that he never cuts his losses, letting issues build up and snowball out of control.
- In Platinum Pirate, Aokiji orders Spandam to scrap CP9's mission on Water 7, as it could jeopardize the World Government's plans to make "Pokémon Champion" Lucas a Warlord. Spandam decides to ignore these orders, declaring that he's invested too much into targeting Robin to stop now... so he attempts to work around Aokiji's orders by contacting Blackbeard and sending them after Robin instead, knowing full well this would completely sink his career if this little detail ever came out.
- Vainglorious: In the previous universe, the Dark Elves were god-like beings. While they can barely recall this in the new reality, this faint knowledge fuels their refusal to adapt; to their minds, adapting involves having to admit they were doing something wrong. Annette compares this to creatures living in a shrinking ocean who would rather attempt to flood the land and destroy everything on it than evolve and leave the water behind.
- The Warcrafter: While Doctor Mother has come to suspect that Contessa's Shard is Not So Omniscient After All, she repeatedly suppresses her doubts, as Cauldron's plans hinge heavily upon that supposed power.
- The Weaver Option:
- As part of their efforts to take down Weaver, the Biel-Tan High Farseer agrees to commit two fifths of all deployed Eldar Forces and four Craftworlds' armies to the conflict in Commorragh. This causes one of their fellow Farseers to despair, as they recognize that Commorragh is an irredeemable hellhole and that these new forces aren't likely to fare any better than the last two times they've confronted Weaver.
- Slaanesh also keeps sending legion after legion into Commorragh long after the point that it's become clear this will only make things worse. Though in Slaanesh's case, they have the excuse of literally being insane.
- Zero Requiem:
- Magister Rasporos defies this, warning Lelouch that if their trade deal ever causes him to start losing money, he'll immediately cut his losses, even if that means leaving Lelouch to pick up the pieces.
- Lelouch later reminds Rasporos of this, alongside Zoutos, in order to convince them both to cut their losses and leave Myr when Lashare is taking over.
- Zoutos also contemplates this while pondering whether the practice of slavery is worth enough to risk Lelouch's ire or Volantenes' meddling in his affairs. Ultimately, he chooses Myr's safety and independence over slavery, cutting his losses.
- We Are The Nine:
- Seen on both sides of the Battle of Mitras. The Monarchists support the King because they can't imagine their lives without him; plus, if the system was overthrown, many of them would lose everything they own. Meanwhile, many of the Restorationists have committed treason or sacrificed those they loved in pursuit of change, leaving them with nothing to return to.
- Reiner and Annie believe that they are both Beyond Redemption, leaving them resigned to having to continue killing thousands of people in a war they secretly want no part of.
- State of the Union: This was one of Nondi Steiner's Fatal Flaws. She kept a Civil War going for almost a year, causing thousands of deaths, and forced her followers to fight to the last man at The Triad even after it became clear they'd already lost both the battle and the war. This led to her being refused a military funeral, with her family holding a small private service.
- Rapture Falls: After everything he's invested in Rapture and all the things he sacrificed in order to secure the power necessary to create it, Fontaine refuses to admit that his great venture is falling apart at the seams. After all, this would require acknowledging that there is some part of him that genuinely cared about his family and friends — a part that honestly believed that betraying them wouldn't be Worth It regardless of what he gained from it... as well as admitting that all his scheming and backstabbing has left him with a crumbling, ruined shell of a city.
- Three-Point Shot: As it becomes increasingly clear that their attempt to frame Kaede for their own murder has failed, Tsumugi spirals into a Villainous Breakdown and doubles down on accusing her, rather than shifting targets towards somebody who doesn't have an established alibi, like K1-B0, Ryoma, or Kokichi.
- Five Dangerous Months at the Hinata Inn: The series highlights how practically every decision Keitaro makes is driven by the desire to find his 'Promise Girl' again, and the toll this takes upon his psyche.
- For His Own Sake:
- After everything he endured at the Hinata Inn in the hopes of fulfilling his Childhood Marriage Promise, Keitaro decides at the start of this story that it was simply not worth the effort and gives up. This contrasts sharply with Mutsumi, who is completely unable to accept the idea that everything she did to support Naru and Keitaro's relationship was All for Nothing. Her desperation to "fix" their sundered relationship destroys what was left of her bond with Keitaro, among many other things; it takes the events of the finale for her to finally grasp that her Unwanted Assistance and rejection of reality just made everything significantly worse.
- Granny Hina also runs headlong into this. When she first learns the sheer scope of the abuse Keitaro suffered, she's honestly horrified, fearing that this might destroy her relationship with her grandson. However, she proceeds to ignore that potential epiphany, trying to coerce and manipulate him into returning to the Inn; she's invested too much into having him run the place. Naturally, this only serves to drive Keitaro completely away from her.
- Granny Hina is also deeply invested in the notion that she's helping the Hinata Girls by providing them with a safe harbor, ignoring all evidence that her well-meaning intentions are only enabling their issues to worsen. The fallacy is best exemplified by her relationship with Naru, who ultimately repays all of her support by kidnapping Keitaro purely so she can beat the shit out of him again. When Hina bails her out of jail afterwards, Naru is furious to hear that she won't support her any further, instantly turning on her. Granny Hina is left realizing that Naru is All Take and No Give and doesn't truly appreciate anything she did for her, leaving her to regret everything she sacrificed for Naru's sake.
- Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe: Alya cannot bring herself to acknowledge that her efforts to help Marinette hook up with Adrien are no longer wanted, as that would mean admitting that said efforts went to waste. Similarly, she twists herself into knots in order to explain away the mounting evidence that Chat Noir's entitled attitude towards Ladybug is toxic.
- LadyBugOut: Even after Lila unintentionally makes it impossible for Alya to continue denying that she's a Consummate Liar by falsely claiming that she was Rena Rouge, unaware that was Alya's former Secret Identity, Alya continues defending her. Namely because by that point, her friendship with Marinette has already been smashed to pieces... and in fact, Alya has managed to isolate herself from most of the class with her stubborn insistence that she didn't do anything wrong by deliberately misrepresenting and lying about Ladybug for the sake of her "exclusive scoops". By that point, Lila is one of her only friends left, so she clings to her for all she's worth... until Lila makes it clear that she no longer considers Alya to be useful.
- The One to Make It Stay: Alya runs into this thrice over:
- When Rose presents her with evidence that Lila lied about having close connections with Prince Ali, Alya responds by Moving the Goalposts — after all, one little lie doesn't automatically prove she lied about everything! Eventually, following a Jerkass Realization, Alya admits to Ladybug that part of the reason she doubled down is because her refusal to heed Marinette's warnings about Lila had already strained their relationship. If it turned out Marinette had been telling the truth instead of being Driven by Envy, then that would mean she'd chosen to believe a liar over her "bestie". Of course, this only served to drive a deeper wedge between them both...
- ...A wedge only rendered worse by her being a Shipper with an Agenda who refused to accept that Marinette was no longer interested in pursuing Adrien. Even when Marinette tells her point blank that she's started dating Luka, Alya accuses her of attempting an Operation: Jealousy, only using the guitarist as a way to catch Adrien's eye. Again, Alya's reluctance to accept that all their Zany Schemes ended in failure and insistence that she knows better than her bestie spurs Marinette to suggest that they "take a break" from each other over the summer.
- Alya also runs into this when she manipulatively edits footage to make it appear that Ladybug accepted one of Chat Noir's Love Confessions. Not only does she refuse to pull the video after Ladybug confronts her over it, she keeps deleting comments from readers questioning its validity and pointing out evidence of how it was edited, as she's afraid that admitting the deception would destroy the Ladyblog's reputation. Naturally, her efforts to conceal the truth just make matters worse; deleting the callouts just makes them ramp up, drawing even more attention to the growing controversy.
- Played With in Two Letters: While Adrien did eventually decide to stop pursuing Ladybug as Chat Noir, he only did so because he'd decided to switch targets... to Marinette, unaware that they were the same person. This happened right as she was starting to consider giving in to his unwanted advances, leaving her to suspect he gave up because No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction. It didn't help that he blithely dismisses how Ladybug might feel, haughtily declaring that she should just "accept he's not interested and move on" in the very way that he'd refused to do for so long. And is, in fact, still refusing to do with Marinette; despite the fact that she's been dating Luka for months, repeatedly and decisively rejecting Adrien several times while taking him to task for all his issues, and the minor detail of her helping confiscate the Black Cat Ring from him, Adrien makes clear that he intends to continue pursuing and claim her as his own, rather than admit any romantic prospects with her are a lost cause.
- Weight Off Your Shoulder: This contributes to Future!Alix becoming her own antithesis and a Time-Traveling Jerkass. After being forced to sacrifice her normal life and hide out in the Burrow in order to keep the Rabbit Watch out of Hawkmoth's hands, Future!Alix consoles herself with the notion that everything will be alright once they've earned their happy endings. She then starts meddling with the timeline, attempting to ensure that Marinette and Adrien hook up and become "the ultimate power couple"... only to find that the more she tries forcing them together, the more Bad Futures spawn. When her meddling results in creating the very events that forced her to have to hide in the Burrow in the first place, Future!Alix clings to the notion that this was all "fated" to happen Because Destiny Says So, becoming even more hellbent on making her ship sail by any means necessary, regardless of how much suffering this causes. Because all that pain and suffering, including her own, needs to have been worth it.
- King: In the wake of the Kamino Incident, U.A. defended Katsuki from his detractors, insisting that he would become a great hero. When Katsuki endangers this by using excessive force against a villain and killing them, the school goes to great lengths to cover up what happened — and their methods show that they consider him to be an asset rather than a person.
- My False Love Academia: This is what drives Endeavor. Despite his own dismay over how his own actions have torn his family asunder, he's convinced himself that he needs to make Shouto the top Pro Hero, as otherwise, everything he's done will have been for nothing.
- The Reason why the Second Meta-Liberation War is going to be Weird: Endeavour used Touya's apparent "death" as an excuse to put Shouto through Training from Hell, clinging to the self-justification that one of his kids needed to become a Pro Hero or else Touya's demise would be completely meaningless.
- Whispered Tribulation: Aizawa convinced himself that Izuku was working with the League of Villains, and acted on that presumption with the intent of torturing a confession out of him. As the evidence mounts that he'd made a Tragic Mistake, he continues to insist that Izuku must be guilty, unable and unwilling to acknowledge the notion that he's been terrorizing an innocent student and destroyed his career over a misunderstanding.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Equestria Divided: Rarity convinces Twilight to stop searching for Celestia and Luna by pointing out that if the Princesses return, the Great Houses and everything else that the Mane Six have set up in their absence will be destroyed, and they'll all likely end up imprisoned.
- How I Lost My Mother: Princess Celestia un-personed her own daughter, Cozy Glow, in an effort to prevent a prophecy that she later realized might be self-fulfilling. However, rather than reversing course and attempting to undo the damage, Celestia doubles down, afraid of the backlash that would surely follow should the public ever learn what she did.
- The Negotiations-verse: Even after the humans brought down the barrier around the invading Equestria, practically guaranteeing their victory, Princess Celestia refused to give up, concede, or negotiate. This continued as they lost more and more ground; it took Twilight being forced to step up as an interim leader when Celestia was incapacitated and surrendering in her place for the war to end.
- In the Triptych Continuum, this is the central reason the Cutie Mark Crusaders keep going. They become fanatics in the name of their cause, and to stop would invalidate everything which had come before — including all the accidents, disaster relief forms, reparations, and tree sap. The fallacy winds up being summarized in a speech by Apple Bloom, and the voicing of it is part of what finally breaks the Crusade and convinces Apple Bloom that they've gone way too far.Apple Bloom: Gotta do it for a day because y'try. Then y'go for a week 'cause iffin y'don't, y'wasted the day. Then it's a moon, lots of moons, and then when it's a year, it's gotta be more. We keep goin' an' goin' 'cause if we ever stop, then it means we wasted everything. An' we could just keep goin' til we're grown up, out of school, but we won't have jobs because we don't have marks and the only thing we can do is look some more. It's nearly three years an' if Ah do it for one more day, it could turn into... It's too much, an' Ah think — it's been too much for a while. Too long. An' — an' it ain't worth it no more.
- A Gamer In South Blue: This is the main reason why Jack decides to follow the path of learning the ancient language once the option pops up. While there are other options available that offer greater and more immediate benefits, he opts for the language path because he's already started the process. Jack recognizes that he has a serious problem with sunk cost fallacies, but doesn't have the willpower to resist it.
- In Stress Relief, the lack of qualified individuals capable of becoming Freelances means that the Director feels that they simply can't afford to get rid of South, even after learning that they've been engaging in sexual misconduct and molesting C.T. From a finanicial standpoint, he feels that the best he can do is keep them on with a massive amount of restrictions.
- A felony of pearls: After Pearl winds up Taking the Heat for a group of criminal pearls, they want to repay her by breaking her out of jail... but she's reluctant to do so, as that would mean breaking laws in the process. Their leader claims that she's already broken laws before, so committing more shouldn't be an issue.
- In All Alone, Coil finds himself facing dangerous situations in two different timelines. In one timeline, he's being used for an Empire 88 initiation, while the other has him potentially having to deal with the cops thanks to a minion's stupidity. Despite how it would be smarter to dump one timeline and focus entirely upon defusing the problem in the other, Coil keeps both open, splitting his attention in the hopes of getting something useful out of the second. This results in him being fatally injured in one timeline and arrested in the other.
