History Main / YouDidEverythingYouCould

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* Manga/InuYasha: Kikyo reacts this way towards both Inuyasha and Kagome when [[spoiler:Naraku kills her for real; she softly reassures Kagome that even if she couldn't save her life, she nonetheless saved her soul, and when Inuyasha is [[ManlyTears breaking down]] over being too late to save her, she [[GoOutWithASmile smiles]] and gently reassures him that the fact that he came for her is all that matters]].

* Plio says the exact phrase to Aladar on the Disney movie ''{{Dinosaur}}'' when he fails to rescue Bruton from the rockslide.

* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Peak Performance", Data is challenged by a visiting advisor to a very difficult game called Strategema. After Data is defeated, he believes that the problem is a malfunction in his programming (since he played the game precisely the right way) and asks to be relieved of duty. Picard tells Data that there are always circumstances where it isn't possible to win even if you do everything correctly.

** After Owen and Beru were killed by Stormtrooper:

-->Superman? It..i-it's okay, pal. You've saved my life so many times; I wouldn't have had the years I had if not for you! But even a hero can lose, sometimes...It-it's not your fault.

* In the second-season episode "Peak Performance", [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Picard]] tells Data that there are always circumstances where it isn't possible to win even if you do everything correctly.

[[caption-width:313:Sometimes, even the greatest fail.]]

[[quoteright:289:[[Manga/BlackJack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythingyoucould.JPG]]

[[Manga/BlackJack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythingyoucould.JPG]]

* {{Superman}}: at the end of the Conduit saga, Jimmy Olsen gives a talk like this to Superman when it looks like the Man of Tomorrow will not be able to save him from one if Conduit's {{deathtrap}}s. Subverted in that he survived.

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* Manga/{{InuYasha}}: Kikyo reacts this way towards both Inuyasha and Kagome when [[spoiler: Naraku kills her for real; she softly reassures Kagome that even if she couldn't save her life, she nonetheless saved her soul, and when Inuyasha is [[ManlyTears breaking down]] over being too late to save her, she [[GoOutWithASmile smiles]] and gently reassures him that the fact that he came for her is all that matters]].

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* LimyaaelsFantasyRants advise against this in writing. She says that authors should not invalidate guilt on the protagonist's part (as in) and should keep it genuinely ambiguous as to whether the protagonist could have made a difference. This opinion being expressed by other characters is fine, but if an author constantly makes it so that the protagonist's failures have no consequence ('It doesn't matter that you couldn't/didn't save him from the housefire, he would have died that day from Lethal Disease #9567 anyway!') the protagonist verges into MarySue/BoringInvincibleHero territory, and the story loses realism and depth.

* Abused by [[MagnificentBastard Malcolm Tucker]] in ''TheThickOfIt''. He tells Glenn and Olly "you tried, you really tried" when they fail to steer Nicola Murray out of an embarrassing photo opportunity... which Malcolm had deliberately steered her into as part of his latest scheme. His reassuring words were [[ManipulativeBastard just a means of covering it up]].

* {{Superman}}: at the end of the Conduit saga, Jimmy Olsen gives a talk like this to Superman when it looks like the Man I f Tomorrow will not be able to save him from one if Conduit's {{deathtraps}}.

[[Manga/BlackJack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythingyoucould.JPG]]

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** Matthews, a reliable, dependable lower-deck sailor tries to assure Acting Lieutenant Hornblower who was in command of a ship that he did all he could to save a man who went down after losing his close friend. He stole food and was severely punished, and then tried to desert several times. Hornblower gives him chance to prove himself worthy several times, but he never succeeds. When he wants to bring him to justice, Bunting considers it a CruelMercy and opts for an equivalent of SuicideByCop, forcing Hornblower to shoot him. Matthews says that Bunting was beyond saving. Hornblower gets depressed and says that Captain Pellew would know what to do and that ''he'' would find a way.

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Compare SurvivorsGuilt.

* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'' has examples from the naval/military setting, involving troubles with leadership and participating "the wrong war".

** Matthews, a reliable, dependable lower-deck sailor tries to assure Acting Lieutenant Hornblower who was in command of a ship that he did all he could to save a man who went down after losing his close friend. He stole food and was severely punished, and then tried to desert several times. Hornblower gives him chance to prove himself worthy several times, but he never succeeds. When he wants to bring him to justice, Bunting considers it a CruelMercy and opts for an equivalent of SuicideByCop, forcing Hornbower to shoot him. Matthews says that Bunting was beyond saving.
** Archie Kennedy says this almost word-for-word to Horatio after Mariette's death and the failure of the Muzillac mission. Horatio beats himself up for failing to save her because he persuaded her to go with him. The military operation was doomed from the start.