History JerkassRealization / FanWorks

[[AC:''Franchise/TeenTitans'']]

* ''Fanfic/CastlingCozyGlow'' Has a bit of an unconventional example, given the "jerkass" is a hero who simply refuses to consider if the {{Villain Protagonist}}'s punishment [[KarmicOverkill might have been too harsh]] or if she may deserve a second chance, but still. Twilight initially refuses to seriously consider Sweetie Belle's request to free Cozy Glow [[TakenForGranite from her stone prison]], simply writing off the filly's fate as what she brought upon herself and outright saying she has NoSympathy for her, and shoots down any criticisms regarding how much more forgiving she was towards one Starlight Glimmer for similarly serious crimes, despite [[EnfantTerrible Cozy being a child]] and Starlight being an adult. She's even about to just storm off angrily when Sweetie doesn't back down and only gave in when [[spoiler:Sweetie outright threw back the honorary Friendship School diploma Twilight gave her]]. And even after reluctantly agreeing to give reforming Cozy a serious shot and even putting a fair amount of effort into making [[GildedCage her dwelling as comfortable as possible]], Twilight is rather blunt that this is Cozy's [[LastSecondChance only second chance]] and she will turn her back to stone if she steps out of line. But when she catches Cozy trying to steal her key to escape and actually has to decide if she personally is going to go through with her threat to imprison a child in stone for eternity, Twilight realizes and admits to herself just how cruel a punishment that is to even threaten a child with. Even a child as dangerous and wicked as Cozy Glow. [[spoiler:And promptly swears that the threat of turning her back to stone is off the table and promises Cozy that she'll never give up on trying to help her.]]

** Aizawa [[WrongAssumption assumed]] that ''Katsuki'', like himself, was constantly bullied at Aldera for having a 'villain-like Quirk', and that Izuku was a BitchInSheepsClothing who [[PlayingTheVictimCard pretended to be victimized]]. He's utterly horrified to learn [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter just how badly he misjudged them both]], and that he was enabling a BarbaricBully to continue going unpunished for his cruelties while BlamingTheVictim.

* ''FanFic/CastlingCozyGlow'' Has a bit of an unconventional example, given the "jerkass" is a hero who simply refuses to consider if the {{Villain Protagonist}}'s punishment [[KarmicOverkill might have been too harsh]] or if she may deserve a second chance, but still. Twilight initially refuses to seriously consider Sweetie Belle's request to free Cozy Glow [[TakenForGranite from her stone prison]], simply writing off the filly's fate as what she brought upon herself and outright saying she has NoSympathy for her, and shoots down any criticisms regarding how much more forgiving she was towards one Starlight Glimmer for similarly serious crimes, despite [[EnfantTerrible Cozy being a child]] and Starlight being an adult. She's even about to just storm off angrily when Sweetie doesn't back down and only gave in when [[spoiler: Sweetie outright threw back the honorary Friendship School diploma Twilight gave her]]. And even after reluctantly agreeing to give reforming Cozy a serious shot and even putting a fair amount of effort into making [[GildedCage her dwelling as comfortable as possible]], Twilight is rather blunt that this is Cozy's [[LastSecondChance only second chance]] and she will turn her back to stone if she steps out of line. But when she catches Cozy trying to steal her key to escape and actually has to decide if she personally is going to go through with her threat to imprison a child in stone for eternity, Twilight realizes and admits to herself just how cruel a punishment that is to even threaten a child with. Even a child as dangerous and wicked as Cozy Glow. [[spoiler: And promptly swears that the threat of turning her back to stone is off the table and promises Cozy that she'll never give up on trying to help her.]]

[[AC:''Manga/{{Naruto}}'']]

* ''[[Fanfic/WhatYouKneadNaruto What You Knead]]'': Tazuna starts out treating Team Seven rudely and disdainfully, frustrated by how a ''genin team'' was assigned to protect him. After learning how he lied about his circumstances, Kakashi [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech spells out how he]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screwed himself over]]. What really cements things, however, is seeing Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke panic when Kakashi collapses after fighting off Zabuza. Specifically, Naruto calling Kakashi "[[BigBrotherMentor Nii-san]]" forces him to recognize that they really ''are'' children -- children with their own loved ones and families, just like everyone in his village, whom he recklessly endangered with his deception.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130188 Consequence for Indifference]]'', Don, Leo and Raph realise they've been mistreating Mikey and making him afraid of them, and they determine to make things right.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6250877/1/Tempus-Fugit Tempus Fugit]]'', when circumstances lead to Paige from the end of Season Eight travelling back to the end of Season Three to save Prue’s life, once her future memories have straightened out she apologises to Cole for the way she treated him in her time, now able to recognise the difference between him and the Source and regretting how she acted as though he was equally culpable of the Source’s crimes.

** Chloe comes to recognize just how selfish and entitled she's been and starts working on adjusting her attitude ''for real''.

** Adrien has one after his father publicly exposes himself as Shadow Moth and attempts to akumatize him. Prior to this, Adrien had been ''furious'' over Ladybug voiding Chloe's KarmaHoudiniWarranty and scolding him for his SkewedPriorities as Chat Noir; his frustration only mounted as nobody at school seemed to share his sympathy for Chloe, culminating in him snapping at Ladybug for suggesting Gabriel might be Shadow Moth [[spoiler:and attacking her, forcing her to strip him of the Ring]]. Once it's revealed that she was ''right'' about Gabriel, Adrien starts reconsidering his actions and realizing just how naive he'd been. In particular, it hits him that he was taking their victories completely for granted, assuming that they'd always win [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin since they were the good guys]].

* An offhand comment Yang makes in Chapter 48 of ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'' regarding Pyrrha's true feelings about being put on a pedestal cause Weiss to have a subtle one, realizing that she treated her the exact same way.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Professor Cerise, in searching for clues that could help locate his daughter Chloe, learns that she's a NightmareFetishist who enjoys writing horror stories. He's greatly disturbed by some of what he reads, wonders why she couldn't be interested in anything more normal. His son Parker angrily responses to this by saying that Chloe isn't insane, a reaction which confuses him until he realizes that Chloe must have been heavily bullied due to her love for the macabre, and was hiding her stories from her parents precisely because she feared they'd ''also'' belittle her interests. Which he had just been doing. He resolves to engage with her hobbies more once she eventually returns home.

* Invoked in ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'' when Arthur's criticism of Dyson's lack of honor in training is cut short when he learns about how a friend of Dyson's was betrayed by his previous king. Shaken at the realization of how severly Dyson's friend was betrayed, Arthur recognises that trying to go after Dyson and apologize wouldn't work as he can't offer anything more than platitudes.
** More explicitly occurs when [[spoiler:Morgana is contemplating letting Uther die during the invasion of the Knights of Medhir, until a talk with Dyson reminds her that Bo and Merlin wouldn't do something like that, driving Morgana to push that part of herself down as she wants to be worthy of them both]].

* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': The plot of the story ''To Rule Alone, to Build Together'' is kicked off by [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Chloe Bourgeois]] having an epiphany after nearly being killed by Stoneheart, realizing that her AlphaBitch attitude is to blame for the situation, and also that said attitude means almost no one would mourn her if she died. After this, she becomes determined to become a better person, which seems to the catalyst for her receiving the Bee Miraculous.

* In the AU fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805744/ All will be well, as long as you stay by my side]]'', Lena and Kara first meet in the kitchens of the royal palace of Theonia, and only learn a couple of days later that Lena is the Queen of Theonia and Kara is one of the journalists visiting the palace to interview the new rulers after a recent revolution. When Lena realises that Kara is a journalist, she invites Kara for a private meeting to provide a list of pre-approved questions and an official request that nothing they spoke about in the kitchens be discussed, but Kara’s reaction affirms that she was never planning to do anything like that and is hurt that Lena ever thought she would, helping Lena realise that she made a mistake.

* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-8932-10/Psyckosama+Hunter.htm Hunter]]'', Xander realizes Angel has returned and Buffy isn't telling anyone so he asks Faith to talk to her about it. When Buffy hears this, she interrupts Faith's explanation and quickly tells her what really happened, not Xander's jealousy tainted version. Buffy feels like a terrible friend after Faith tells her that's exactly the same explanation Xander gave.

* In ''Fanfic/TheChosenSix'', while it required Dumbledore to basically lock himself in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and deal with her moans for a couple of hours, but eventually he's able to help Myrtle realize that her attitude towards her death has only been hurting herself.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Goldstein}},'' Yehudah has long been annoyed by Terry's many questions about his religion, and instinctively finds Terry's own outspoken Christian beliefs to be threatening. Eventually he hears Terry signing him up for ''something'' related to Easter and explodes at him, which puts Terry on the outs with most of their fellow Ravenclaws; however, it turns out that he was only signing Yehudah up to go home during their break, which Yehudah actually wanted. Yehudah eventually writes Rabbi Zeller, asking if he has to apologize for wronging someone who isn't Jewish...and, upon realizing how bad he sounds just asking that, figures the answer out for himself.

* In ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNightmaresOfFuturesPast'', Harry has a minor one when he sends himself back to the beginning of his first year after a decade-long war with Voldemort killed everyone else. Looking back on his interactions with Hagrid in the 'original' timeline, Harry is ashamed to realise how often he, Ron and Hermione visited Hagrid to interrogate him about the latest crisis rather than just dropping in to spend time with Hagrid as a friend.
* In ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfSeven'', Gabrielle basically have one when she witnesses her mother's attempts to seduce Harry away from Fleur, realising that she'd basically be guilty of the same thing if she tried to go through with her original plans to seduce Harry.

** In turn, Adrien tells her that nothing she did justified him being (as he now sees it) a [[JerkAss jerk]] and a [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrite]] about it, bringing up his own feelings for Ladybug.

** Tikki comes to realize that she [[WasTooHardOnHim was too hard on Marinette]], scolding and criticizing her for the slightest slip-up and accusing her of having SkewedPriorities whenever she was distracted from her duties as Ladybug by problems in her civilian life. She [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor got what she wanted]] from the ''new'' Ladybug, who focuses ''exclusively'' upon being a hero, forcing Tikki to see just what she was demanding from Marinette... as well as how she contributed to her past holder having a massive GuiltComplex, automatically [[ItsAllMyFault blaming herself]] for everything that goes wrong and seeing herself as a {{Failure Hero}}ine.

** While trying to earn back their lives and make it up to Twilight, the disgraced heroes are also forced to face the fact that they forgot to consider the feelings of Canterlot's citizens who, while expecting for the wedding, also had to be anxious over the threat of unknown attackers who managed to strike despite Celestia and Shining Armor's safety measures, causing civilian casualties (at least one filly's parents became hospitalized in the attack). Before the heroes earn back their prestige and the public's trust, Jewelius [[BerserkButton angrily declares]] sympathizing with Twilight and the other heroes to be an act of treason in the 17th chapter. This [[VillainBall outburst causes]] the citizens of Canterlot to realize that the dishonored heroes were [[CassandraTruth all along right about]] [[spoiler:Jewelius being evil]] and that they had chosen the wrong side. In the epilogue, the heroes apologize for their mistakes before proceeding to the wedding, and the public in turn apologizes to them for blindly believing Jewelius' propaganda about them and spurning them.

** [[CorruptTheCutie Twilight is manipulated]] by Jewelius to stop trusting her friends, mentor and brother for their treatment of her, and she acts coldly toward them as [[CassandraTruth they try to tell her]] [[spoiler:how evil Jewelius truly is]]. After she realizes the truth, she seeks them out to reconcile with them, with everypony owning up to their respective mistakes. It should be noted that prior to Twilight discovering the truth about [[spoiler: Jewelius]], she admits floating the idea of pardoning her friends, expressing a desire to forgive them for their mistakes and apologize for being too harsh on them. Discovering the truth leads her into [[ItsAllMyFault blaming herself for it all]].

* ''[[Fanfic/WhatYouKneadNaruto What You Knead]]'': Tazuna starts out treating Team Seven rudely and disdainfully, frustrated by how a ''genin team'' was assigned to protect him. After learning how he lied about his circumstances, Kakashi [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech spells out how he]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screwed himself over]]. What really cements things, however, is seeing Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke panic when Kakashi collapses after fighting off Zabuza. Specifically, Naruto calling Kakashi "[[BigBrotherMentor Nii-san]]" forces him to recognize that they really ''are'' children -- children with their own loved ones and families, just like everyone in his village, whom he recklessly endangered with his deception.

* In ''Fanfic/APikachuInLove'', Pikachu has several of these in regards to how coldly he's been acting to Ash, but what really hits home is when [[spoiler:Misty is carrying him back to the camp site after he had been attacked by the Ursaring, and she starts to talk about how much they all love him and how devastated they'd be if something had happened to them, ''especially'' Ash. It's at this point Pikachu realizes just how loved he is, and that Ash would never forget about him or leave him behind]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheMysterionMythos'', a chain of events lead to the now-teenage boys and various others finally "remembering" that Kenny is unable to die. As they start to go over their memories of his past deaths, they are all shocked to realise just how often Kenny has died and how they have so often been relatively nonchalant about the horrible death of their friend.

* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', after Beast Boy leaves his resignation letter behind, the other Teen Titans regret how they treated him in response to his behavior following being rejected by Terra. Unfortunately, it's too late for them to make amends and [[FromBadToWorse things get much worse]].

* ''Fanfic/FeralnetteAUBigFatBreak'':

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6947984/1/A-Familiar-Change-of-Fate A Familiar Change of Fate]]'': Because she summoned the happy-go-lucky and humble [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Starfire]], [[LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Louise Franoise]] realizes she's been treating the nicest person she knew as a pet. It particularly hits home when Starfire is overjoyed by her "luxurious meal" of [[MundaneLuxury bread and water]].

* ''Fanfic/WeightOffYourShoulder'': Adrien has one after his father publicly exposes himself as Shadow Moth and attempts to akumatize him. Prior to this, Adrien had been ''furious'' over Ladybug voiding Chloe's KarmaHoudiniWarranty and scolding him for his SkewedPriorities as Chat Noir; his frustration only mounted as nobody at school seemed to share his sympathy for Chloe, culminating in him snapping at Ladybug for suggesting Gabriel might be Shadow Moth [[spoiler:and attacking her, forcing her to strip him of the Ring]]. Once it's revealed that she was ''right'' about Gabriel, Adrien starts reconsidering his actions and realizing just how naive he'd been. In particular, it hits him that he was taking their victories completely for granted, assuming that they'd always win [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin since they were the good guys]].

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6947984/1/A-Familiar-Change-of-Fate A Familiar Change of Fate]]'' because she summoned the happy-go-lucky and humble [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Starfire]], [[LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Louise Franoise]] realizes she's been treating the nicest person she knew as a pet. It particularly hits home when Starfire is overjoyed by her "luxurious meal" of [[MundaneLuxury bread and water]].

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Professor Cerise, in searching for clues that could help locate his daughter Chloe, learns that she's a NightmareFetishist who enjoys writing horror stories. He's greatly disturbed by some of what he reads, wonders why she couldn't be interested in anything more normal. His son Parker angrily responses to this by saying that Chloe isn't insane, a reaction which confuses him until he realizes that Chloe must have been heavily bullied due to her love for the macabre, and was hiding her stories from her parents precisely because she feared they'd also belittle her interests. Which he had just been doing. He resolves to engage with her hobbies more once she eventually returns home.

* ''[[Fanfic/BlackbirdArrow Blackbird]]'':

* ''Fanfic/ATacticiansTestimony'': In "Blood of Pride," Katri recognizes that her [[NobleBigot prejudices]] against Sacaeans were wrong when she sees Marquess Araphen openly badmouthing Lyn for being Sacaean, calling her a "[[DehumanizingInsult nomadic mongrel]]." The realization that she used to think the same as such a {{Jerkass}} leaves Katri remorseful and feeling sick to her stomach.

* ''Fanfic/OneStepAhead'': The day after the episode, "I Only Have Surprise for You", where the whole house joins in tricking Mac into humiliating himself in front of everyone, almost all of the participants realize just how horrible the prank was and feel guilty. Only a handful of them aren't bothered, the most notable being Bloo himself, who complains that Mac is 'being a baby' by not visiting. Wilt slaps Bloo and calls him out, admitting that while he doesn't know how he managed to sucker everyone into participating, they're all responsible for driving Mac away, and are all being punished for their actions.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14034033/1/ For Love of Experimental Time Travel]]'': At the end of the story, Hermione comes to the conclusion that she doesn't mind if Harry has sex with other women despite marrying her because she doesn't feel threatened by them and comments that it'd be like if "a wife felt threatened by the family pets". Immediately afterwards, she realizes how incredibly arrogant she must be to use such a metaphor and realizes that Harry was right when he said she wouldn't be able to "lower herself" to being a simple housewife, no matter what she claimed.

* ''Fanfic/{{Recommencer|MiraculousLadybug}}'': During the battle with Repeater, Chat Noir proves to be TheLoad, whining about Ladybug getting help from a BadassBystander before proving that she ''needs'' reliable people to work with by refusing to follow her plan, trying to {{Blackmail}} her into 'admitting how much [she] loves [him]'. This forces another student to step in and do the job instead, and he's [[WhatTheHellHero called out afterwards]], ShamedByAMob into fleeing the scene. Adrien then reflects upon his behavior as Chat Noir and realizes [[SkewedPriorities just how skewed his priorities were]], right before Master Fu takes away the Black Cat Ring.

--->'''Marinette: "I wanted to believe I was different, because my feelings hadn't stemmed from your looks or your position in life or anything like that. They were feelings that were entirely anchored in the right reasons, so I let myself believe that because I liked you for your kindness and your talents and your selflessness that I wasn't just putting you on a pedestal of unreachable proportions just like everyone else had. But I was lying to myself. I had put you on a pedestal. I idolized everything that made Adrien Agreste who he was, but felt as though I could never be good enough for you, or even be myself around you, so I got to know you through ways that didn’t involve actually forming a friendship with you, under the illusion that it was okay because I did know you, and we were sort of friends and everything. I found so many reasons to admire you, but without even realizing it I used all those reasons to further push you to an unreachable point. It was bad for myself, and it was bad for you. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I'm sorry. Not for having the feelings I did, but the fact that I let them stop me from treating you like a normal person."

--->'''Adrien:''' "We're partners and best friends, but the fact that I didn't know Ladybug's civilian side and totally idolized her on this unreachable level kind of meant I was no better than everyone who does the same with me, even if I liked her for the right reasons, just like you. When you told me how you felt, I already knew, but to hear it directly from you and to immediately feel kind of annoyed - once again, sorry - well, I looked back on it not much later and realized how hypocritical it was in retrospect. But all the times I wanted to apologize and try and patch things up Alya would pull you away because she was angry on your behalf, and no longer being in the same class meant we didn't see much of each other anyway. And I never really knew what I'd have said, anyway. 'Hey Marinette, sorry I was a jerk when you said you liked me but the thing is, I have a massive crush on Ladybug who doesn't like superhero me and doesn't know civilian me and I put her on a pedestal the same way you did so really I'm in no position to judge you but I'm just sick of people idolizing me is that okay?' never really had the best ring to it."

* ''Fanfic/{{Eroninja}}'': While escorting a caravan to Suna, Naruto and Samui run into one of Samui's ex-boyfriends. Given that Samui is using a specialized Henge to [[DCupDistress appear to have gotten breast reduction surgery]], her ex remarks to his friends about how Samui used to have "tits so big, the should have qualified as national treasures." Naruto, who has no idea Samui ''didn't'' get surgery, pulls him aside and tells Samui's ex that it's people like him that made such a beautiful woman so insecure she got plastic surgery to change her looks. Samui's ex-boyfriend buys her a drink and sincerely apologizes for his comments.

* “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11998913/1/A-Perfect-Match A Perfect Match?]]” opens with Misty having accepted Rudy's offer to stay at the Trovita Gym, believing that Ash's rapid departure after he lost the match proves that he's still just the immature kid. However, when Tracey calls her back to give Ash a pep talk after he nearly drowned stopping the Legendary Birds, Ash's subsequent argument with Misty escalates until he admits that he feels her leaving him so abruptly proves that she ''never'' cared about him as a friend and all she wanted was her bike back. Misty is shaken to hear this view from Ash, realising that she convinced herself that Ash being bad at showing he cares means that he doesn't care, when the truth is anything but.
* In the ''Pokemon'' fanfic ''Fanfic/APikachuInLove'', Pikachu has several of these in regards to how coldly he's been acting to Ash, but what really hits home is when [[spoiler:Misty is carrying him back to the camp site after he had been attacked by the Ursaring, and she starts to talk about how much they all love him and how devastated they'd be if something had happened to them, ''especially'' Ash. It's at this point Pikachu realizes just how loved he is, and that Ash would never forget about him or leave him behind]].

* ''Fanfic/{{Stay|StarVsTheForcesOfEvil}}'': Kelly is deeply upset by Marco’s rejection, blaming Star, who she believes is less deserving of his love, even though Marco’s reason was that he feels NoSparks with Kelly. In response, she abandons Marco in his hour of need and leaves him to try to heal from leaving Star, without a friend to lean on. Poor Marco now has to deal with heartbreak over his unrequited love for Star, and the possible end of his close friendship with Kelly. Later on, Janna gives her [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech a scathing speech]] over Kelly’s "EntitledToHaveYou" attitude with Marco and her grudge against Star for having his love, and Kelly realizes how much of a bad friend she’s been.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2096818/1/Wanda-s-Life Wanda's Life]]'', Jean never starts dating Duncan because Wanda makes Jean realize that she’s been becoming too caught up in being popular to realize what she’s losing.

''[[AC:{{Crossover}}]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters]]''

''[[AC:Series/{{Angel}}]]''

''[[AC:Literature/{{Animorphs}}]]''

''[[AC:Series/{{Arrowverse}}]]''
* In the AU fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805744/ All will be well, as long as you stay by my side]]", Lena and Kara first meet in the kitchens of the royal palace of Theonia, and only learn a couple of days later that Lena is the Queen of Theonia and Kara is one of the journalists visiting the palace to interview the new rulers after a recent revolution. When Lena realises that Kara is a journalist, she invites Kara for a private meeting to provide a list of pre-approved questions and an official request that nothing they spoke about in the kitchens be discussed, but Kara’s reaction affirms that she was never planning to do anything like that and is hurt that Lena ever thought she would, helping Lena realise that she made a mistake.
* ''Fanfic/BlackbirdArrow'':

* ''Fanfic/WhatItTakes'';

''[[AC:Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer]]''

''[[AC:Series/Charmed1998]]''
* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6250877/1/Tempus-Fugit Tempus Fugit]]", when circumstances lead to Paige from the end of Season Eight travelling back to the end of Season Three to save Prue’s life, once her future memories have straightened out she apologises to Cole for the way she treated him in her time, now able to recognise the difference between him and the Source and regretting how she acted as though he was equally culpable of the Source’s crimes.

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom]]''

''[[AC:Series/DoctorWho]]''

''[[AC:Franchise/FireEmblem]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends]]''
* ''Fanfic/OneStepAhead'': The next day after the episode, "I Only Have Surprise for You", where the whole house joins in tricking Mac into humiliating himself in front of everyone, all the imaginary friends realize how horrible the prank was and feel guilty. When Bloo complains that Mac is being a baby for not visiting him and that he will get over it because he is one step ahead, Wilt angrily slaps Bloo in the face and tells him he went too far this time. Wilt admits he does not know how Bloo suckered everyone into joining his prank, but because of Bloo's behavior, Mac will never return, and everyone gets punished for participating in Bloo's prank.

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}]]''

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' / ''Franchise/KingKong'' / Franchise/MonsterVerse]]

''[[AC:Literature/HarryPotter]]''

''[[AC:Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain]]''

''[[AC:Anime/KillLaKill]]''
* From ''Webcomic/KillLaKillAU'', we have this with Nui, when she realizes that Satsuki had given her name and felt "gross" because she had treated her so badly prior to finding that out.

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse]]''
* ''FanFic/ThickerThanBlood'': While everyone is dealing with the emotional fallout of Lincoln finding out he's adopted, Lori takes a long look at her relationship with her siblings and realizes she hasn't been the CoolBigSis she would like to think of herself as and swears to make an effort to be a better influence in their lives.

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic]]''

''[[AC:Manga/{{Naruto}}]]''

''[[AC:Franchise/{{Pokemon}}]]''
* In Chapter 25 of ''Fanfic/CommonSense'', Ash is [[spoiler:trying to hide his pain over not being able to save Butterfree's mate from Team Rocket]]. Misty wants to help comfort him; however, Brock points out that given how she's treated him, any expressions of sympathy would come off as pitying and condescending, only making matters worse. Misty then realizes that since she's been holding a grudge against Ash ever since he beat her at the Cerulean Gym, he doesn't see her as a friend. This makes her resolve to be kinder to him going forward.

''[[AC:ComicBook/PowerGirl]]''

''[[AC:Manga/RosarioPlusVampire]]''

''[[AC:WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}]]''
* ''Fanfic/ARabbitAmongWolves'': Jaune's working with the White Fang is mostly out of self-interest at first, with only a cursory care for the plight felt by Faunus. Being nearly raped by an SDC manager changes it somewhat and gives him a deeper understanding of how bad they have it.

--> ''The sheer amount of self-reflection that happened in the span of mere seconds did two things. One, it caused Blake's eyes to bulge out of her skull with the implications of what she just put her team through, shocking her mental system to the very core. Secondly, right after realizing this, she promptly passed out from a combination of crushing guilt, anxiety, and the thought of having to explain this to her mother.''

''[[AC:Series/{{Smallville}}]]''
* ''Fanfic/EnTempusVeritas'';

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/SouthPark]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil]]''
* ''Fanfic/{{Stay|StarVsTheForcesOfEvil}}'': Kelly is deeply upset by Marco’s rejection, blaming Star, who she believes is less deserving of his love, even though Marco’s reason was that he feels NoSparks with Kelly. In response, she abandons Marco in his hour of need and leaves him to try to heal from leaving Star, without a friend to lean on. Poor Marco now has to deal with heartbreak over his unrequited love for Star, and the possible end of his close friendship with Kelly. Later on, Janna gives her [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech a scathing speech]] over Kelly’s “EntitledToHaveYou” attitude with Marco and her grudge against Star for having his love, and Kelly realizes how much of a bad friend she’s been.

''[[AC:Franchise/TeenTitans]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends]]''

''[[AC:Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium]]''

''[[AC:Franchise/{{Transformers}}]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution]]''

''[[AC:WesternAnimation/YoungJustice]]''

--> It took a while to sink in. I knew that I was being a bit hard on Artemis, but I thought it was proportional to the potential gain. It wasn't until I cut my way out of the foam and none of the others would meet my eyes that I appreciated how far overboard I'd gone.

''[[ACFranchise/TolkiensLegendarium]]''

* ''Fanfic/TheNuptialverse'': ''Post Nuptials'' takes the Jerkass Realization Twilight's friends are implied to have in the season 2 finale for ignoring Twilight's warnings against the evil Cadance ([[spoiler:actually an imposter]]), and brings it UpToEleven: here they realize that they'd broken Twilight's heart by turning their backs on her, and [[{{Wangst}} profusely beat themselves up]] over how they could have treated her so coldly.

* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': When Paul is trying to persuade Artemis to pick up more equipment and skills, not just her bow, he gets over-focused, and not only challenges her to a duel to prove her bow's inadequacy against his shields, but during the test, he ''suggests that she flash him'' as a way of [[DistractedByTheSexy interfering with his focus]] on shielding against her. Once he takes off his power ring later to meditate, he comes back down to normal and is disgusted with his own behaviour, setting out to make it up to her.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2096818/1/Wanda-s-Life Wanda's Life]]'', Jean never starts dating Duncan because Wanda makes Jean realize that she’s been becoming too caught up in being popular to realize what she’s losing.

* ''Fanfic/OneStepAhead'': The next day after the episode, I Only Have Surprise for You, where the whole house joins in tracking Mac to humiliate himself in front of everyone, all the imaginary friends realize how horrible the prank was and feel guilty. When Bloo complains that Mac is being a baby for not visiting him and that he gets over it because he is one step ahead, Wilt angrily slaps Bloo in the face and tells him he went too far this time. Wilt admits he does not know how Bloo sucker everyone into joining his prank, but because of Bloo's behavior, Mac will never return, and everyone gets punished for participating in Bloo's prank.