History Main / WasItReallyWorthIt

* From 1985 film about corporate life, ''Head Office''.

* The 1993 direct-to-video action film ''Rage and Honor II'' has supposed nice guy Tommy turn out to be a criminal mastermind who murdered his own father to get his hands on some diamonds. After beating Tommy down in the climax, hero Preston pours the diamonds onto Tommy's head and asks the question verbatim as the cops take him away.

** [[spoiler:Neo manages to ''kill Ruby'' in a way that's even worse than shooting her to death, by using a power so great it could overwhelm Salem... and then she finally realizes ''everyone'' who ever loved her or wanted to do great things alongside her is dead. Even though she has everything - revenge after six seasons, and a power that could conquer all of Remnant and beyond - she's forced to face the fact that she's still the sheltered little girl who couldn't lift a finger against her neglectful parents without Torchwick to guide her. All that power and no shred of ambition or support to back it up. Then it ''definitely'' stops being worth anything when the Curious Cat uses her unleashed mental trauma to forcefully infest her brain and take over completely.]]

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': After everything that happens in the Fog Car, and the AwfulTruth upon AwfulTruth placed upon her, Grace is left to question if her making the Apex was absolutely worth the suffering she's caused to herself, Simon, the kids, Hazel, Tuba, all the denizens and passengers she's injured [[spoiler:and even Chloe]].

* ''BegrudgingAssistanceRequests'': Dmitri's final words to Ellie before [[spoiler:putting her back in his prison complex for betraying their alliance]] is essentially him wishing that she thinks about her actions and regret them, because they only brought trouble upon her. [[spoiler:Ellie does eventually regret her actions and has a mental breakdown in her cell]].

* In the ''Revenged'' ending of ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Henry Stickmin - Completing the Mission]]'', Henry, after being betrayed by the Toppat Clan's former leader, Reginald, is upgraded with cybernetics and decides to seek revenge on them. He manages to defeat the Right-Hand Man and Reginald before bringing down their airship on the launch site for their rocket, making it unlikely the group will ever recover. However, thanks to his fights and a shot in the back from Reginald, Henry is too injured to escape the crashing airship. As he lays dying, Reginald asks him if taking down the clan was really worth it. Considering Henry only manages to just limp away from the crash site and collapse against a rock before [[DiesWideOpen quietly dying himself]], it really wasn't.

-->'''Reginald:''' ''*Cough*'' Well, you got us. Was it worth it?

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Previously [[HoYay/ComicBooks very close]] teammates, the [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 last conversation]] between ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica has the latter in a cell, awaiting trial, and asking the former, "Was it worth it?" Later, an opportunistic villain assassinates Captain America on his way to trial, and Iron Man, confronted with his body, finally answers the question. Was it worth it? [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone No.]] [[PyrrhicVictory No, it was not.]]

* In an early arc of ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', which chronicled the first meeting between ComicBook/BlackCanary and ComicBook/{{Huntress}}, the adventure was summed up thusly:

* At the end of ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'', in light of of Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face and his subsequent killing of Carmine Falcone, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Jim Gordon have this moment.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern:'' [[spoiler:The Black Lantern Arin Sur asks her husband Sinestro this when they fight through the streets of Korugar, asking if he's happy with what he did to Korugar, and himself, in the name of peace.]] It's one of the few times Sinestro isn't capable of speaking, he can only stutter out "I... I don't...". It's hard to say if this is due to genuine doubt on Sinestro's end or [[spoiler: due to his wife being the one asking.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/ThePhantomZone'', before sending Zod back into his prison, Superman remarks his latest scheme has only resulted in defeat, humiliation and dead people. Superman asks if it was worth of it, and Zod answers a resounding "Yes".

* ''ComicBook/VenomDonnyCates'': A flashback story shows a run-in between ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and Venom. During their fight, Logan straight-up tells Eddie that his vendetta against Spider-Man wasn't worth it and that he hasn't accomplished a damn thing beyond mildly hurting Spider-Man's feelings. This ends up being the epiphany that makes Venom become a "lethal protector" instead of just harassing Spidey.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11781093/23/Strawberries-and-Lemons Heartbreak]]'', [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] breaks up with her (very adorable and loving) boyfriend, Garnet, because she was gradually falling in love with a new student, Sygnus. Garnet tries to be [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy happy for her]], [[BreakTheCutie but he breaks down in tears and runs off]] before he can finish what he wanted to say. The chapter ends with Yang feeling guilty and wondering if it was really worth it. [[spoiler:[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11781093/33/Strawberries-and-Lemons The sequel chapter]] reveals that no, it wasn't. Yang only wanted to date Sygnus because she was LovingAShadow and that her heart always belonged to Garnet]].

* By the end of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:Thanos has assembled the Infinity Stones despite our heroes' best efforts, and proceeds to do the [[BadassFingersnap fingersnap]] that kills off half the universe's population. However, this quest has cost him the lives of all his adopted children in the Black Order, most if not all of his army, and the life of his estranged daughter, Gamora, [[KillTheOnesYouLove who he was forced to kill]]. Afterwards, he's visited by a vision of Gamora as a child, and the small exchange quoted above occurs.]]

* He doesn't say it out loud, but Snake Plissken is clearly thinking this at the end of ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', after the President he just risked his life and lost dear friends to save [[BitchInSheepsClothing doesn't even take the time to eulogize the people who died rescuing him before rushing off to get made-up for a saber-rattling conference]]. He proceeds to ask the President what he thinks about all the death that just occurred, and when the President confirms his thoughts by offering nothing but generic, obviously rehearsed platitudes, [[spoiler:Snake deliberately gives him the wrong tape to play at his previous conference to ensure he humiliates himself in front of the whole world.]]
* In the film ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', Arthur ends up in a fight "to the death" against "a knight who is not [his] enemy" for a bridge he could "easily ride around," and ends up not only almost killing Launcelot, but, more importantly (to him), shattering Excalibur. Luckily, the Lady of the Lake forgives him and mends the sword.

* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''

* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Wings of Fire'', Patrick [=McLanahan=] says this after the Night Stalkers receive very large paychecks for the mission where [[spoiler: Paul was killed and Wendy went missing.]]

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walter laments how working in the drug industry has caused his wife to fear him and keep their children away from him and says that the meth empire he's building is all he has left to be proud of. His partner, [[AntiVillain Jesse]], calls him out on this, intending to help Walt quit the business as well, but it doesn't work. In the end, [[spoiler: despite said meth empire inevitably destroying ''everything'' Walt ever held near and dear, for him it was all still WorthIt.]]

* The ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Hell's Grannies" sketch, as a reporter addresses the viewers while walking on a sidewalk:
-->'''Reporter:''' The whole problem of these senile delinquents lies in their complete rejection of the values of contemporary society. They've seen their children grow up to be accountants, stockbrokers, and even sociologists, and they begin to wonder if it is really all...(''he suddenly disappears in a manhole; two grannies replace the cover and scamper away'')
* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Veep}}'', Selina [[spoiler: throws Gary, the man who stuck by her through thick and thin, to the feds to save herself; bans gay marriage (which includes her own daughter's) to win votes which alienates Catherine forever; drives away all her few supporters and is basically alone when she returns to the Oval Office. At first, Selina, a massive narcissist, thinks it was worth it...but it turns out her ultimate legacy is to lose her next election to her main rival, followed by her supposed idiot handler becoming a much more successful President after that and is nothing more than a historical footnote remembered at all for her bad choices.]] As the final topper, when [[spoiler: Selina dies at 74, not only does barely anyone she knows show up for her funeral but the networks immediately cut away at word Creator/TomHanks has passed away.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad 2'''s ending, [[spoiler:Arc and Kukuru are dead, along with much of humanity. Elc is left to question why the hell he even bothered.]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', if you side with the Templars, [[spoiler:and your sister Bethany is in the Circle, you have the option to stand up for her alone after killing her teacher and most of her friends. If you defer to Meredith, her last words are "I hope this was all worth it, sister/brother." Then Meredith runs her through.]]

* Shepard (as in you, the player) from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' can throw this at Mordin, asking him accusingly if upgrading the genophage, a thousand-year-old bioweapon which reduced the fertility of the ProudWarriorRaceGuy, was really worth it. For the record, he says [[spoiler:yes. Though by the time of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', his answer has changed to an emphatic no.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' the player is given two options at the end: [[spoiler:go after Killbane]] or [[spoiler:rescue Shaundi, who is about to be killed in a terrorist attack STAG had set up to blame the Saints on]]. Choose the former and you get the bad (good?) ending, where [[spoiler:Shaundi dies, the Saints are blamed as terrorists, the Boss is asked if it was worth it (s/he can't answer) and STAG attempts to destroy Steelport during her funeral, then the Saints basically go terrorist when they fight the army off.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Soul Nomad|AndTheWorldEaters}}'', we have the [[DarkerAndEdgier Demon Path]] ending where [[spoiler:[[CanonName Revya]] [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum destroys the world]]. After the deed is done, you get one last line to read: ''It doesn't matter. It was fun''.]]

** Nate and brother Sam find Libertalia, the legendary "pirate utopia" created by Henry Avery, Thomas Tews and other captains. They find it all in ruins as it turns out [[spoiler: the entire thing was all a huge con to scam colonists out of their money and gold. The populace rose up in revolt and the pirates put them down. The pirate lords then fought among themselves so Avery and Tews poisoned the lot of them for the treasure...then ended up killing each other for gold neither could possess so Libertalia turned into a mass graveyard.]]
** Rafe [[spoiler: spent years hunting the treasure and even having a mercenary group on his side as he's willing to do what it takes to get the treasure. He ends up completely losing it at the end to duel Nate inside a ''burning ship'' and meets an IronicDeath being crushed by a pile of gold.]]

** In flashbacks, Nate and Sam meet Evelyn, a woman who had been a Lara Croft style explorer making great finds. She dedicated her life to various hunts and searches to the point that she couldn't even attend her husband's funeral because she was abroad. Their son never forgave her for that and cut off all ties. In the end, Evelyn is a lonely old woman living in a mansion of treasures that she refuses to sell off and [[spoiler: is only found after her death because of the police showing up just after the brothers had been there.]]
** The whole adventure clearly affects Nate as [[spoiler: he realizes a life of nothing but treasure hunting leads to nothing good. He and wife Elena buy up a salvage company so they can go on legal adventures. In a TimeSkip finale, it's shown the two are very successful with a record of historical finds and consider their daughter, Cassie, their greatest treasure.]]
** It's all summed up when [[spoiler: Nate finds himself in the hold of Avery's ship loaded with gold but also on fire as the culmination of a quest that has claimed countless lives.]] He says the trope verbatim as he wanders about.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Corsac and Fennec Albain [[spoiler:pulled the strings to have [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Adam]] take over the White Fang and kill Sienna Khan to advance their own goals, and carried out his orders to assassinate Blake's parents. In the end, all they manage to achieve is getting Fennec killed, getting Corsac arrested, and turning all of Menagerie against the White Fang. When Saber Rodentia - Ghira's bodyguard - asks Corsac this very question as he's being taken away, Corsac just hangs his head, indicating that no, it wasn't worth it.]]

* In ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', the ambitious, slick, social-climbing Stan wins the election for class president (important to him for his college applications), but at the cost of the only serious relationship he'd ever had. When Aggie tells him he'd better be ready to face the consquences of choosing "power over love and friendship," he responds sadly, "I kinda have to be...don't I?"

** [[spoiler:Taylor]] becomes TheUnfettered in pursuing the defeat of [[SerialKiller Jack Slash]] and his Slaughterhouse Nine in order to prevent the prophecized end of the world, going so far as to [[spoiler: shoot a child held by Jack that could have caused the end.]] In the end, though, after [[spoiler:she ultimately fails]], she questions whether it was worth it and decides that it wasn't.
** At the end of the story, [[spoiler:Contessa]] asks Taylor if she feels that the actions she resorted to [[spoiler:to stop Scion]] were worth it. Even though [[spoiler:she was successful this time, Taylor feels it wasn't worth it.]] She doesn't regret [[spoiler:saving the world]], but she wishes she could have found another way to do it.

** Firelord Sozin asks himself at the end of his life if [[spoiler: making the world [[WellIntentionedExtremist a better place]] by [[WhiteMansBurden spreading Fire Nation culture]]]] was really worth the genocide [[PerfectPacifistPeople of the Air Nomads]], [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife the deaths of thousands of both his people and those of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes in the war,]] [[spoiler:and betraying Avatar Roku, his best friend as he was growing up, [[MurderByInaction leaving him to die when he could have saved him]]. He somberly concludes that it was not.]]

** ''The Cutie Remark Part 2'' has [[spoiler:Twilight]] perform a nonverbal version of this to [[spoiler:Starlight Glimmer to stop her MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight revenge plan: she grabs onto her after the latest change Starlight made and drags her back to the BadFuture the change created (which was the ''worst'' one seen so far) in hopes showing her the consequences of her revenge would convince her to stop. While it takes time to sink in fully, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Starlight's expression then and her demeanor]] after her HeelFaceTurn makes it clear that no, it wasn't worth it at all.]]

* In the Robin vs. Speedy fight during the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Winner Take All", Robin wins, but snaps Speedy's bow while doing so, in what had been a friendly match. After Robin celebrates his victory, Speedy asks this before being teleported away. An odd example, as both Robin and Speedy had both explicitly expressed that they'd do anything to win, and Speedy's bow didn't seem particularly irreplaceable (in fact, it inexplicably is repaired by the end of the episode)Although later when Robin learns that the entire tournaments of heroes is nothing but a ploy for Master of Games to capture and draw on the power of the losers to make himself stronger, and recalling that he'd ignored Cyborg who'd been suspicious, he quickly decides it wasn't worth it, and fights to gain the freedom of the losers.

Not to be confused with WhatTheHellHero, which is about the character being called out for flat-out evil things. If someone wins a battle, but accidentally kills their friend's sister in the process, it's this. If they intentionally do so, and are called out for it, it's that. If Bob decides it's not worth it after all, but only ''after'' the fact, it's MyGodWhatHaveIDone.

* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeFanfic'': Richard Dragon is completely appaled to learn his EvilFormerFriend Sandra Wu-San threw her daughter away, letting the girl grow up mercilessly abused in the name of "strength". Shiva sneers she doesn't care about Dragon's outrage.

* Previously [[HoYay/ComicBooks very close]] teammates, the [[ComicBook/CivilWar last conversation]] between ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica has the latter in a cell, awaiting trial, and asking the former, "Was it worth it?" Later, an opportunistic villain assassinates Captain America on his way to trial, and Iron Man, confronted with his body, finally answers the question. Was it worth it? [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone No.]] [[PyrrhicVictory No, it was not.]]

* The 1993 direct-to-video action film ''Rage and Honor II'' has supposed nice guy Tommy turn out to be a criminal mastermind who murdered his own father to get his hands on some diamonds. After being Tommy down in the climax, hero Preston pours the diamonds onto Tommy's head and asks the question verbatim as the cops take him away.

* In the Robin vs. Speedy fight during the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Winner Take All", Robin wins, but snaps Speedy's bow while doing so, in what had been a friendly match. After Robin celebrates his victory, Speedy asks this before being teleported away. An odd example, as both Robin and Speedy had both explicitly expressed that they'd do anything to win, and Speedy's bow didn't seem particularly irreplaceable (in fact, it inexplicably is repaired by the end of the episode).

[[AliceAndBob Bob]] takes things too far, either in his quest for power, revenge, or even just to win a battle. After it's all said and done, he or Alice have to ask 'was it really worth it?' In this case, it's actually a valid question, possibly for a number of reasons. Maybe [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim killing his opponent made him just like them.]] Maybe to win a friendly duel, he had to shatter his best friend's weapon (or worse, [[KickTheMoralityPet shatter his best friend!]]) In any case, what Bob's done raises serious moral questions for him, and the answer isn't necessarily "Hell yeah, it was WorthIt!"

* By the end of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:Thanos has assembled the Infinity Stones despite our heroes' best efforts, and proceeds to do the [[BadassFingersnap fingersnap]] that kills off half the universe's population. However, this quest has cost him the lives of all his adopted children in the Black Order, most if not all of his army, and the life of his estranged daughter, Gamora, [[KillTheOnesYouLove who he was forced to kill]]. Afterwards, he's visited by a vision of Gamora as a child, and this small exchange occurs:]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Thanos:''' Daughter?\\
'''Gamora:''' Did you do it?\\
'''Thanos:''' Yes.\\
'''Gamora:''' What did it cost?\\
'''Thanos:''' ...''Everything''.]]

Not to be confused with WhatTheHellHero, which is about the character being called out for flat-out evil things. If someone wins a battle, but accidentally kills their friend's sister in the process, it's this. If they intentionally do so, and are called out for it, it's that. If Bob decides it's not worth it after all, but only ''after'' the fact, it's MyGodWhatHaveIDone

A subtrope of PyrrhicVictory. If a character's actions or victory eventually result in him being bored because of it, then you have a case of VictoryIsBoring. Compare AndThenWhat.

** Firelord Sozin asks himself at the end of his life if [[spoiler: making the world [[WellIntentionedExtremist a better place]] by [[WhiteMansBurden spreading Fire Nation culture]]]] was really worth the [[KillEmAll genocide]] [[PerfectPacifistPeople of the Air Nomads]], [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife the deaths of thousands of both his people and those of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes in the war,]] [[spoiler:and betraying Avatar Roku, his best friend as he was growing up, [[MurderByInaction leaving him to die when he could have saved him]]. He somberly concludes that it was not.]]

** Gets this almost word-for-word from Saul [[spoiler:when he sets the car he got for Walt Jr. on fire after Skyler refuses to let Walt Jr. keep it because she is afraid that an expensive car will raise questions with the IRS and the Schraders. The resulting damage to both the car and the parking lot, plus fines and legal fees after he was charged with destruction of property, came out to over $50,00]].

--> '''Oracle:''' "You travelled five thousand miles. You hooked up with a loose cannon--possibly psychotic--vigilante who doesn't place much value on life...and a world class felon. You stressed my network to the max. You faced the world's deadliest martial artist. [[WomanScorned All to get back at a guy who]] ''[[WomanScorned didn't call you]]'' [[WomanScorned the next day]]. Was it ''worth'' it?"\\
'''Black Canary:''' "[[WorthIt Yeah, it was.]]"

-->'''Superman:''' ''"It's back to the Zone, Zod-- to the twilight where you belong. Was it worth all those lives-- just for this?"''\\
'''General Zod:''' ''"To be free? To conquer?? That would be worth those lives and a billion more! And yours will be among them, Kal-El!!"''

A subtrope of PyrrhicVictory. See also PyrrhicVillainy, for where the ''villain's'' actions are definitely ''not'' worth it. If a character's actions or victory eventually result in him being bored because of it, then you have a case of VictoryIsBoring. Compare AndThenWhat.