History Main / LifesWorkRuined

* A major part of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' involves this: [[spoiler: Valant Gramarye has been waiting for seven years to inherit his mentor's magic tricks. Turns out they passed on to someone else. And he finds this out on ''the day he was due to finally perform them'']].

* [[http://nethackwiki.com/wiki/DeathOnAStick DeathOnAStick]], who spent a year and a half on a single game of ''VideoGame/NetHack'', spending most of that time collecting rocks, transforming them into gems, putting them into [[BagOfHolding bags]], and creating [[MonsterAllies pet giants]] to hold the bags full of gems. Then he accidentally drank a cursed potion of gain level, which moves you up a ''[[StealthPun dungeon]]'' level, which put him past a PointOfNoReturn. Without his gems.

* In a episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart ended up destroying George Bush Sr.'s memoirs.

Can also involve ICouldaBeenAContender.

** Also from ''Last Airbender,'' in the episode "The Library" the scholar Professor Zei is distraught to discover that the ancient library of Wan Shi Tong he's been seeking his entire career is almost entirely buried under the desert sands. He remains upbeat, though, and it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] anyway when it turns out the library is still fully accessible.
--->'''Zei:''' ''<distraught>'' THE LIBRARY IS BURIED!? My life's ambition is now full of sand! ''<{{beat}}, Zei pulls out a tiny trowel, cheerfully>'' Well, time to start excavating!
* WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants's crashing into a truck loaded with fruit punch ruins an old guy's memoirs which were written with red ink.

[[folder:Myth and Legend]]

* King Triton destroys Ariel's collection of salvaged treasure in Disney's ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' after finding out that she was secretly in love with a human prince. This unfortunately leaves Ariel vulnerable enough for Ursula to take advantage of her for her EvilPlan.

-->--'''Mr. Wilson''' after Dennis accidentally distracts him from seeing a flower bloom after he'd been growing it for forty years, ''Film/DennisTheMenace''

* In ''Film/TheMadmagician'', Ormond rings down the curtain on Don Gallico's debut performance as StageMagician Gallico the Great. Ormond reveals that the contract Gallico signed means that all of the illusions he create belong to Ormond; even the ones Gallico created on his own time. This means Gallico can never appear on stage and, to add insult to injury, Ormondo sells 'The Lady and the Buzzsaw' illusions--a trick Gallico had spent years perfecting to be the climax of his act--to The Great Rinaldi; a magician Gallico hates.

If a villain is the victim of this, be prepared for a vicious and frighting VillainousBreakdown.

Compare to the relationship between the SpannerInTheWorks and the {{Chessmaster}}.

* Instead of death, this is the punishment villains in One Piece get for their heinous actions, as the running theme of the series is following your dreams. All the villains have a central dream or ambition they work towards, problem is their methods often involve stepping on anyone in their way to achieving them. Their plans draw the attention of the protagonists, who are nominal heroes whose methods are unlawful themselves, when their actions kick the dog they personally befriended.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Played for laughs in a British sketch show starring ex-[[Radio/TheGoonShow Goon]] MichaelBentine. A guest on an interview show has spent ten years building a magnificent model of St. Paul's Cathedral out of matchsticks. Unfortunately the heat of the studio lights cause it to catch fire. The interviewer mutters, "Well, I expect we'll be seeing you again in ten years. Only this time I'd suggest taking the match heads off first."

* In ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime'', Synonamess Botch drives his head nightmare writer Scuzzbopper to [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] (and a HeelFaceTurn) by dismissively throwing his manuscript for a "Great A-Murk-ian Novel" out a window.
* King Triton destroys Ariel's collection of salvaged treasure in Disney's ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' after finding out that she was secretly in love with a human prince.

* In the first ''Film/DennisTheMenace'' movie, Mr. Wilson spent forty years growing a plant that only flowers once for a few seconds. So he invites the neighborhood to the flowering, but Dennis causes a distraction at the crucial instant by screaming that Mr. Wilson's house was being robbed. Thinking Dennis was CryingWolf, Mr. Wilson then lays into Dennis with a TranquilFury-laden TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, which leaves Dennis in tears and runs away in sadness. However, [[CassandraTruth Dennis was telling the truth]], and even ends up at the robber's mercy later.

* In the InteractiveFiction game ''Damnatio Memoriae'', you have very limited time to hide or destroy all evidence of your supernatural powers before your room is searched. One of the damning pieces of evidence is your book, years in writing, that describes faraway lands (which you couldn't have possibly written without using your magic.) If you don't manage to hide it, other options are either to destroy it (at which point the character bleakly remarks he'll never be able to muster up the energy to write it again) or magically change its apparent authorship, so that someone else is credited for your life's work.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "Any Old Port in a Storm", the murderer does this to himself. He murders his half-brother by leaving him bound in his wine vault and turning off the air conditioner so he suffocates. However, while he is away, there is an unexpectedly hot day that raises the temperature in the uncooled vault to the point where the wine oxidizes; destroying his priceless collection.

* In ''Film/TwiceUponATime'', Synonamess Botch drives his head nightmare writer Scuzzbopper to [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] (and a HeelFaceTurn) by dismissively throwing his manuscript for a "Great A-Murkian Novel" out a window.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Myth and Legend ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

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[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Played for laughs in a British sketch show starring ex-[[TheGoonShow Goon]] MichaelBentine. A guest on an interview show has spent ten years building a magnificent model of St. Paul's Cathedral out of matchsticks. Unfortunately the heat of the studio lights cause it to catch fire. The interviewer mutters, "Well, I expect we'll be seeing you again in ten years. Only this time I'd suggest taking the match heads off first."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' episode "The Legend of Big Butt", Weasel shouts this when he discovers that Loch Ness Monster, like his last expedition, was a hoax by the Red Guy. Ironically, him ranting hysterically about it [[GaveUpTooSoon makes him miss]] [[ReallAfterAll the actual Nessie]] showing up behind him, alongside Santa Claus, the Abominable Snowman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and a UFO.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' episode "The Legend of Big Butt", Weasel shouts this when he discovers that Loch Ness Monster, like his last expedition, was a hoax by the Red Guy. Ironically, him ranting hysterically about it [[GaveUpTooSoon makes him miss]] [[ReallAllAlong the actual Nessie]] showing up behind him, alongside Santa Claus, the Abominable Snowman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and a UFO.