History Main / YouDidEverythingYouCould

* In the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "Bouncing Back", both Coulson and Simmons try to assure Fitz that there was nothing he could have done to save Will once it was revealed he was a walking corpse possessed by Hive.
-->'''Coulson''': You did what you had to do. We both did. Sometimes there's no choice but the hard choice. That's the job.
--->''(later)''
-->'''Simmons''': [[HeroicSacrifice Will died saving me.]] What you did was kill a thing, a monster. You've been nothing less than extraordinary this whole time.

* In C. S. Goto's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/BloodRavens trilogy, fellow BloodRavens try this on Gabriel after he had to order Exterminus and tell him another captain would have done the same. Gabriel is angry, the question is whether the other captain would have let the situation arise in the first place.

* Appears in StarWars (Episode IV, ''ANewHope'') when [[MentorOccupationalHazard Obi-Wan]] [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] so Luke can escape.

** 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.

* In C. S. Goto's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} BloodRavens trilogy, fellow BloodRavens try this on Gabriel after he had to order Exterminus and tell him another captain would have done the same. Gabriel is angry, the question is whether the other captain would have let the situation arise in the first place.

* In ''[[FanFic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'', [[RedHeadedHero Mary Jane Watson]] is running herself into the ground trying to juggle [[TripleShifter school, her acting and modeling careers, her steady job at the coffee shop, helping her mother get the medical treatment she needs, fighting crime as Spider-Woman and trying to make the rent on her apartment.]] Her friends and family keep trying to tell her that she doesn't have to go to all this trouble and that she's pushing herself too hard, but her [[SamaritanSyndrome conscience won't allow her to let up]]. Things come to their logical conclusion at the end of issue #35 when everything finally comes crashing down on her.

* Quoted by Kopaka in ''[[{{Bionicle}} Bionicle: Mask of Light]],'' when Gali manages to successfully cure Tahu with her water powers after the latter [[BrainwashedAndCrazy has been poisoned and brainwashed]] by the Rahkshi.

* Quoted by Kopaka in [[{{Bionicle}} Bionicle: Mask of Light]], when Gali manages to successfully cure Tahu with her water powers after the latter [[BrainwashedAndCrazy has been poisoned and brainwashed]] by the Rahkshi.

* One of the most [[{{tearjerker}} emotional]] stories on {{Series/Scrubs}} had Dr. Cox lose three patients after giving them transplanted organs that unknowingly came from a donor infected with rabies. JD tries to comfort him by pointing out that the disease is so rare there is no way ''any'' doctor would have thought to test for it, and it would have been irresponsible to do so with the patients waiting for those organs. He also [[MeaningfulEcho repeats what Cox told him]], that once you start blaming yourself for deaths that weren't your fault "[[DespairEventHorizon there's no going back]]". It doesn't work; Cox spends the next episode in a drunken HeroicBSOD, only recovering when JD instead tells him that he admires him because after all these years of watching people die "you still take it this hard."

* After [[spoiler: Kima]] is shot in an undercover operation gone bad on ''TheWire'', Major Rawls tells a guilt ridden Detective [=McNulty=] that even though he hates him and would like to be able to blame him, the shooting was not his fault.

* In ''FanFic/WhyAmICrying'', Big Macintosh comforts Filthy Rich at his daughter's funeral while the latter still fretting about how he shoved her away.

[[quoteright:313:[[Manga/BlackJack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythingyoucould.JPG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:313:Sometimes, even the greatest fail.]]

[[quoteright:289:[[Manga/BlackJack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythingyoucould.JPG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:289:Sometimes, even the greatest fail.]]

[[quoteright:289:[[caption-width:313:Sometimes, even the greatest fail.]]]]

* 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.

* In ''AmericanBarbarian'', [[http://www.ambarb.com/?p=295 There wasn't anything you could have done.]]
* In ''OurLittleAdventure'', [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0191.html to Julie after the raise dead failed.]]

* Parodied brilliantly in ''TheSimpsons'' -- "You can't keep blaming yourself. Blame yourself once, then move on."

* In the ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS2E6TheDefeatOfSuperman The Defeat of Superman]]", JimmyOlsen uses the "I did everything I could" variant when apologizing to Superman for not being able to save him from the Kryptonite. Shortly thereafter, he does find a way out.
* Said a bazillion times, by almost every character, to almost every character, on ''{{ER}}''.

* One of the most [[{{tearjerker}} emotional]] stories on {{Scrubs}} had Dr. Cox lose three patients after giving them transplanted organs that unknowingly came from a donor infected with rabies. JD tries to comfort him by pointing out that the disease is so rare there is no way ''any'' doctor would have thought to test for it, and it would have been irresponsible to do so with the patients waiting for those organs. He also [[MeaningfulEcho repeats what Cox told him]], that once you start blaming yourself for deaths that weren't your fault "[[DespairEventHorizon there's no going back]]". It doesn't work; Cox spends the next episode in a drunken HeroicBSOD, only recovering when JD instead tells him that he admires him because after all these years of watching people die "you still take it this hard."

* After spending half of ''[[TMNT2003 Ninja Turtles']]''s fourth season in a guilt-induced funk, Leonardo makes the first step towards recovery after he admits this to himself.

* ''DesperateHousewives'': "One Wonderful Day"

* ''{{Lost}}'': "Whatever the Case May Be"

* ''FridayNightLights''

* Parodied in ''{{Frasier}}''; an old friend-turned-bitter rival of Martin's is in the hospital with serious problems and Frasier's trying to persuade Martin to bury the hatchet. Martin, typically stubborn, refuses. Frasier gets a phone call, and responds to the caller with a somber "I'm sure you did everything you could..." Martin, who obviously can't hear the other end of the conversation, freaks out and decides to resolve his problems with his old friend. He stubbornly refuses Frasier's offer of a ride to the hospital because he can drive himself. Except he can't; the phone call was from his mechanic, who was calling to tell him that his car's transmission is kaput.

* Franchise/{{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 of Conduit's {{deathtrap}}s. Subverted in that he survived.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E05BloodyMary "Bloody Mary" (S01, Ep5)]], Dean tries to convince Sam to forgive himself for Jessica;s death and says, "Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done."