History Main / JerkassRealization

** Another example takes place when Mycroft visits the flat and at one point ends up very rudely telling Mrs. Hudson to stay out of the conversation, leading Sherlock to bring him to heel. When [[HeroicComedicSociopath Sherlock]] has to tell you to stop acting like a jerk, you know you've screwed up royally. Mycroft immediately apologizes. This turns into a spot of HypocriticalHeartwarming since after chastising Myvcroft, Sherlock then ''also'' immediately tells Mrs. Hudson to butt out of things.

** Another example takes place when Mycroft visits the flat and at one point ends up very rudely telling Mrs. Hudson to stay out of the conversation, leading Sherlock to bring him to heel. When [[HeroicComedicSociopath Sherlock]] has to tell you to stop acting like a jerk, you know you've screwed up royally. Mycroft immediately apologizes. Though Sherlock ''also'' immediately tells Mrs. Hudson to butt out of things, thus puncturing the moment a bit, he is at very least slightly more polite about it.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': When ComicBook/{{Artemis}} tells an abuse survivor at a women's shelter that she's a coward for the way she fled her abusive husband to save her kids and that her kids would be better off if she were dead she arrogantly refuses to back down despite reactions and only seems to realize just how awful she's been when the woman ends up shot by her husband which upsets and infuriates her.

Perhaps the key moment in a JerkToNiceGuyPlot. Could be considered a minor version of MyGodWhatHaveIDone and HeelRealization. See also WasTooHardOnHim which involves a character feeling remorse over harshly scolding or punishing another character. Compare ObliviousMockery and GuiltInducedNightmare.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** In the Silver Age story ''Superman #172'', Superman is forced to choose a successor to the title when a meteor strips him of his powers, and he selects a young Kandorian, Ar-Val. The fame quickly goes to Ar-Val's head, to the point where he secretly uses his superpowers to create crises so he can show off. When the former Superman throws himself in front of a Kryptonite spear for him, Ar-Val nearly kills the villains responsible in rage. After settling the matter, he steps outside to think about how horrible he's been.

* ''LightNovel/AccomplishmentsOfTheDukesDaughter'': After seeing how hard his sister and family are working and how wasteful and useless his friends are in actually aiding the kingdom, Berne realizes that he should never have sided with the second prince. He later owns up to his mistake and apologizes to Iris for turning on her when she needed him most, but while she accepts the apology, she also tells him that she can't forgive him yet.

* ''Film/HomeAlone'': Kate realizes how [[WasTooHardOnHim unfair]] and [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] she was towards Kevin when she finds out that she left him behind while rushing to the plane and spends the rest of the movie [[MamaBear doing everything she can to get back to him.]]

* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'': In "She'll Still Be Dead at Halftime" (S06E16) Alan and Jake call Charlie a sleazeball for being willing to cheat on his fiancée with a drunk and horny former acquaintance. He brushes them off at first, but their words do ultimately get to him; in the end he's unable to go through with it.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/AnsemRetort''.
-->'''Axel:''' We've faced worse than this. Remember when Disneyworld was destroyed?\\
'''Marluxia:''' Larxene did that.\\
'''Axel:''' Well, what about that plane that got hijacked?\\
'''Marluxia''': ''You hijacked that plane.''\\
'''Axel:''' Okay, but there was that corrupt government.\\
'''Marluxia:''' That was, and still is Zexion.\\
'''Axel:''' Wow, we're [[{{Jerkass}} assholes]].

* ''{{Series/Galavant}}: In the third episode of season one, the titular knight Galavant, Princess Isabella, and Galavant's put-upon squire Sidney take a rest at Sydney's hometown. There the former two learn Sydney hasn't been completely honest with his parents and the whole town, with them thinking Sydney is the knight and Galavant is his squire. Though unhappy about it, Galavant plays along and later works with the other squires in town, who are treated poorly as well, to set up a party for Sidney's return. The other squires begin a song about how every knight is a "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-_zIpbCD94 Jackass in a Can]]."[[note]]That is the name of the actual song.[[/note]]. While listening to them complain about how they view knights, Galavant finds himself joining in singing the final verse, "[All] That jerkface in a can /There's nothing sadder than / [Galavant] Some over-muscled, chauvinistic / Self-indulgent, egotistic / Stingy, prissy, narcississy / [All] Jackass in a can!." Upon finishing the song, Galavant realizes that he is much like the men these squires mock. Later at a party takes Sydney aside and apologises for his behavior and honestly thanks him for his hard work as well as saying his parents should be told the truth and they will still love and respect their son.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' Tony does this when talking about Gibbs often, he mentions things like his divorce rate, or something about bourbon, cue the scene of Gibbs standing behind him, or walking in from nowhere.

** For most of ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'', Akko assumes that Diana, based on her [[AcademicAlphaBitch behavior]], was nothing but a cold aristocrat who had nothing but good fortune in her life. However, when she decided to go to Diana's house in episode 19, she ends up learning from Diana's maid Anna that [[spoiler:Diana lost her parents at an young age]], which immediately causes Akko to feel guilty for her actions, which only increases when she learns from Andrew shortly afterwards that [[spoiler:Diana struggled with magic like her]]. Both of these actions would cause Akko to stop being antagonistic towards Diana.

** In the season 3 episode "Revelations", Xander, furious that Angel is BackFromTheDead and Buffy withheld it from the rest of the Scoobies, gives Faith the bare minimum of details regarding it, knowing she won't hesitate to stake Angel. However, Angel [[HeelFaceTurn isn't evil anymore]] and helps in the resulting fight against the treacherous Watcher Gwen Post. While his lie to Buffy in "Becoming, Part 2" was a bit justified, since Angelus ''was'' actively trying to bring about [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt an apocalypse]], Xander realizes that he crossed a line here, and makes it up to Buffy by helping her save Angel from [[UltimateEvil the First]] in "[[ChristmasEpisode Amends]]."

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademiaTheEnchantedParade'': Lotte starts giving Akko the cold shoulder for accidentally ripping her family's music sheet while trying to use it for their parade without permission. When Sucy suggests that she's been bottling up her feelings due to [[ExtremeDoormat being pushed around by Akko all the time]], Akko remarks why Lotte can't be forward with her feelings instead of acting gloomy and depressing all the time. Unfortunately, Lotte is standing right behind her when she says this, so she [[BrutalHonesty bluntly]] states that she thinks Akko's ideas for the parade will fail and that she wants no part in it, leaving Akko to desperately try to take back her words. [[spoiler:When Lotte changes her mind and returns for a BigDamnHeroes moment to deliver a hand-made replica of the hat worn by Shiny Chariot, Akko's inspiration for the parade and becoming a witch in general, Akko gives her a big, tearful hug and apology for being such an insensitive jerk]].

* ''Film/NotOkay'': As her lie falls apart and the world turns on her, Danni is forced to acknowledge to a support group that she wasn't that nice a person before this all started and even worse once she got famous. Notably, a member of the group calls her out on "you're saying you learned but at the end of the day you're a privileged white girl who thinks she's the main character." Danni admits that's right in how she's not sure if she really has grown and learned anything from this. The final scene does have her affected by hearing Rowan's poem railing on her lies and leaving in tears at how Rowan is a true survivor Danni was only pretending to be.

* Tokiko, the protagonist of ''Manga/WalkToDeath'', has been exposed to so much death that she barely reacts to it emotionally. When her adoptive father Tokiko dies under mysterious circumstances, Tokiko casually reads a book she found near his body as her family members grieve, then has a similarly callous reaction to two of her adoptive siblings dying. When she meets [[spoiler:an insane SerialKiller who believes that he can purify himself by eating people]], she has an epiphany about herself.
-->'''Tokiko''': How can he go on about something so sickening without... Oh. So that's it. To my family... this is how I looked.