History Main / Itsallmyfault

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': A running gag in Season 11 involves various members of the Blood Gulch Crew, when confronted with certain questions or statements about their crashed ship, blame themselves for the ship's crashing. Rather than saying aloud that it's their fault, each person has a flashback to something they did on the ship that appears to be the cause of flashing red warning lights, then cuts back to the present where they either cite a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial or just dodge the topic. As a result, none of them know about the mistakes the others made. [[spoiler:Subverted when it's eventually revealed that the only reason their ship survived a lethal tractor beam trap that was desiged to crash ships and kill everyone on board is because all the individual mistakes the crew caused resulted in the ship fighting itself to the point where it was even trying to go in different directions and different speeds all at the same time; the ship's contradictory behaviour countered the trap just enough to save their lives. In other words, while each disaster individually could have crashed the ship in normal circumstances, the combination of disasters ended up saving their lives instead.]]

* In ''Machinima/SodorDarkTimes'', a DarkerAndEdgier fan video series of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', Gordon and the Fat Controller blame themselves for Alfred (who had murdered Henry earlier) blowing up Knapford Station, resulting in the deaths of Thomas, Edward, James, and Percy, causing the latter to resign as controller.

* ''VideoGame/SpiritsOfAnglerwoodForest'': When [[spoiler: Daniel gets captured by the spirits]], Cyrus blames himself because he dragged him to Hatchet's Point against his wishes. Happens again toward the end of the game when [[spoiler: Daniel [[BalefulPolymorph turns into a tree]]]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'', Jusqua blames himself when Aire is [[BalefulPolymorph cursed to be a cat]] right after he ditches her for being insufferably selfish. He probably couldn't have done anything to stop her from opening the "treasure" that did it, but he spends the next portion of the game trying to find a cure for her. [[spoiler:Except the cat he brings with him is actually just a stray... Aire finds a cure through other means.]]

The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "I Am My Monster" features a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this trope. [[spoiler: Steven has a complete mental breakdown, which causes his powers to go absolutely ballistic, turning him into a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever massive]], pink {{Kaiju}}, lashing out in fear and rage. His father, the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds and Spinel all start proclaiming how it was their fault that Steven is like this, because they didn't support him enough (Greg), never asked if he was okay when it looked like there was something wrong, (Amethyst) or [[BreadEggsMilkSquick actively tried to kill him]] (the Diamonds and Spinel).]] Enter Connie.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' cartoon, Luigi blames himself for the cave people's crops being stolen. (This scene has, needless to say, been [[MemeticMutation memetically mutated]] in WebAnimation/YouTubePoop and nicknamed "Emo Luigi".)

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "I Am My Monster" features a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this trope. [[spoiler: Steven has a complete mental breakdown, which causes his powers to go absolutely ballistic, turning him into a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever massive]], pink {{Kaiju}}, lashing out in fear and rage. His father, the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds and Spinel all start proclaiming how it was their fault that Steven is like this, because they didn't support him enough (Greg), never asked if he was okay when it looked like there was something wrong, (Amethyst) or [[BreadEggsMilkSquick actively tried to kill him]] (the Diamonds and Spinel).]] Enter Connie.
-->'''Connie:''' ''[[BluntYes YES IT IS!]]'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech YES, you hurt him, but this isn't the time to make this all about YOU! That is NOT helping!]] Maybe Steven would care how sad you are, because he ALWAYS puts everyone else's feelings first! But he can't do that for you right now, because he needs US this time!

'''Luigi:''' Aw, no they can't! Oh Mario, I was so sure that we'd have a great crop, that I told the cave people they didn't have to save berries anymore, and they didn't. They don't have any food stored for the winter. *sob* [[LargeHam AND IT'S ALL MY FAAAULT!]]

->''"They don't have any food stored for the winter! ''[sob]'' AND IT'S ALL MY FAAAULT!"''

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** At the very start the story Ichigo's family is attacked by a hollow and they are all badly injured ''except'' him since he was talking to/being restrained by Rukia when the hollow first attacked. He is horrified to see his little sisters bleeding out but is at a loss to understand why the hollow didn't devour their souls since Rukia told him that [[ItsWhatIDo this is what hollows]] ''[[ItsWhatIDo do]]''. When she explains that the hollow is here because it is attracted to ''him'' and it is ignoring the others' souls in favor of his, Ichigo instantly blames himself for the situation and starts [[TakeMeInstead shouting at the hollow to come after him]].
** The ''Everything but the Rain'' flashback arc reveals that when Masaki made the decision to save Isshin's life, her own life was nearly lost in the process, causing Isshin to have to sacrifice his shinigami powers to save her. The event not only completely ruined Ryuuken Ishida's quincy future but left him feeling like everything that had happened was entirely his fault. [[spoiler: Although he warned Masaki she was breaking Quincy law, he didn't physically try to stop her or interfere in her fight because he trusted her and her power. [[HeroicBSOD He bitterly regretted his decision]].]]
* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', Chilchuck has this reaction after [[spoiler: the battle with the Red Dragon.]] He mentions that he hadn't stuck with the party the rest might have given up early rather than risking their lives.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'': Polnareff blames his [[RevengeBeforeReason impulsive actions]] for attempting to avenge his sister's death when it resulted in [[spoiler:Avdol]] TakingTheBullet in the midst of battle.
** ''Manga/StoneOcean'': [[spoiler:Weather Report]]'s death at Pucci's hands, something that would've ended the conflict had Jolyne not arrived at the wrong time to give Pucci a chance to kill the former. Everyone's thoughts on the matter do ''not'' help.
--> '''Ermes''' ''(shaking)'': Jolyne... the [[DramaticWind wind's]] [[HesDeadJim stopped]].\\
'''Jolyne''': ''It can't be... was it because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero we crashed the car?]] Because I came here?'' [...] [[spoiler:Weather]]... Just one more time... I want to talk to you one more time... in the breeze... I want to be able to speak to you.\\
'''Anasui''': He came back to life when he left that prison. I can tell. So don't think too deeply about what happened to him. These past few days, [[spoiler:Weather]] was happy, he was already saved.
* ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'', when Lavinia indirectly [[spoiler:causes Carrisford's death and the revelation of Sara's identity.]] Maybe next time she shouldn't grab an [[{{Fanservice}} episode]] all to herself.
* ''Anime/DeliciousPartyPrettyCure'': In Episode 8, Ran tries to quit posting on Curesta because she feels responsible about the Bundoru Gang capturing the Recippis and going after the various restaurants she posts about. Luckily, in the end, she settles on keeping the blog open but promoting take-out instead.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** ''Anime/YuGiOh'': In season 4, Yami Yugi blames himself for [[spoiler:using the Seal of Orichalcos trying to defeat Raphael, but ultimately leads to his downfall, making [[HeroicSacrifice Yugi have the seal take his soul instead of the Pharaoh]]'s.]] Rebecca and [[spoiler:Orichalcos-possessed!]]Weevil said that it was his fault as well. Arguably, it wasn't ''all'' Yami's fault. [[spoiler:Raphael provoked him into using the card first after using Yami Yugi's Exchange to deliberately give the Seal of Orichalcos to him in a BatmanGambit to prove that Yami Yugi was evil.]]
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', Yami Yugi blames himself for the group's entering the game, and thus tries to take on La Jinn alone.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Jaden completely breaks down, mercilessly blaming himself, when Jesse gets stranded in the Duel Monsters' Spirit World, even though everyone else escapes since they can't even be sure Jesse was still alive. Everyone else also says it's his fault except Jim and Axel. Jerks.
* In ''Anime/{{Clannad}}'', when [[spoiler:Nagisa finds out that her parents originally had better careers and stopped pursuing them in order to stay at home with a bakery to care for her [[IllGirl sickly character]] since a [[NotQuiteDead nearly-tragic incident]]. She was not meant to find out [[TheUnreveal the secret]] as Tomoya and her father even saw it coming that she was going to start blaming herself and {{Wangst}} about it.]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** Goku blames himself for Krillin's first death during the King Piccolo Saga, since the only reason Krillin went back to the stadium was to retrieve Goku's Power Pole and Dragon Ball, which Goku carelessly left behind because he was exhausted from fighting Tien, where Krillin had the misfortune of running into Tambourine.
** [[Anime/DragonBallZ Later on]], Gohan blames himself for his father's second death, when he could've just instantly slaughtered Cell and instead decided to [[RevengeBeforeReason torture him]], which led to Cell having a VillainousBreakdown and attempt a TakingYouWithMe, prompting [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Goku]] to step up and sacrifice himself for Earth's sake, [[SenselessSacrifice which didn't work]].
* In the ''Mazinger'' series it's dangerous being impossibly willful and TooDumbToLive, as well as not listening to good advice and thinking before acting:
** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': It happened to Yuri -Sayaka's cousin- after she [[spoiler:wheeled herself out of Kouji's house in spite of everybody telling her it was dangerous outside due to Mazinger-Z and a [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beast]] duking it out. She was kidnapped by several [[{{Mooks}} Iron Masks]] and TheDragon Baron Ashura used her like a hostage.]] She blamed herself, thinking if she would not have been so stubborn and would have listened to what people told, Kouji would be safe.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': Tetsuya Tsurugi blames himself for [[spoiler:his and Jun's adoptive father's death.]] Given that [[spoiler:Kenzo pulled a HeroicSacrifice to save Tetsuya's life, and Tetsuya was in danger because he behaved like an arrogant and jealous idiot,]] he is right. During a hospital scene, as he was rambling MyGodWhatHaveIDone, his LoveInterest BattleCouple and NotBloodRelated adoptive sister Jun listened in silence, trying to be supportive, but she was not gainsaying him. That ''might'' suggest she did not want to grieve him, but she did not disagree.
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': Duke blamed himself for having been unable to protect his planet and save his people from the Vegan AlienInvasion, and having run away. Actually the main reason of he wages war against the Vegans despite of he hates fight is he does not want the same thing happened to his homeworld happens to Earth, and he would not bear to run cowardly again. Nevertheless, unlike other instances of this trope he is wrong on blaming himself since he could have not done anything back then (other than dying, that is).
** ''Anime/CBCharaGoNagaiWorld'': Satan blames himself for [[spoiler:killing ''[[Manga/{{Devilman}} Akira Fudo]]'']]. Pretty reasonably, since he killed him... ''again''.
** ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'': In the first timeline, we see [[spoiler:Mazinger-Z has become an EldritchAbomination. Earth is now a flaming, barren, lifeless rock, and humanity has been wiped out.]] Kouji blames himself for it, uttering that same exact sentence and stating if he [[spoiler: would not RefusedTheCall and piloted Mazinger-Z,]] nothing of this would have happened.
* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'', Shinji decides that everything is his fault, and thus that everyone would be better off without him. Unfortunately he doesn't recover from his HeroicBSOD, with disastrous results; namely: his inaction, apathy, and {{wangst}} ensure that everything that happens in the movie actually ''becomes'' his fault.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Shikamaru says this at the end of a mission that got very nearly two of his friends killed. Neither his boss, his father nor his potential love interest denies that it is, but urge him to instead think of the failure as motivation to do better the next time, rather than run away from responsibility and risk entrusting his friends to someone who might not bring them back alive.
** In the anime Shikamaru repeatedly says this [[spoiler: just before Asuma dies]], as it flashes back to a strategy meeting held before the battle.
** Averted later on, when [[spoiler: Pain attacks Konoha looking for Naruto, he never once blames himself.]]
** Shippuden filler episode 192 has Hinata saying this after getting kidnapped by two ninjas sent by Orochimaru. Neji reassures her that there is no need to do something like that.
* The same cannot be said for Negi of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', who blames himself for the attack on his home village. After all, he was looking for trouble so his father could save him, right? Fortunately, Asuna tells him he's wrong.
** [[spoiler: [[HarsherInHindsight And then it turns out that the demons were trying to kill Negi in the first place.]]]]
** At times this makes up a solid 75% of Negi's dialogue.
*** This [[HeroicSelfDeprecation tendency]] [[BlackMagic leads him]] to [[TrainingFromHell push himself]] towards the remaining 25% - pure, unfiltered badass.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
** Madoka blames herself for [[spoiler: Mami's death]], thinking it was her fault for being too a coward and a liar. This is especially severe when she [[spoiler: gets caught by a witch but doesn't try to fight back or even escape, but fully accepts death if not for Sayaka's intervention.]]
** Kyoko is a prime example of this, for [[spoiler: inadvertently causing the death of her entire family.]]
** Homura also has this moment in [[spoiler: episode 11, when she acknowledges that her efforts to save Madoka for the past 100+ timelines have been for nothing, and everything she does only makes things worse.]]
* Chrono says this during his HeroicBSOD in the anime adaption of ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', essentially implying that ''everything'' bad that happened in the story so far had been his fault. In the manga itself he never says this, but he does imply several times that he feels responsible for much of what's happened.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' features this happening in season two's fifth episode to Saji Crossroad, the unluckiest civilian ever.
* Edward Elric from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Seeing as how it ''was'' his idea to transmute his and Al's mother in the first place and how he got off easy compared to his brother as a result, you can see where he's coming from. But Al did go along with it.
** If the lyrics to the song ''Brothers'' are any indication, Al blames himself even more than Ed does, having said nothing at all to stop the attempt despite his fears of what could (and did) happen.
** Likewise, Lan Fan blames herself when Ling [[spoiler:becomes the second Greed]].
* All over the place in ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' (Fakir blaming himself for not protecting Mytho, Rue's breakdown after Mytho's [[spoiler: transformation into a crow]]), but the titular character has the most, which is to be expected when the main character is constantly trying to make everyone around her happy. The first major instance is when she [[spoiler: overhears Mytho saying he's terrified of her after she returns his feeling of fear and realizes she might have been hurting him all along]], and later on, near the end of the series, [[spoiler: she tries to drown herself in the Lake of Despair because she believes her inability to remove the pendant has doomed the town and everyone she loves]].
* Miaka from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' blames herself for a number of stuff throughout the series: [[spoiler:Getting Yui ''almost'' raped, having the Seishi have to donate blood to her (from the wrist and the chest, to boot), losing the Universe of the Four Gods scroll, losing the Shinzahou, etc....]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'':
** [[BigBrotherMentor Maiza Avaro]] begins to [[WhoWantsToLiveForever regret bringing immortality into the world]] almost immediately after doing so (a notion which is only cemented by the fact that it sparked a chain of events which led to his brother's murder). He finally learns to move on when his protege Firo [[spoiler:winds up immortal ''and'' with the [[GhostMemory Ghost Memories]] of both Maiza's brother and his killer...and doesn't blame him ''one bit'' for it all]].
** In the same canon, Jacuzzi Splot. After going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on the Russo family, he's cornered and beaten up in an alleyway by three members of that family. The rest of his gang comes to his rescue, and his girlfriend knifes all three guys in the head, and then [[StuffBlowingUp blows up the alleyway]]; but not only does Jacuzzi blame himself, he describes the incident as though he was the one who murdered the guys.
--->'''Jacuzzi:''' ...and yesterday, I ended up killing three people.\\
'''Isaac and Miria:''' Killing?!\\
'''Donny:''' No! We were the ones that did the killing. Jacuzzi didn't do nothing!\\
'''Jacuzzi:''' What's the difference, it happened!
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' after defeating Kaigaku, in his near-death vision of the afterlife, Zenitsu talks with his master one last time, blaming himself for his master’s seppuku in atonement for Kaigaku’s betrayal and for the latter’s betraying them in first place; Zenitsu reasons that if he wasn’t such a coward and an incompetent disciple he wouldn’t have brought shame to his master, that if he was as good as Kaigaku their master wouldn’t have felt the need to try to atone for one of his best disciples turning over to the demons; the master however doesn’t agree with Zenitsu, honestly believing Zenitsu has always been his pride and joy, as previous flashbacks shows the master supporting Zenitsu at every turn, even if he tried to run or cry, the master saw through Zenitsu’s layers in that beneath all the apparent fear the boy never actually stopped trying to make through the master’s training regime, all paying off with Zenitsu defeating Kaigaku who was seem as the much stronger disciple by others.
* Yamaki from ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' blames himself for almost everything involving Digimon being in the real world, including ''the kids biomerging with their Digimon''. Using the program that opened a huge portal between the worlds and almost let a whole bunch of Digimon into the world was totally his fault, but little else that he's blamed himself for was.
** Impmon/Beelzemon spends the last half of the third season being eaten alive by guilt for [[spoiler: killing Leomon, thus causing Jeri to cross the DespairEventHorizon and [[DemonicPossession get possessed by]] [[EldritchAbomination the D-Reaper]].]]
** Let's not forget Kari's reaction to Myotismon's takeover of the city. she starts sobbing about how it's all her fault and then tries to pull off a HeroicSacrifice (of sorts) to get the big bad to stop.
*** After Kari gives herself up, Matt blames himself for this because he promised Tai that he would look after her.
** There was also the guilt Tai goes through when remembering the time he took a sick Kari outside to play soccer and she collapsed right in front of him. She was then rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and almost died.
* Very common in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', to the point of being Tenma's driving force. Never mind that his biggest crime was saving a little boy's life. Granted, said boy grew up to become one of the most evil bastards in any media ever. Though he was evil even before he saved him.
* Suzaku in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is ''defined'' by this trope (and it's [[NeverMyFault opposite]]) - it's the major reasons for his [[DeathSeeker death wish]]. [[spoiler:In the latter parts of ''R2'', Lelouch also starts thinking like this.]]
* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Ritsu and his mother fit this trope so well- whenever anything goes wrong, Ritsu starts running around screaming that it's his fault and he's soooooooo sorrrrrrry.
** Tohru also has some elements of this. When Ritsu and Tohru meet, Hilarity Ensues.
** Another example is Hatori blaming himself for putting Kana through so much heartbreak and pain.
* Kaga Ai from ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is a parody of this. She will blame herself for anything, at anytime for absolutely no reason.
** In fact, in the episode where Kaga was introduced, ''everybody'' did this.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** In ''Uncrushing Defeats!'', Ash blames himself for the full battle loss against Paul and for the injuries his Pokémon got from it.
** In ''Day Three Blockbusters!'', Serena feels at fault that Ash got injured when he tried to help her, after she fell when a rock gave in.
** In ''A Cellular Connection!'', Bonnie believes herself to be at fault for Clemont's Bunnelby injuries when he saved her from falling.
** In ''All Hail the Ice Battlefield!'', after losing to Wulfric, Ash blames himself for the loss and his Greninja getting hurt, and goes to the Winding Woods alone in shame. In the next episode, Ash's Greninja also feels at fault for the loss because it believes it let its Trainer and teammates down.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', both [[spoiler: Ruby and Sapphire]] blame themselves for screwing the other over as kids. [[spoiler: Sweet little Sapphire blames herself for being too weak when she couldn't do anything when Ruby nearly got killed protecting her, therefore resolving to become stronger]], while [[spoiler: battle-ready Ruby blames himself for being too fierce and thus terrifying Sapphire, therefore resolving to focus on beauty]]. Both wanted to show their new selves to each other to show how much they changed and that everything would be alright, but the ultimate irony is that when they are finally reunited, they fail to recognize each other, get off on the wrong foot, and berate the other for the attributes they themselves once had.
* During the "Phantom Lord" arc of ''Manga/FairyTail'', the Fairy Tail guildhall is destroyed and Lucy, after being kidnapped, learns that it was all so they could get to her, which leads to her HeroicBSOD. Given that she's stuck in a [[FromBadToWorse dire situation]], Lucy initially plays the trope straight, but then inverts the trope by saying that she still wants to be a member of Fairy Tail as she doesn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her actions.
** [[spoiler:Loke]] had been going through this for three years after [[spoiler:accidentally and indirectly causing the death of Karen Lilica, the cruel and sadistic celestial wizard he'd been contracted to]]. Luckily, Lucy manages to break him out of it ''and'' [[spoiler:convince the Celestial Spirit King to let him back into the Spirit World]].
* Used terrifyingly in ''Manga/SoulEater'' with Dr. Stein. After the battle to reclaim the Brew [[spoiler:fails because Stein is overtaken by insanity and becomes unable to fight, he says this line to try to comfort Marie. The scary part kicks in when he then repeats it amid peals of [[LaughingMad mad laughter]].]]
* ''Anime/AngelBeats'': [[spoiler: Yuri]] blames herself for not being able to save her siblings. Needless to say, nobody else does.
** And perhaps to a lesser extent - [[spoiler: Hinata]] for failing a decisive catch.
** Yuri again after accidentally sending Kanade into a coma by dumping 100 aggressively violent copies of herself into her mind.
* ''Manga/BetrayalKnowsMyName'': Hotsuma blames himself for causing Shuusei's burn scars.
* ''Manga/PrincessResurrection'': Reiri tricks Hiro and bites him. Riza chases after Reiri. When Reiri escaped Riza and Hime told her that Hiro could die, she screamed this phrase.
* Amasawa of ''Manga/TheWeathermanIsMyLover'' blames himself for his parents' deaths after they ignored his warnings about the oncoming storm. Every time a storm comes thereafter he is scared to go outside because it feels like the wind is blaming him too.
* In ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'' ''ZERO'', Kurumada blames himself for causing Hayato's accident in the English GP, to the point where he briefly retired from his team.
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Vash the Stampede has a habit of thinking like this, pretty independently of whether things are in that instance actually his fault... probably because he has a massive guilt complex about A) continuing to run around even though so much chaos follows him wherever he goes and B) not having neutralized his EvilTwin yet. Since he is then responsible for all incidental misfortunes and any actions taken by the BigBad, this trope just kind of happens.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
** Kenshin tends to this as well, as he is an ultimate TheAtoner. Usually only when he's kind of right and the thing is worth angsting over, but the contrast to all the other powerful sword characters is interesting. Except later-stage Aoshi, but he's probably emulating Kenshin.
** Hey, Aoshi bears the distinction of being the only swordsman from Kenshin's 'generation'--already active during the revolution and left at loose ends by it--who's younger than Kenshin himself. {{Child Prodig|y}}ies are unfun, especially when placed in positions of tremendous responsibility in their mid teens.
** Enishi agrees that it's all Kenshin's fault. Specifically, the thing that totally wasn't and all the nasty shit Enishi is now pulling on everyone Kenshin knows to punish the Battousai.
* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', Ivan/Origami Cyclone guilts himself for [[spoiler:his best friend Edward's imprisonment and disbarment as a hero, because Ivan's reluctance to intervene in a hostage situation led Edward to accidentally kill someone]]. Thus, when Edward breaks out of jail to get revenge on him, Ivan resigns himself to his death in order to atone. Telling him it wasn't his fault has no effect on him, so Kotetsu tries a different approach.
-->'''Ivan:''' No! He wanted my help back then, but I... If I'd made a move, [[spoiler:then he could have actually still become a hero. He would have been a much better one than I am]]. This ''is'' all my fault!\\
'''Kotetsu:''' ... That's why you need to stop him.\\
'''Ivan:''' Huh?\\
'''Kotetsu:''' He committed a crime because of you, right? Are you going to let him commit more?\\
'''Ivan:''' But I can't do anything!\\
'''Kotetsu:''' So you're going to repeat the same mistake? Remember that you're a ''hero'' now.
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', Miura blames himself for [[spoiler:Detective Trap being canceled, out of the belief that he failed to notice Mashiro's declining health]]. This belief leads him to be driven to getting a series going, unfortunately to the extent that he pressures Mashiro and Takagi into immediately going for a gag manga rather than proceeding more carefully and finding something that would become a hit.
* ''Manga/GirlsSaurus'': Haruka Nishiharu, who, after spending almost the whole series holding a grudge against Shingo for seemingly rejecting her when she was still a [[FatBastard Fat Bitch]], has this reaction after learning about his gynophobia and terminal illness and tracing it back to the day she sent him to the hospital. Note that she is one of the few {{Tsundere}}s to admit that she was doing harm to her love interest, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking: "I'm the cause of all your problems, so it's better if I stay away from you!"
* Leo of ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' feels like [[spoiler: Elliot's misfortune and death]] are all his fault.
* Deconstructed in the ''Manga/XXXHolic'' tie-in novel ''[=ANOTHERHOLiC=]''. A customer of the week blames herself for her friend's accidental death (the friend had [[DeathByFallingOver fallen and hit her head]] at a train station because she had been running late to a meeting with the customer and was in too much of a hurry to follow safety regulations) and has developed a mantra of "I must be punished," which isn't helped by the daily text messages her friend's vengeful spirit seems to be sending her from beyond the grave. But as Yuuko ultimately points out, the responsibility for the accident falls squarely on the victim's shoulders for choosing to act so carelessly. By constantly blaming herself [[spoiler: and by secretly writing the phantom text messages just to give people a reason to keep talking about the accident]], the customer turned the tragedy of her friend's death into "[[{{Wangst}} a tragic little farce]], [[ItsAllAboutMe written by and starring herself]]."
* Amuro Ray goes through this a number of times in his appearances in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. He blames himself easily for the deaths of, amongst others, [[spoiler: Matilda Ajan, Lalah Sune]] and, in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'', [[spoiler: Kayra Su]]. Granted, while [[spoiler: Matilda's]] death was unavoidable, [[spoiler: Lalah was killed]] because of his rivalry with Char and [[spoiler: Kayra was killed]] because the Nu Gundam was still sensitive and reacted to his anger.
* She didn't ''speak it out'', but this is how Haruka of ''Manga/KotouraSan'' thinks about [[spoiler:the events in the latter half of episode 3, when Hiyori sent dojo members/cult thugs to attack Manabe, causing Manabe to be hospitalized and Hiyori having a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.]] This line of thinking, however, came from all the BreakTheCutie [[BlessedWithSuck that came from]] her {{telepath|y}}ic powers, eventually causing her to think she will eventually cause the downfall of anyone she cares about.
* ''Anime/BloodPlus'':
** This is Saya's word for word reaction [[spoiler: to remembering that it was ''her'' who set loose [[BigBad Diva]].]] This is one of the major reasons Saya is [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the only person allowed to kill Diva]], along with the fact she's the only one who has Diva's Kryptonite, and [[spoiler: the major motive behind her DeathSeeker status]].
** Kai has the same reaction [[spoiler: when Riku is first attacked by Diva, and then later [[KillTheCutie killed]] by her]]. If he hadn't dragged [[spoiler: his younger brother]] off with him into some very dangerous situations he would [[spoiler: still be alive.]] However, he doesn't dwell too long on it and instead uses it to fuel his [[TookALevelInBadass later actions]].
* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'''s [[StepfordSmiler Fai D. Flourite]] has it bad. He blames himself for [[spoiler: the death of his twin, the annihilation of Valeria's people, the murder of Celes' people and the "death" of Sakura who [[LikeASonToMe is like a daughter to him]].]] The poor guy is so [[BrokenBird messed up]] that he's [[DeathSeeker waiting for someone or something to end it all]] but just can't do it himself. Then there is [[IHateYouVampireDad Kurogane]] who ''[[HoYay won't let him die]]''.
** [[spoiler:R!]]Syaoran has a brief episode of this when [[CloningBlues things]] [[MindScrew start to get weird]]. [[TeamDad Kurogane]] and [[TeamMom Fai]] set him straight, though.
* ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'': [[spoiler: Stefan Levin]] feels this way about [[spoiler: his beloved girlfriend Karen's death -- she was hit by a truck (and it happened when she was ''on her way to his final soccer match in Sweden'')]] which led to his mind and soul being completely corrupted. And he channels this through his signature "Levin Shot" as a way to injure his rivals, which includes [[spoiler: Wakabayashi, Müller and Akai.]]
* ''Manga/{{Subaru}}'' blames herself on multiple occasions during the manga's run. Particularly blames herself for [[spoiler: not seeing Kazuma or Isuzu before they die]] due to being "busy with ballet".
* ''Manga/SlamDunk'': After Shohoku loses to Kainan, Sakuragi and Rukawa have a fistfight over whose fault it was (that's right, each blaming himself instead of the other).
* In ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'' Mikeala blames himself for the death of his "family" as it was his naive plan that ended up getting them all killed. Alternatively Yuu also blames himself for the same incident, though not to as much extent.
* ''Manga/Brave10'': Isanami comes to this conclusion after the second fight with Hanzo and briefly gives up, and again when captured by Date. She's later goaded by Hanzo during the fight against the Iga Grotesque Five into another breakdown [[spoiler:that pulls out her SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Chapter 100 has [[spoiler:Reiner Braun]] confessing to [[spoiler:Eren Yeager]] that he's responsible for all of the latter's suffering, including [[spoiler:the death of Eren's mother]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Annie and Bertolt wanted to give up on their mission after Marcel's death, but Reiner insisted they stuck with it]]. He ends up [[spoiler:asking Eren to kill him because he can no longer handle all his guilt. Eren, however, is already aware that it's because of Reiner, so the apology doesn't do anything for him, and instead of killing Reiner, he decides to psychologically torture him for a while longer -- until he transforms into a Titan and goes along with his plan of revenge anyway.]]
* Sayaka from ''Manga/TonariNoKashiwagiSan'' blames herself for her parents having to put up a HappyMarriageCharade for as long as they did (they were waiting until after she finished middle school to get divorced so as to not disrupt her studies).
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': After the Provisional Hero exams, [[TheRival Bakugo]] ends up challenging [[TheHero Midoriya]] to a fight. In the middle of the scuffle, he reveals that he blames himself [[spoiler: for causing All Might losing his powers and having to retire, as he allowed himself to be kidnapped by the League of Villains.]]
* ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'': Occurs in [[Recap/Doraemon1979E1759SoapBubbles "Soap Bubbles"]]. People might say this phrase after they are hit with the Soap Bubble Straw and feel remorseful.
* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'': Both Ishida and Nishimiya blame themselves (not each other, though) for all of the difficulties in the lives around them. Ishida arguably is right about at least some of it (at least, the parts that stem from the results of his bullying years ago), although he actively blames his actions to the present if they're not perfect.
* ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'': Both Mira and Mai gets this in the twenty-third chapter (animated in the seventh episode), when they heard that Ao gets {{sick|episode}}. At first Mira get this since she thinks Ao gets sick because of their stargazing the previous night when the weather gets unusually cold. Upon hearing this, Mai gets this as well, since, as the club president, she think she's responsible for one of its members falling sick from a club-related activity (despite it's more Mira and Ao's own activity rather than the club's). The irony is that neither of them are at fault for this. Ao gets sick because [[spoiler:she gets a HeroicBSOD the night before after she heard that the family's going to move again, and stayed in the bath for 3 hours]].
* ''Anime/TamagotchiTheMovie'': Mametchi blames himself when [[spoiler:Sunnytchi leaves Tamagotchi Planet]] after he invents his own personal sun. [[spoiler:Sunnytchi did ''not'' leave because of the personal sun, however.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'':
** Ruby blames herself for when Noel ran away and suffered her identity crisis, feeling that, due to maintaining Noel and Penny's secret, she allowed things to spiral out of control.
** Part of why Yang became more temperamental after learning the truth about her mother was due to self-loathing, as she blames herself for almost getting Ruby killed in her hunt for answers years ago, and now that she has those answers, she feels like she risked her sister's life for nothing.
* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'':
** Tom blames himself for wandering into the back of a Sharing meeting and [[FateWorseThanDeath getting infested]] in ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', though he later learns to not victim-blame himself.
** In ''Ghost in the Shell'', Tobias blames himself for Rachel's death, because he thinks that refusing to stay human was what caused her to have [[DeathSeeker nothing left to live for]]. Tom talks him out of it.
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12086351/1/Kanashī-Wütend-Desolato Kanashī, Wütend, Desolato]]'', a WhatIf for ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Italy blamed himself and himself only for the ostracization and ridicule [[OneTrueThreesome Germany and Japan]] faced because he was the one to reveal [[{{Polyamory}} their relationship]] to the world. His immense guilt led him [[DrivenToSuicide to want to kill himself]]. [[BungledSuicide He only failed]] [[NighInvulnerability because it is nearly impossible to kill the countries' personifications]].
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': When he is not blaming people like [[AbusiveParents his father]], [[BigBad Winthrop]] or [[DragonWithAnAgenda Jinnai]], Shinji blames himself for the state of the post-apocalyptic world -since he chose to end it- and for all what happened to Asuka and how messed up she was because he was not there to help her, support her and protect her.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': In the epilogue that happens several years after the end of the story, Asuka blames herself for [[spoiler:her daughter Teri having PsychicPowers,]] even though [[spoiler:Teri has powers because Gendo altered her DNA.]] It is true Ritsuko prescribed her pills to nullify [[spoiler:Gendo's modifications]] and Asuka blames herself because she stopped taking them, but the doctor never warned her about the consequences.
* ''Fanfic/CommonSense'': Whenever [[TheBadGuyWins Team Rocket succeeds in their schemes]], [[KidHero Ash]] will be quick to blame himself for not stopping them, since he feels it's because of him they're growing stronger every time.
* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': As Asuka notes, Shinji blames himself for all what happened in the original timeline, including messes were not his doing or he had no control about.
-->'''Asuka''': Yes, I remember everything. So do Rei and Shinji, who's probably hiding because he blames himself for what happened to you; in fact, come to think of it he blames himself for pretty much all of it.
* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': Shinji blames himself for Third Impact. Asuka tells him he shouldn't blame himself for what ''Rei'' did, even if he asked her to.
-->'''Asuka''': He still feels he's responsible for Third Impact, for the chaos the followed, and for the current state of world affairs. No matter what happens he feels it's all his fault, since he set it all in motion.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Kara blames herself for everything her evil clone does.
-->'''Supergirl:''' Okay. I'm ready to intercept her. If she's killed 318 people already... that means I'm responsible for it, in a sense.
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'':
** In chapter 1 Touji blames himself because his little sister had the suicidal impulse to see a giant robot closely and he was unable to catch her in time and get her back into the shelter before the battle.
--->''He pulled her into the arch of one of the low buildings that ringed the outskirts of the city, not far from the school, and cursed himself. This was his fault, it was all his fault.''
** Later [[spoiler:Kaji blamed Shinji for the failure to take over NERV and Maya missing a limb.]] Despite it being due to Gendo’s actions Shinji blamed himself.
* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'':
** For a good part of the story, the Mane Five, Spike, Princess Celestia, and Shining Armor all consider themselves failures for [[MadeOutToBeAJerkass refusing to listen to Twilight's warnings about the false Cadance]] and abandoning her at the wedding rehearsal, as well as allowing the invasion of Canterlot to occur. This, along with the JerkassRealization they have when Princess Cadance tells them the story of how [[ShipperOnDeck Twilight helped her and Shining Armor get together]], motivates them to return to Canterlot in order to [[MustMakeAmends restore their friendship with Twilight and correct their mistakes]]. When the heroes are captured again in the 11th chapter, they proceed to verbally demonstrate this.
--->'''Applejack''': Sorry, Princess. We let ya' down again.\\
'''Shining Armor''': No, I did this. I was supposed to make sure Canterlot was safe. But I let Chrysalis impersonate Cadance and trick me with her obvious lies. I even let her turn me against my own sister. Twilight was right.\\
'''Celestia''': No, Captain. I'm supposed to be the wise high ruler of Equestria with thousands of years of experience. But I couldn't even tell the difference between my own niece and an obvious imposter. I failed as a ruler, I failed as an aunt, and I failed as a teacher. I'm an absolute failure.\\
'''Pinkie Pie''': Hey, don't take all the credit. We helped too.\\
'''Fluttershy''': We turned our backs on our best friend when she needed us the most.\\
'''Rarity''': All for the chance to participate in a stupid wedding that was doomed to failure.\\
'''Rainbow Dash''': Some friends we turned out to be.
** In the 12th chapter, when [[spoiler: Princess Celestia is [[PublicExecution sentenced to be hanged]], she feels so guilty about the pain and suffering her nephew [[TheUsurper Prince Jewelius]], the true mastermind behind the Changeling invasion, caused for Canterlot's citizens]] that [[spoiler:she delivers them as well as Twilight a heartwrenching apology and [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts her fate]]]], believing that [[spoiler:she could have prevented the disaster from happening had she been wiser about who to trust]]. Ironically, admitting these feelings of regret is exactly what it takes for [[spoiler:everypony to start forgiving Celestia and demand her to be spared]].
** Further amplifying the heroes' guilt is the reveal that [[spoiler:Jewelius]] has been punishing the town of Ponyville for the actions of the Mane Five out of spite.
** Twilight has one of her own later on when she discovers that [[spoiler:the loved ones she has rejected were [[CassandraTruth right about]] how evil [[LoveInterestTraitor Jewelius]] truly is and how he caused the invasion]].
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FiM]]'' fan-made song called ''Music/LullabyForAPrincess'', Celestia blames no-one other than herself for her little sister's FaceHeelTurn and subsequent misdeeds.
* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' fic ''Fanfic/MyMother'', when Padme is found frozen in carbonite by Leia and revived years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Padme blames herself for both her husband’s fall to the Dark Side and Palpatine becoming Chancellor in the first place as she learns about Vader's dark reputation.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': When Shinji found out that his friend Touji had become a pilot because NERV promised to take care of his sister (who had been accidentally hurt during Shinji's first battle), he blamed himself for his wounds, despite Rei trying to convince him that he was not responsible:
-->''"It's my fault... I failed to take control of the EVA... Father... my hands... he used me to harm Touji. And now... you say he piloted because of his sister? It's... it's all my fault! If I hadn't hurt his sister in the first place, none of this would have happened! Touji wouldn't have piloted! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"''
* In the opening chapter of ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfZeldaTwistedFates'', Link is captured by the Ghost Ship and presumed dead; Tetra, having pushed him into boarding the ship instead of her, blames herself and spends the next five years mourning his loss.
* ''Fanfic/TheRigelBlackChronicles'': Lily blames herself for what happens on Harry's thirteenth birthday, when Harry's newly matured magic leaves her overwhelmed, feeling like she's on fire, and [[PowerIncontinence unable to control her power]]. It wasn't really anything Lily did, though; that overwhelming level of power was inherited. [[spoiler:Changing baby Harry's eye colour ''was'' Lily's doing, but not really her fault either; it wasn't a proper decision, just a passing whim that her wild magic carried out.]]
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Rei blamed herself for all what happened after chapter 13 [[spoiler: [[BattleCouple Shinji and Asuka]] falling into the Sea of Dirac, Asuka getting forced to kill Hikari, Unit 01 absorbing Shinji...]] It was not a misplaced feeling, since she was so jealous of Asuka and angry at Shinji that she was downright useless in battle, and due to her attachment to the Commander, Shinji and Asuka could not act against Gendo after [[spoiler:Hikari's death]], forcing Shinji to leave for a while and showed up too late to fight [[HeroKiller Zeruel]].
* Pichi from ''Fanfic/APikachuInLove'' feels this way when [[spoiler: her playful antics cause her and Pikachu to crash into an Ursarings den, and nearly gets Pikachu ''killed'' trying to protect them both.]]
--> [[spoiler: ''Pichi began to softly cry, and she moved close to Pikachu and hugged him. She rested her little head upon him, listening to his weak heartbeat and she prayed for him to be all right. She could never forgive herself if he were to die. If not for her fooling around then they would not have been in danger at all. Pikachu could have died because of it.'']]
* Used A LOT in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Maliver fan fics, where something bad always happens (Alliance finds them, she gets raped, she has traumatic flashbacks, all of the above, and more), Mal always blames himself.
* Luso had a period of this in ''Fanfic/TheTaintedGrimoire'' due to being completely helpless and only being able to watch [[spoiler: Sir Loin burn to death]], despite being the one to [[spoiler: defeat Vaticus Finch]]. Thankfully, Judgemaster Cid was able to talk him out of it by going over how flawed that line of thinking is.
* This is almost a stock phrase of Rainbow Dash shortly before and during her HeroicBSOD in ''Fanfic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar''.
* In ''Oyuban'' Naruto (after joining the Yakuza) feels like this about his short stint as the leader of a gang in The Land Of the Waves who all got killed by him (inadvertently) starting a gang war. The senior members of the Yakuza (who know about it) agree with him but encourage him to learn from it.
* Spitfire from the ''Blog/ReadingRainbowverse'' apparently blames her father's death on herself. Whether this is accurate or not isn't entirely clear, but it has ruined her relationship with her daughter.
* In ''Fanfic/HorseshoesAndHandGrenades'', the Kamen Rider Club put the blame on themselves for not saving Gentaro from Ryusei's DealWithTheDevil and becoming the Serpent-bearer to Ophiuchus with each of them giving specific reasons as to ''why'' they weren't helpful. This ranges from Shun not taking a step forward in the Power Dizer, JK not getting intel on Ryusei sooner, Yuki only screaming "Stop!" but otherwise not rushing toward her friend's side, etc.
** In ''[=SplitxEnd=]'', Yayoi blames herself for [[spoiler:not saving Haruto from a sword that killed him and then being forced to be resurrected as a CreepyDoll by Damballa]].
* Celestia towards the end of ''Fanfic/TheGodEmpressOfPonykind'' blames herself for Luna's fall and the Horus Heresy, saying that if she had stopped for a moment and just talked with Luna and Horus there might have been a different outcome. [[spoiler: Horus forgives her, and says he also deserves some of the blame because he willingly chose to rebel instead of seeking a better alternative]].
* In the ''Manga/{{Saki}}'' doujin, ''[[http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/tennimuhou#8 Tennmimuhou]]'', Koromo blames herself for [[spoiler:taking Kana to exactly 0 points rather than putting her below it]], resulting in the game continuing and her team being defeated. Thankfully, her teammates don't mind.
* In the ''Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX'' series tie in, the ''Gensokyo Diaries'', in Sanae's second diary entry, she thinks she's misbehaved, ergo, for said misbehavior, she deserves to be slapped, the implications of which surrounding may be that she hasn't done anything. Actually, she seems to think she has done something that would warrant any sort of punishment when it is likely she didn't.
* ''Fanfic/LandBeforeTimeRetold'': Aylene blames herself for the death of Littlefoot's mother, remembering that she had a bow and arrows and could have shot Sharptooth or done ''something'' before he killed her.
* Spider-Man, from ''WebVideo/ImAMarvelAndImADC''. From [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siGtn_SxKbs this episode]]:
-->'''Batman:''' Don't you know, Spider-Man blames himself for Marvel losing the Transformers?\\
'''Hulk:''' But why?\\
'''Batman:''' I don't know, he blames himself for everything!
* Dark Oak from ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' holds himself responsible for the destruction of his race at the hands of Tsali... which led to him starting a brutal galactic war so he could take revenge on his wayward creation and [[WellIntentionedExtremist find a way to rebuild his race no matter the cost]].
* In ''Fanfic/TheSagaOfAvatarKorra'', Asami Sato says this during Chapter Fourteen after [[spoiler:the Red Lotus kidnap Korra and Asami realizes that Korra is the Avatar. She realizes that if she told other people she saw Korra use two elements at once when they were children, she could have helped save Korra from her fate years ago.]]
-->'''Asami:''' I never wanted to be right. If I was right, then I never told anyone, and then... all this would be my fault. So, I guess it really is my fault in the end. I could have stopped it years ago.
* ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'': Shinji blames himself for Asuka's breakdown:
-->This was his fault: he should have helped her when the Fifteenth Angel broke into her mind; should have done something other than sit in his Eva, hearing her scream as her psyche was torn to pieces. And afterwards, he should have been there to comfort her, to let her know that she was not useless and need not be alone.\\
Because, despite everything, they had shared a close bond through their Evas. He was supposed to understand her just as he had here come hoping she would do the same for him.\\
This was his fault ... because he had done nothing.
* ''Fanfic/SpotsOff'': Both Marinette and Alya insist on blaming themselves for the former being publicly unmasked: Marinette for not finding a better hiding place to change back, and Alya for having followed Ladybug into an alley with her camera phone running. Adrien is equally insistent on blaming neither of them, but it's hard to deny that they both made avoidable mistakes.
* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', [[spoiler:when Cross manages to speak with Merry's Klabautermann directly, she has this mentality for being too weak to carry her crew through the Grand Line. She even asks Cross why he isn't blaming her for being too weak.]]
* Alucard provides a humorous example in ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'' Episode 7.
-->'''Alucard:''' Oh, so this is my fault then.\\
'''Police Girl:''' N-NO!!!\\
'''Alucard:''' Everything is my fault, apparently. Ate the last spotted dick pudding in the fridge... my fault. [[CallBack Crashed a car into the world's first British Dairy Queen]]... my fault. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne Unknowingly shot Archduke Ferdinand and blamed it on some other guy?]] AH, MY FAULT!
* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Ash discovers the graves of [[spoiler: Brock's parents]] he begins to blame himself for killing them even though he never actually did anything to cause their deaths, forcing Pikachu to snap him out of it.
* In ''Fanfic/AColderWar'' series, Steve goes through this in “Arctic Front” when [[spoiler:he learns that Hank Pym has died on a mission that Peggy was going to ask him to take, but Tony and Janet each assure Steve that he isn’t responsible for what happened to Hank when he couldn’t have known the consequences of his refusal]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13716489/1/LOST LOST]]", Webby has spent the last three years blaming herself for Dewey abandoning the rest of the group; she had been dating his roommate and Dewey left because he was in love with her himself, Webby only realising after he gave her a parting kiss and vanished how much it must have hurt him to see her with Max for months and feel like he couldn't tell anyone else about his feelings for fear of ruining the group dynamic.
* ''Fanfic/EnTempusVeritas'' starts because Clark blamed himself for Lana's apparent death around the time of his fight with Bizarro and Kara's arrival. After meeting the meteor freak Tyme, who has the ability to show people visions of their lives if a key event turned out differently, [[spoiler:Clark's vision of a life with Lois helps him move past this to recognise that he isn't responsible for other peoples' actions, particularly since Lana still ended up 'dead' even without explicitly seeing his powers because of his mistakes]].
* ''Fanfic/ShadowOfHerOwn'': While talking to Lena, Scrooge [=McDuck=] revealed that he blames himself because Magica De Spell created Lena to use against him and abuse her because he accidentally turned Magica's brother Poe De Spell into a non-sapient crow and did nothing to help him. In tears, he hugs and apologizes to her for all the abuse she suffered under Magica because of his pride in refusing to see what his villains could do. Lena assured Scrooge that the abuse she suffered under Magica was not his fault and thanked him for all he did to help her.
* In ''Fanfic/RuinedWithYou'', Marinette blames herself for (she believes) ruining Adrien's life by arresting his father, leading her to give up on pursuing her crush on him, and at one point wishes she and Chat could have just continued fighting the akumas instead of going after Hawkmoth. However, when Alya brings this up with Adrien, he unwittingly tells her otherwise. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, they did what they were supposed to do. Sure, I mean it sucks my dad’s a shit person, but, why would I hold it against them? If I was Chat Noir or Ladybug… I would do the same. I just kind of wish I had the opportunity to thank them, you know."
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10340937/28/The-Return-Remixed The Return-Remixed]]'', Wrestling/KellyKelly blames herself for Wrestling/EveTorres winding up in the hospital after being power-bombed on the concrete floor by [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]], as Eve volunteered to replace her in the match after Kelly quit the Diva Army. Eve assures Kelly she doesn't blame her and wouldn't want them to trade places. This scene leads Kelly to end her TenMinuteRetirement and rejoin the Diva Army's fight against DEAR.
* In ''Fanfic/TheOutside'', this is Ryuuko's reaction to finding out Satsuki is sick, as the latter's health took a left turn shortly after she was taken away. Shiro, however, reassures her that her sister being sick isn't anything she caused and that she would have gotten sick anyway.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' fan comic from Website/DeviantArt, "[[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/gallery/64893285/Cagney-is-a-Carnation Cagney Is a Carnation]]" by [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/ fuyuflowga]], [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/art/Cagney-is-a-Carnation-page-3-717397643 Cagney Carnation has brought his unconscious adopted flower children out of the casino]] after having signed the Soul Contract in exchange for their lives in his DealWithTheDevil, but believes that it's all his fault and that if he hadn't hesitated, they would not have been tortured by the Devil in the first place. Cagney decides to leave quietly but needs to find someone else responsible to take care of the flower children. Unfortunately, things start going FromBadToWorse...
* In ''Fanfic/UnexpectedSurprise'', Marinette keeps crying and apologizing after TheReveal about the mess that came from the TwoPersonLoveTriangle. Adrien keeps trying to reassure her neither of them is more at fault than the other, and once that fails, simply resorts to a ShutUpKiss.
* In ''Fanfic/JerkInSheepsClothing'', Adrien blames himself for Marinette being in a toxic relationship with [[ManipulativeBastard Henri [=LeRoi=]]]. This is because [[spoiler: Marinette told him (as Chat Noir) that]] the reason she always takes Henri’s side over her friends’ and automatically believes that they bully him instead of the other way around (which is what’s really happening), is because she lost faith in her friends after [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila]] got her claws into them. She also tells him she left out certain details about Lila’s true nature, like how she threatened Marinette in the bathroom, when talking to Adrien because of all the times [[PacifismBackfire he defended Chloe’s bullying in the past, so she didn’t think he’d take action should he know everything about Lila]]. Adrien believes that he could have nipped this whole thing in the bud [[ForWantOfANail if he had been more proactive in stopping Chloé. Then Marinette would have trusted him more, and they could have exposed Lila, meaning Henri would have never gotten the chance to sink his claws into her]].
* Ruby and Blake blame themselves for Jaune's death during Initiation in ''Fanfic/FromBeyondRWBY'' as they each heard his scream and decided not to check on it as they thought he was weak and didn't want to partner with him. Ruby feels especially bad as Jaune had been her first friend in Beacon. For Blake, she did eventually choose to go help him (after mentally comparing herself to Adam), only to find Jaune already dead and being eaten by a Grimm.
* Jaune blames himself for his family's deaths (not without justification) in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12166964/1/Tending-to-the-Soul Tending to the Soul]]''. The night Jaune ran away from home to become a Huntsman, a pack of Grimm attacked his family and because Jaune had taken Crocea Mors, his father was forced to fight them unarmed. While Jaune did run back to try to help, he had initially hidden himself and only got back in time to see his mother get killed in front of him.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' fanfic ''Fanfic/GoldenThreadsTieUs'', Severa blames herself for her sister joining the enemy, reasoning that she should have stopped her from leaving when Morgan declared she was going to look for their father... ignoring the fact that she ''tried'' to stop Morgan, and her sister knocked her out with a sleep spell.
-->Lucina peered at her for a moment, then turned away. It seemed like she decided not to press the issue – Lucina would understand her, Severa realized, because she was a big sister, too. ''I wonder what Lucina would do if something happened to Cynthia.'' No, Lucina never would let Cynthia come to harm. Not like Severa, who had let her own younger sister go right before her eyes, and now she was – it was all Severa's fault -
* ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'': There were a lot of things that caused the war and a lot of things that made it worse, but one of the big ones was the massacre at Crescent Moon Canyon, where every pony (including the children) at Luna's school was killed over a misunderstanding with the nearby zebras. Celestia, Luna's sister, blamed herself for putting the school there in the first place. It was part of the reason she eventually [[AbdicateTheThrone stepped down]].
-->'''Celestia:''' I chose the site for Luna's school. There were three sites equally suitable, but I chose Crescent Moon Canyon because it amused Me. Because [[TheGadfly I wanted to see My Sister's face]] when I told Her [[TheExile I was sending Her students to the moon…]]
* In ''Fanfic/MastermindStrategistForHire'', Tsukauchi blames himself for [[spoiler: All Might's death during the attack at the USJ]].
* In ''Fanfic/ThePortal'', Cynder blames herself for the creation of the Dark Ones.
* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': A consistent and rather troubling side effect of Gwen's relationship with Duncan is the development of this. Due to the nature of their relationship it's not exactly surprising.
* Much as [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition in canon]], Varric feels this way about many of the events of ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium''. Pretty much the ''only'' thing for which he doesn't blame himself is the fact that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Bethany]] is now the Inquisitor, and that's mainly because he's just glad she survived the explosion.
* In the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4942676/1/Mercy Mercy]]", Diana is attacked by a Black Mercy that traps her in a world where Wonder Woman is Gotham's defender, married to District Attorney Bruce Wayne and enjoying a close relationship with a still-living Thomas and Martha Wayne. When Batman learns the nature of Diana's fantasy, he blames himself for the fact that Diana is basically living ''his'' heart's desire rather than her own, prompting Superman to ask if Bruce even knows how to feel anything ''but'' guilty for things he couldn't be expected to control.
* Discussed in the ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'' spin-off ''In Hand and Foot'' when Matt Murdock starts talking about how he sees himself as responsible for those Fisk has killed, only for Splinter (''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'') to inform Matt that the heroes aren't responsible for the people Shredder and Fisk have killed because they chose not to kill their foes.
* ''Blog/MiraculousRewrite'': This marks a critical [[CharacterDevelopment turning point]] for Adrien during the "Syren" arc. Master Fu [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out for his actions]], namely [[NotAGame not treating battles seriously]] and [[AchillesInHisTent spitefully threatening to quit]] over being LockedOutOfTheLoop, and punishes him by [[spoiler:revoking the Ring]]. Rather than blaming the Guardian for this, Adrien recognizes that [[HeelRealization he was right]], accepting responsibilty for his own actions and striving to make amends.
* ''Fanfic/SashaAndTheFrogs'': Sasha blames herself for getting she and her friends transported into another world.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': After a huge argument and Chloe leaving the Cerise Lab then subsequently being taken into the Infinty Train, Goh realizes that it's all his fault for ignoring her and never caring once about her feelings. He ends up heavily blaming himself for her disappearance.
* In ''Fanfic/MaybeTheLastArchieStory'', Archie comes up with a plan to fee Sabrina and her family from Mad Doctor Doom. Unfortunately, the gang is unable to rescue Sabrina, and Moose gets stabbed by Doom's henchman as releasing Sabrina's aunts. As making his way to the hospital, Archie blames himself for Moose getting wounded.
* ''Fanfic/KingdomHeartsPsiTheSeekerOfDarkness'': In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14890610/chapters/34486157 Land of Oblivion]]'', Aqua spends quite a while blaming herself for her choices in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' as she's forced to relive them in Castle Oblivion, especially when it becomes apparent that a lot of those choices helped set in motion the events of the original games (sparing Maleficent in Enchanted Dominion, allowing her to manipulate Riku years later, and saving Terra-Xehanort from the Realm of Darkness, allowing him to become Ansem's apprentice). Kairi and Naminé become [[DontSaySuchStupidThings increasingly insistent]] on telling her otherwise, pointing out that Terra and Ventus were hardly blameless in [[PoorCommunicationKills their argument]] in Radiant Garden, and arguing that showing mercy is never a bad thing, nor was saving her friend.
-->'''Kairi''': None of what happened here was your fault. Could things have been different if you had stopped the conversation to explain things fully? Maybe! But would Terra and Ventus have actually listened to you? Maybe not! There's no way to know, and it's pointless to beat yourself up over the "could have happeneds" It's not helpful.
* In ''Fanfic/UltimateDCUHeadverse'', Kara blames herself for Barbara's paralyzed legs only because she was not around to stop the Joker from shooting her friend.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12749906/1/The-Demon-Awakens The Demon Awakens]]'', [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Emily's]] fireman has this reaction upon returning to work after the events that lead to Thomas brutally killing a truck, believing that if he hadn't insisted on WorkingThroughTheCold, he wouldn't have knocked both himself and the driver out, Emily wouldn't have been injured and Thomas wouldn't have committed murder. The Fat Controller comforts him, telling him that he may have caused Emily's accident, but he didn't cause the truck's death.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13887970/1/The-Brother-s-Grimm The Brother's Grimm]]'', Bernard ([[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Emily's]] brother) has this reaction when he learns about [[TheDragon Seymour Murphy]]'s crime, believing that none of it would have happened if [[spoiler: he hadn't accidentally killed Murphy's father.]]
* ''Fanfic/UnderneathTheSakuraTree'': Tang Shen feels responsible for Miwa's death because the place she hid her while the Foot Clan attacked burned down before she could get to her.
* In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', Menderash blames himself for getting everyone sent back in time, because it was his idea to go searching for Ax, which ultimately got Jake et al killed.
* Inverted twice in ''Fanfic/AFrozenFlower''.
** A short while after Oz decides to train Orchid, Oprah finds out about it and confronts Oz by saying it's his fault that it'll be [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world.]] Oz takes part of the blame, but he also shoulders some on Oprah for [[ClosetPunishment locking Orchid up in her dinosaur room forever]] instead of trying to unlock the true potential of her powers.
---> '''Oprah:''' This is all your fault. If you hadn't helped her, if you hadn't been so idiotically stupid, none of this would have happened!\\
'''Oz:''' I won't deny that it was my "fault", as you say, Ms. O, but I let her try because I thought that she was capable enough to control herself. Whereas you were just planning to keep her locked up forever. And I was right, and you were wrong. No offense, Ms. O.\\
'''Oprah:''' Plenty taken, Oz.
** Later on in the story, after Till finds out that Oz is dead and [[MistakenForMurderer thinks that Orchid killed him]], Orchid snaps back by saying that it's actually Till's fault Oz is dead. It only escalates from there, until Orchid kills Till by way of [[MindRape mental torture.]]
--->'''Till:''' ''[crying]'' He's dead! He's dead and you killed him!\\
'''Orchid:''' ''[crying]'' You abandoned him, Till! He thought you died and he lost control and used all his power there in Tunguska and then he shelled out and it's ''ALL YOUR FAULT!'' Oz is dead, Till!
* In ''Fanfic/OlivesLastPartner'', Oprah takes full responsibility for the Boiler Room incident, stating that the entire ordeal was her fault because she failed to realize how dangerous [[BlobMonster Blobisites]] are, she failed to send Olive and Otto with more backup than just Oscar, and she failed to tell Oscar about Owen removing the lock on the Boiler Room door just before the trio went downstairs to resolve the issue. Later on, she kicks herself further for failing to realize just how [[DangerousWorkplace dangerous of a workplace]] Odd Squad is and for nearly causing the premature deaths of three of her employees.
* ''Fanfic/ReadTheFinePrintEvangelion'': When Shinji wants to apologize to Touji for getting his little sister hurt, both Asuka and Rei point out that he should not apologize for anything: he was brought in because Rei got injured, blackmailed into riding a war machine which he had never seen, and pushed in front of a giant monster. It is Nerv who is to blame, not him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Inverted and subverted in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E17Underneath Underneath]]". In exchange for being given legal knowledge, Gunn allows an item to pass through customs, which eventually leads to [[spoiler:the death of Fred]]. Naturally he feels guilty about it, and is even [[spoiler:stabbed by Wesley]] after he finds out. Later, Angel visits him in his hospital bed and tells him:
-->'''Angel''': Listen, Gunn. I know you feel bad about your part what happened [[spoiler:to Fred]]. And you should. For the rest of your life, it should wake you up in the middle of the night. And it will. Because you're a good man. You signed a piece of paper. That's all.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Oliver Queen does this so often that John Diggle jokes he should call himself the "Guilt Arrow" instead of the "Green Arrow".
* Murdock blames himself when [[spoiler: Face is shot]] in ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "Without Reservations":
--> "He's getting weaker. I can't believe I'm responsible for all of this."
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': G'kar has an appropriate quote re: Ivanova:
-->"It is as though her heart has been pierced, and her spirit has poured out through the wound. She blames herself. It is foolish. It is destructive. ...It is human."
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Gaius Baltar gets a taste of this after realizing it was his lover Caprica-Six who frakked up the colonies' defense systems through his gullibility and -- let's face it -- horniness. He deals with it by blaming the rest of the universe, and ultimately God.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Roj Blake has a tendency to do this when things go badly wrong, causing [[SourSupporter Kerr Avon]] to immediately [[WorldOfSnark snark back]], "We know."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Andrew takes the fact that Simone turned evil while he was her Watcher very hard, and is determined to find and stop her.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence Innocence]]", Buffy felt this way after she had sex with Angel and he lost his soul, becoming his [[JekyllAndHyde sadistically evil alter ego]]. Though as Giles is quick to point out, they didn't do anything ''wrong'', and they had no way of knowing what would happen.
** In season six's "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E21TwoToGo Two to Go]]", Xander blames himself for the entire [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Willow]] scenario, since he saw the gun in Warren's hand before he even raised it, but was simply frozen with fear and did nothing to stop him from shooting Buffy and Tara.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds''
** In "Ominvore", Hotch believes it's all his fault for one of his actions. What does Rossi do? Offers his gun.
--->'''Rossi''': So you think this is ''your'' fault?\\
'''Hotch''': ''(voice tight)'' It is.\\
'''Rossi''': Well, here, use mine. ''(offers Hotch his gun)'' No, really, you've convinced me. You hung up on him, practically killed them yourself. Go on, get it over with. Don't worry about us, we'll get this guy without you.\\
'''Hotch''': Dave, I had ten years to do something about this!\\
'''Rossi''': Shaughnessy made [[DealWithTheDevil the deal]]. The killing stopped, he closed the case and sent the BAU away. For ten years you worked on other cases, active cases-\\
'''Hotch''': But I kept coming back to this profile.\\
'''Rossi''': Hey, I was retired! Should I blame myself for every victim that got killed when I was on my book tour? Look, if you wanna end up like Shaughnessy, like [[LeavingYouToFindMyself Gideon]], blaming yourself for everything, you go ahead. But that voice in your head? It's not your conscience, it's your ''ego''. This isn't about us, Aaron, it's about the bad guys. That's why ''we'' profile ''them'', it's their fault. We're just guys doing a job, and when we stop doing it, someone else will. Trust me, I know.\\
'''Hotch''': ''(gesturing to the gun)'' You can put that away now.\\
'''Rossi''': You sure?\\
'''Hotch''': [[LampshadeHanging Yeah, it was a little dramatic, don't you think?]]\\
'''Rossi''': My wife always said I had a flair for the dramatic.\\
'''Hotch''': [[MoodWhiplash Which one?]]\\
'''Rossi''': [[MoodWhiplash All of 'em.]]\\
'''Hotch''': [[MoodWhiplash Thanks.]]\\
'''Rossi''': [[MoodWhiplash Anytime.]]
** This is the cause of some unsubs' actions, the most obvious example being "Hanley Waters", in which a woman goes on a killing spree exactly one year after [[spoiler: her son's death in a car accident]] because she cannot bear anymore the sense of guilt caused by constantly blaming herself [[spoiler: along with her ex-husband]].
* ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'': After the Skeksis General kills her mother and Seladon blames her, Brea blames herself for the rest of the season.
* In ''Series/DeadSet'', when [[spoiler: Angel is bit by a zombie]], the character who is responsible says "it's all my fault."
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' has killed dozens of people and felt no remorse, but when he finds [[spoiler: his wife, Rita,]] dead, his shocked response as police arrive is to blurt out "It was me."
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Doctor blames himself in many of [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]] due to all the crap that tends to happen [[TheChewToy around him]], the {{Sadistic Choice}}s he's forced to make, the fact that everyone who meets him feels compelled to perform a HeroicSacrifice... he blames himself for all of it. The [[ApologisesALot Tenth Doctor]] is particularly [[TheWoobie prone to this,]] but the Twelfth Doctor takes it to tragic levels in the final episodes of Series 9, when his guilt, anguish, and rage over [[spoiler: the death of his beloved companion Clara]], compounded by torture that's resulted in him being DrivenToMadness, turn him into TheUnfettered, an AntiVillain risking the safety of the entire universe on a TragicDream to [[spoiler: bring her back from the dead]], even as he's assured that he was ''not'' truly responsible for what happened; rather, that it was [[spoiler: Clara, for making foolish-if-noble choices in trying to be like him]].
*** A particularly keen example of this is in the Time War; many sources have the Doctor -- in his Eighth and War incarnations -- feel personally responsible for the conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks in this war, as he could have prevented the conflict if his fourth incarnation had just destroyed the Daleks in "Genesis of the Daleks" rather than delaying their evolution.
*** The Ninth Doctor hardly gets through an episode without blaming himself and/or apologising to someone for getting them killed, failing to save somebody else, or just [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking snapping at someone he likes.]] And since he expects the same kind of owning up to mistakes from his Companions and will give them the DeathGlare until they do...
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 "42"]]: Captain [=McDonnell=] eventually admits to [[spoiler:her possessed husband]] that the decision to [[spoiler:mine the living sun for fuel, resulting in its attack]], was her fault. However, she points out that she had no way of knowing [[spoiler:the sun was alive]] to begin with.
* On ''Series/TheFlightAttendant'', Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden blames herself for the crash that killed her father because she was his "drinking buddy," even though it was his drunk-driving that caused the crash.
* ''Series/FullHouse'':
** A twist but still played straight in " The Miracle of Thanksgiving". While Danny says this verbatim when he accidentally burns the turkey after putting it back in the oven to defrost it more and lying about it being fine, it's DJ who invokes the trope by saying she was in charge of making the turkey and had she defrosted it properly in the first place Danny wouldn't have needed to put it back in the oven.
** In "Cutting it Close", Steph blames herself for causing Jessie's accident, all because she accidentally cut his hair in her pretend haircut game.
-->'''Steph:''' I only scalped him, crashed his bike, and broke his arm. No wonder he's mad at me.
** In "Comet's Excellent Adventure", Jesse is about to confess to Danny about his role in Comet going missing.
-->'''Jesse''': Uh, before I say anything, I just want you to know upfront this whole thing was my fault.
-->'''Danny''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I hate stories that start like that.]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Catelyn Stark feels that the various tragedies her family has endured are her own fault. When Jon Snow was a child, he came down with the Pox, and it looked like he would not survive. Catelyn, seeing Jon practically dying and finally feeling some remorse for [[TheUnfavorite her treatment of him]], [[BargainWithHeaven made a promise to the Seven]] to love the child like he was her own if he managed to live. Jon managed to survive the night and regain his health, but Catelyn refused to honor her promise, and now she believes she's responsible for the downfalls the Stark family has faced.
* Rose in ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' becomes devastated when her boyfriend at the time dies of a heart attack while they were having sex. She feels that it's her fault he died since she had sex with him and also blames herself for her late husband's death, who had also died the same way. It takes said boyfriend's former wife to remind Rose that it wasn't her fault.
* Series/{{House}}'s response to this? [[BluntYes Yes, it is.]] [[TaughtByExperience And now you won't do it again.]]
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** Alain of ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' considered himself TheLoad, which is justified and [[RedemptionDemotion partially true]] following his HeelFaceTurn. He thought it's his fault even if the events that moved him to this position has been completely outside his reach the same as most option that would change his position for better.
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' presents a twisted version of this. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Breaking down]] in tears, [[TheStoic Hiiro Kagami]] reveals that he thinks this about [[LostLenore Saki's]] death. He spent most of the story up until then pinning the blame on [[ArchEnemy Taiga]] [[FallenHero Hanaya]], her doctor. The twist is that both would want this to be the case, but in reality neither of them is at fault.
*** The titular Ex-Aid can also be an example of this at times, putting blame on himself as a medical intern for any deaths caused by game disease, despite the fact that he really isn’t at fault for his patients being murdered by bioterrorists.
* In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', SVU newcomer Mike Dodds initially doesn't think a missing teenager's case is anything to worry about, figuring she was just out partying with friends or something. When the girl turns up dead, he blames himself for not taking the case seriously enough and wasting time. Benson tells him it's not his fault, and the details of the suspect's confession confirm that there was no way they could have saved her no matter how fast they acted on the report, but he still seems uneasy about it at the end of the episode.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'' has Jane blaming himself for the deaths of his wife and daughter. He did technically cause it to happen, but really all he did was get overconfident and piss off the wrong person; he had no way of knowing what Red John was going to do.
* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', Phryne Fisher blames herself for the disappearance and possible (later confirmed) death of her younger sister, because they were alone together at the time and she was distracted. At the end of season 1, she gets her answers and revenge on the killer.
* ''Series/TheMurders'':
** Kate, after her partner Mike's killed by a suspect, blames herself as he was aiding her. This occurred because she'd left her gun in her car unlocked, which was stolen and used in a murder, with Mike covering that up after, leading them into the situation. She tearfully confesses the fact to her psychiatrist much later after she's finally opened up about it.
** In "Never Kissed A Girl" the father of a murder victim has blamed himself ever since her death. He'd locked her out when she missed curfew, leading her to the killer. After hearing this, Kate expresses her sympathy and she empathizes due to her own past.
** "In My Feelings" has Kate's mother (rather than use the sympathy votes she garnered) decide to drop out of the race after being held hostage, as her campaign manager David died at the hostage-taker's hands, feeling that she doesn't deserve it since this was revenge against her. Kate convinces her to stay in the race however, saying David would want that.
* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E19RedZoneCuba Red Zone Cuba]]'', Frank finds himself owing a large amount of money to the mob, then he tricks the mob enforcer into thinking that Dr. Forrester is him. As Forrester is getting beaten senseless, Frank says to Mike and the bots, "You know, I can't help but feel somewhat responsible."
* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': Don Eppes has a habit of falling into the mentality that he's responsible for things that happen around him, even if they're out of his control.
** In "Trust Metric", he tells Megan that [[spoiler:he feels responsible for Colby Granger (who is at that point [[FakeDefector thought to be]] [[TheMole a traitor]]). He doesn't specify his reason, but it's almost certainly to do with how long Colby was under his command.]]
** In the series finale, Don loses his gun during an arrest. Even though he couldn't have prevented the loss, he still feels that he would be responsible for any action committed with the lost gun.
* ''Series/OddSquad'':
** In "Rookie Night", Olympia and Otis attempt to find and take part in the eponymous event, but by the time they get there by way of going through all the rooms in Precinct 13579's Headquarters, they're too late and Rookie Night has ended. Otis begins to apologize to Olympia and claims how missing the event was his fault, and Olympia seems to agree before pulling a BerateAndSwitch and telling him that it's his fault for making the day the best [[NonIndicativeName Rookie Night]] ever.
** At the end of "Oscar Strikes Back", when President Obbs ends up getting fired and has to [[TurnInYourBadge turn in his badge]], Oscar says that the entire ordeal with Obbs brainwashing almost all of the Scientists was his fault because had he come to Lab-Con sooner (having not done so in the past due to being too nervous to leave his lab), he would have seen what Obbs was doing and stopped his plan before it even had a chance to be put into motion. O'Terry, Odelia and Odie are quick to tell him that it wasn't his fault at all.
** In "New Jacket Required", Mr. Lightning ends up destroying the guidebook to Otis's new jacket as a result of Olympia [[NiceJobBreakingItHero holding up the book to taunt the villain with and him zapping it.]] As Olympia and Otis duck behind a plant to protect themselves, Olympia apologizes to Otis and places the blame on her for pressuring him to use his new jacket too much, but Otis tells her that she had a point with her doing so and deduces that if he pushes more buttons on his jacket, he'll defeat Mr. Lightning -- and that he does.
** After [[spoiler:Oprah and Otis get fired and exiled from Odd Squad]] in "Odds and Ends", Olympia is quick to blame herself for them being gone. This is despite the fact that while she is partially to blame due to lack of belief in [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turns,]] [[spoiler:the X's also forced her to tell the truth by way of a truth helmet that they place on her as she takes her place at the witnesses' stand,]] so they both share the blame (not that [[HateSink the X's]] care).
** In the second half of the Season 3 premiere, "Odd Beginnings: Part 2", as Orla's Headquarters begins to crumble, Opal kicks herself for dragging Oswald, Orla and Omar into her adventure to find and save the [[ArtifactOfPower 44-leaf clover]] and apologizes to them for doing so. Omar, being ThePollyanna, tells her not to shoulder the blame because they're surrounded by each other as good friends and are also trapped in cinnamon buns which is good food.
** The climax of "It's Not Easy Being Chill" has the creature that the Mobile Unit is transporting break free from its cage and escape from the van due to Omar's negligence in babysitting Orpita and his MellowFellow personality trait becoming a FatalFlaw. He explains to his teammates that he was too laid-back when he shouldn't have been, and because of it, they failed to take care of the creature adequately. Opal is the only one that's seen chastising him for his actions while Orla gives a shake of her head in disapproval, and Oswald realizes that Omar can make up for his mistake by feeding the creature two whole cookies. However, Orpita's the one that helps Omar out by showing the group that a whole cookie can be made by combining a half-size cookie and two quarter-size cookies, and Opal and Orla feed the cookies to the creature.
* ''Series/OrdinaryJoe'': Joe blames himself for his father's death on 9/11, because he decided to stay in New York to practice with his school band instead of going to a football game in Denver like his father wanted, meaning his father was in the city and died with other first responders when the towers collapsed.
* ''Series/PartyOfFive'': In the first season episode "Thanksgiving", the Salingers find out, to their anger, that Walter Alcott, the drunk driver who killed their parents in a car accident, is out on parole for good behavior. Bailey, Claudia and Julia all end up visiting him, despite saying they wouldn't, and confronting him. Finally, Charlie, who had long resisted, visits, and reveals why he had resisted - the night his parents were killed, he was supposed to babysit his siblings, but he didn't want to and was late getting there, so he feels if he hadn't gotten there late, his parents wouldn't have been in a rush to leave, and they wouldn't have been killed, so it's really his fault. Walter has to tell him otherwise ("You're the hero in this story").
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. Harold Finch has a lot of guilt for inventing the Machine, and later ignoring a prediction from the ArtificialIntelligence that his OnlyFriend Nathan Ingram was about to become the next VictimOfTheWeek. The trope is lampshaded during a flashback scene where Finch is seeing a therapist.
-->'''Finch:''' [[SurvivorsGuilt Survivor's guilt]]. I'm familiar.\\
'''Therapist:''' Well, then you're also familiar with what I'm about to say next: that you think your friend's death was your fault. Otherwise, you'd have to face a very painful truth. That you are not God. You don't control who lives or dies. That powerlessness also means that your friend's death is not your fault. I assure you, in time, the guilt you feel will pass.\\
'''Finch:''' Let me ask you a question then. Does survivor's guilt pass when everything that has happened actually is, in fact, your fault?
* From ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'': It is revealed that the Rangers' mentor figure, Dr. K, was actually behind the creation and (accidental) release of the [[BigBad Venjix computer virus]] which has devastated the entire world. The bad guys have placed that same virus inside of Dillon, the HalfHumanHybrid of the team, and is taking over his body. Before he falls fully under Venjix's control, Dr. K is forced to upload the base code for the virus to slow its growth. What she says next shocks her team:
-->'''Dr. K''': [Flatly] What just happened was that I entered the base code for the Venjix virus. I know it because I wrote it. I'm the one who released it. Everything that's happened, everything you've all been through--it's all my fault.
* Clark Kent in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' is like this almost to a neurotic degree, to the point that it has been Lampshaded by Chloe in Season 8. Witness the misery (a compilation of the times Clark implies, says or worries about this in dream sequences): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6z8EPJyb1U
** Chloe does this a lot too in later seasons.
* Averted in ''Series/StargateSG1''. Daniel's grandfather tries to comfort him over the loss of his parents years ago, telling him it wasn't his fault. Daniel's reply? "Of ''course'' it wasn't my fault!"
* A blunt statement of the [[TheChainsOfCommanding "command responsibility"]] version from the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Metamorphosis":
-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' It isn't your fault.\\
'''Kirk:''' I'm in command, Bones. That makes it my fault.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''
** Chakotay started blaming himself after he learned that his former lover Seska had betrayed the titular ship to an enemy species; she turned out to be a Cardassian spy [[PaperThinDisguise dolled up to be a Bajoran]] to infiltrate the Maquis, and Chakotay felt responsible for not catching on to her as the leader of the cell she infiltrated, especially after he learned later that he had missed other spies among his ranks (including science officer Tuvok). It was only when Tuvok admitted that Seska had deceived him while they were in the cell, as well, that Chakotay got over it.
** Neelix has the same response in "Basics" when his actions get a RedShirt killed. The irony is [[TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled it's actually true!]]
** Future Harry Kim blames himself for the destruction of the ship in Timeless. “They trusted me, and I killed them!” Arguable, considering he was just an ensign and not even an engineer.
* Invoked rather cruelly, and quite often, for Dean Winchester in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** In "Faith", Dean gets electrocuted and is about to die from heart damage. He seems to be accepting it but Sam takes him to a faith healer and Dean makes a full recovery. But then they find out that it's [[BalancingDeathsBooks a life for a life]] and he feels guilty (and almost suicidal) for the entire episode.
** While Dean lays in a coma during "In My Time Of Dying", his father makes a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with the Yellow-Eyed Demon]] to save Dean's life. Over the course of the season, he [[BreakTheCutie is slowly broken down because of this,]] until Sam dies and he makes a [[DrivenToSuicide deal of his own]], still thinking that he should have stayed dead and if he does this then at least something good will come out of his life.
** In the fourth season episode "On the Head of a Pin", Dean is told he is completely to blame for the upcoming apocalypse because he was [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil driven to torture souls in Hell]]. His father was meant to be the first seal but he never broke, proving that John Winchester has the unique talent of making Dean feel worthless long after he's dead. Of course, as it turns out [[spoiler: Sam is also to blame, because, while Dean broke the first seal by drawing blood in Hell, Sam broke the last when he killed Lilith]].
* ''Series/{{Taken}}'': In the final episode "Taken", John admits to his great-granddaughter Allie Keys that, as a result of his newly discovered sense of morality, he deeply regrets the pain and suffering that he has caused people in the pursuit of the aliens' SuperBreedingProgram. He says that he would never do it again.
%%* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', there's a very good reason Derek Hale is the way he is.
* ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'': [[KidHero Kotaro]] tells other Kyurangers that he thinks this is the case with [[HurtingHero Stinger]] after the events of Space 16.
* Brilliantly parodied in the Swedish comedy series ''{{Varan TV}}''. While hunting a man wearing a deer cap, one of the hunters accidentally shoots a REAL deer (no, seriously!) who of course dies. While he is overcome with guilt, his buddies try to cheer him up, which leads to the following dialogue:
-->"You can't blame yourself for this, it's not your fault."\\
"It's all my fault! I shot him!" (being un-sarcastic and fully serious) "Well... Yeah, you're right! It is actually all your fault!"
* In season 3 of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', [[{{Jerkass}} Dick, of all people]], falls into this trope while dealing with [[spoiler:his brother killing a dozen people, then committing suicide.]] When his father shows up, Dick has something of a breakdown and admits he thinks it's their fault.
* In an episode of ''Series/WhatILikeAboutYou'', it's used as a followup/admission by a character who has previously denied responsibility.
* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': Lan tries to help Stepin recover after losing his Aes Sedai, but Stepin commits suicide anyway. He's devastated afterward, and blames himself because he didn't see it coming.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', after a bought of NeverMyFault after the WhamEpisode, this ''defines'' [[AllLovingHero Luke]] [[TheAtoner fon]] [[TheWisePrince Fabre]] after he TookALevelInKindness and did an ImportantHaircut to prove it. It's a terrible [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]], especially as [[spoiler: there was no way Luke could have avoided destroying Akzeriuth due to the BigBad having groomed and ''raised'' him as an UnwittingPawn, not to mention [[HypnoFool hypnotized]] him into doing the final deed and the fact Luke is ''[[YoungerThanHeLooks actually seven]]''.]] The result is not pretty and his friends spend the majority of the plot trying to convince Luke otherwise without much luck.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' when [[spoiler:Nagisa finds out that her parents originally had better careers and stopped pursuing them in order to stay at home with a bakery to care for her [[IllGirl sickly character]] since a [[NotQuiteDead nearly-tragic incident]]. She was not meant to find out [[TheUnreveal the secret]] as Tomoya and her father even saw it coming that she was going to start blaming herself and {{Wangst}} about it.]]

* This is practically the ''CatchPhrase'' of [[spoiler:post-ImportantHaircut Luke]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', to which the most common reply is a DontSaySuchStupidThings variant from Tear.

*** ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'''s main OC Hikari fits this to a T. When the party tries to talk to her she just blames herself for things that she shouldn't do so she wouldn't receive the pain she is suffering now...[[spoiler:And it's revealed in the fourth labyrinth that she suffered from a series of emotional traumas since elementary school that convinced her that individual think is worthless and caused her to end up with catatonic depression and the delusion that everyone hated her, including her father whom she only believed he did because of a TraumaButton phrase he used to cheer her up.]]
* Fail a mission in ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy''? Don't worry, it is not your fault. It is our fault for believing in you.
** Like [[PlayerPunch THAT'S]] going to make us feel any better.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' after a bought of NeverMyFault after the WhamEpisode, this ''defines'' [[AllLovingHero Luke]] [[TheAtoner fon]] [[TheWisePrince Fabre]] after he TookALevelInKindness and did an ImportantHaircut to prove it. It's a terrible [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]], especially as [[spoiler: there was no way Luke could have avoided destroying Akzeriuth due to the BigBad having groomed and ''raised'' him as an UnwittingPawn, not to mention [[HypnoFool hypnotized]] him into doing the final deed and the fact Luke is ''[[YoungerThanHeLooks actually seven]]''.]] The result is not pretty and his friends spend the majority of the plot trying to convince Luke otherwise without much luck.
* Tarnum of ''Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' ''Chronicles'' was in his first life the Barbarian Tyrant who united the Barbarian tribes into one kingdom via brutal conquest. He is all too aware that this brutality tainted the spirit of his people. When the AxCrazy Kilgor becomes king, Tarnum blames himself for it.

* Franchise/AceAttorney:

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture''-episode "I Am My Monster" features a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this trope. [[spoiler: Steven has a complete mental breakdown, which causes his powers to go absolutely ballistic, turning him into a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever massive]], pink {{Kaiju}}, lashing out in fear and rage. His father, the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds and Spinel all start proclaiming how it was their fault that Steven is like this, because they didn't support him enough (Greg), never asked if he was okay when it looked like there was something wrong, (Amethyst) or [[BreadEggsMilkSquick actively tried to kill him]] (the Diamonds and Spinel).]] Enter Connie.

* In ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', [[spoiler: Stefan Levin]] feels this way about [[spoiler: his beloved girlfriend Karen's death -- she was hit by a truck (and it happened when she was ''on her way to his final soccer match in Sweden'')]] which led to his mind and soul being completely corrupted. And he channels this through his signature "Levin Shot" as a way to injure his rivals, which includes [[spoiler: Wakabayashi, Müller and Akai.]]

** A teenage boy felt ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' was his fault because he inadvertently distracted Franchise/{{Superman}} with his cries for help in a stage where Supes could have ''possibly'' finished Doomsday off.

** In ''[[Comicbook/Supergirl1972 Supergirl Vol 1]] #4'' Linda's classmate David Grahm hits his head when he takes a dive in a pool, and Linda -the titular Supergirl- blames herself because she wasn’t there to save him.
** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' Guy Gardner blames himself for everything [[BigBad Atrocitus]] does (driving his friend Rankorr mindlessly mad, ravaging planet Ysmault...) because Guy defeated him, and Atrocitus wants to pay him back.
** In ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'', Kara believes -mistakenly- her XRayVision disrupted a woman's pacemaker. She feels so guilty she lets a villain pummel her only because she wants to be punished.

* It happens rather a lot to the [[Literature/XWingSeries Wraiths]].

-->'''Garnett''': (''voice breaking'') I don't know nothing. Not a damn thing.

** Another example is Diego, who was in love with Jeanne (The Ghost with the Sword mentioned above) while she was alive. Any of the court robots (the originals were built by Diego) will respond to "Jeanne" with "She died and we did nothing." [[spoiler:It was eventually revealed that Diego set Jeanne up to her fate because she didn't love him back, it really is his fault.]] Averted. Even on his ''deathbed'' he pins all of the blame on the other members of the Court involved in Jeanne's death.

** Another example is Diego, who was in love with Jeanne (The Ghost with the Sword mentioned above) while she was alive. Any of the court robots (the originals were built by Diego) will respond to "Jeanne" with "She died and we did nothing." [[spoiler:It is recently revealed that Diego set Jeanne up to her fate because she didn't love him back, it really is his fault.]] Averted. Even on his ''deathbed'' he pins all of the blame on the other members of the Court involved in Jeanne's death.