History Main / YouShouldHaveDiedInstead

*** Note that, buried in the Council of Elrond scene in the book, Boromir explains that it was Faramir who had the dream, and that Boromir followed the vision because Faramir was... not so ruggedly heroic as his brother. Leading to Denethor being actually rather justified in saying that Faramir "should've" been the one to die as he was the one being called. But on the flip side, Faramir shows exceptional resistance to the ring's temptations. How far would the Fellowship have gotten, if it had been Faramir and not Boromir who went along?

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Wormtail tries to justify to Harry, Sirius and Lupin his betrayal of Lily and James Potter, claiming that Voldemort would have killed him if he hadn't told him where they were. Sirius replies coldly, "Then you should have died."

* Satirical variation: British columnist Victor Lewis-Smith has been quoted as saying "The Beatles are dying in the wrong order." GeorgeCarlin wrote something similar: "The wrong two Beatles died first." Comedienne Judy Tenuta once joked that John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman would have been considered a hero if he'd aimed [[YokoOhNo two feet to the left]].

-->-- ''TheLordOfTheRings''

-->-- ''TheLordOfTheRings''

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* This pushes [[spoiler:Shion]] over the edge in Meakashi-hen of ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', when [[spoiler:she thinks that her {{yakuza}} family killed her boyfriend]] and wishes that it had been his little sister instead, whom she never liked anyway. When her RoaringRampageOfRevenge gets to the sister, we get the most disturbing murder scene in the entire series, followed by one of the biggest {{tearjerker}}s.
* Guts's adoptive father Gambino from ''{{Berserk}}'' told him this word for word when [[AbusiveParents he tried]] [[OffingTheOffspring to kill him]]. He's referring to Shisu, Gambino's lover, who died from the plague. He blames this on Guts due to a superstitious belief that his being born from a corpse makes him bad luck, which fueled a hatred that had previously led him to [[spoiler:sell the kid to one of his men as a child prostitute for three silver coins]].
* Eight years prior to the time ''{{Shuffle}}'' takes place, both of Rin's parents and Kaede's mother are killed in a car accident. Kaede became traumautized from the incident, losing her will to live. Rin overhears the doctor say that she needs a reason, any reason, to live. Rin then goes to Kaede and tells her that on the night of the accident, he was lonely and phoned his parents, asking them to come back. Since his parents and Kaede's mother rode in the same car, he essentially told Kaede that it was his fault that her mother died. This causes Kaede to snap out of her stupor and she tries to strangle Rin to death. Rin manages to escape, but since Kaede's father has taken Rin into their home, Rin must constantly put up with Kaede's deep hatred of him. While putting on a front of being friends with Rin around her father, Kaede does such things as vandalize Rin's room, drop a box-cutter on his face so that it [[EyeScream slices his eye]] while he's coming up the stairs, locks him out of the house when its raining and goes outside to meet him where she tell him "I don't understand. Why did my mother have to die, while someone like you still gets to live? I wish you were dead. I mean it! Just DIE!!!" Once she finds out that it was actually her fault that her mother died she then [[TheAtoner spends the next few years of her life completely devoting herself to Rin in an attempt to make up for how she treated him during their childhood]].

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* Rorschach's backstory in ''{{Watchmen}}'' reveals that his mother was a prostitute, and as a child he interrupted her while she was [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean busy on the job]]. Her john left without paying her, and she descended angrily on her son- slapping him, shaking him, and shouting "I should have had that abortion!"

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*** Note that, buried in the Council of Elrond scene in the book, Boromir explains that it was Faramir who had the dream, and that Boromir followed the vision because Faramir was... not so ruggedly heroic as his brother. Leading to Denethor being actually rather justified in saying that Faramir "should've" been the one to die as he was the one being called. But on the flip side, Faramir shows exceptional resistance to the ring's temptations. How far would the Fellowship have gotten, if it had been Faramir and not Boromir who went along?

* Catelyn Stark's greatest moment of bitchiness in ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire A Game of Thrones]]'' has her throwing this at Jon. Though the character at question wasn't dead just yet.
* At the end of ''[[NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' Room 101's purpose, at least for Winston, is to make him truly wish the torture on his loved ones instead of himself.
* In Henry James' novel ''WashingtonSquare'', the father of heroine Catherine Sloper, Dr. Sloper, hates his daughter because his beloved wife died while giving birth to her. He spends the rest of his life belittling and tormenting her emotionally. In spite of this, she nurses him devotedly on his death bed.
* In the novel based off the {{Fable}} video game, the main character is called into his dying mother's bed chamber where she tells him that she's happy that he survived the balverine attack instead of his brother, since he has prospects and business sense whereas his brother was just a dreamer. Only problem is that she's remembering it backwards and thinks he's his dead brother.
* VorkosiganSaga: After the birth of Miles, near the end of ''Barrayar'', Count Piotr says that he wishes that Mad Emperor Yuri's death squad had killed Aral, instead of his older brother. This is the final straw in their deteriorating relationship, leading to a 5 year estrangement.

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* Elaine Lefkowitz, Danny's first wife on ''{{Soap}}'', had this ("Why couldn't it have been you?") said to her by her father. Ouch.
* Not 100% certain, but I believe Benjamin Linus's father on ''{{Lost}}'' expressed these sentiments to Ben - that he'd wished Ben had died rather than his mother.
* Not death, per se, but Freddie's mom does this quite a few times after Freddie risks his life to save Carly's in the iSaved Your Life episode of ''{{iCarly}}''.

* Astor says this about ''{{Dexter}}'' when she finds out [[spoiler: Rita's dead]].

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* Satirical variation: British columnist Victor Lewis-Smith has been quoted as saying "The Beatles are dying in the wrong order."
** GeorgeCarlin wrote something similar: "The wrong two Beatles died first."
** Comedienne Judy Tenuta once joked that John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman would have been considered a hero if he'd aimed [[YokoOhNo two feet to the left]].
* When he was in his late teens, {{Eminem}} was told by his mother over the phone that he should've died instead of his [[DeadLittleSister beloved uncle Ronnie]]. [[MoralEventHorizon On the day of his funeral]]. One part of the song "Cleaning Out My Closet" is dedicated to blasting her for this.

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* In ''TalesOfSymphonia'', during [[spoiler: Zelos' "night in Flanoir" scene, Zelos reveals to you that his mother was shot by an arrow that was meant for him. His mother hits the point home with: [[TearJerker "You should have never been born."]]]]

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* [[TheOnion Onion News Network]]: "[[http://www.theonion.com/content/video/victim_in_fatal_car_accident Victim in fatal car accident tragically not Glenn Beck]]"

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* In one episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Agnes Skinner says she wishes her son had died instead of their car. This is typical of their relationship.

<<|DramaTropes|>>

*** His wording in the book is "Yes, I wish that indeed, for Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard's pupil... He would have brought me a mighty gift.". At least in the film, he hesitates to say this to Faramir, and his voice trembles. In the book he has such hesitation.

On the other hand, if you, DirtyCoward that you are, survived by sacrificing the other character, expect no mercy.

* In Henry James' novel ''WASHINGTON SQUARE'', the father of heroine Catherine Sloper, Dr. Sloper, hates his daughter because his beloved wife died while giving birth to her. He spends the rest of his life belittling and tormenting her emotionally. In spite of this, she nurses him devotedly on his death bed.

-->'''Jeselnik''': It's been a rough year for comedy. Not only did the world lose Greg Geraldo...*applause from audience*...but even worse, it kept Jeff Ross.

* In a flashback in ''H2OFootprintsInTheSand'', Hinata's grandfather [[spoiler:wishes that Hotaru, whom we had known to this point as Hinata, had died instead of her sister. So much that he forces her to steal her sister's identity and renounce her room, her hobbies, and anything that made Hotaru distinct from the real Hinata.]] No wonder it hurts when the townspeople gossip that it was better that Hinata survived and Hotaru died.

* Minagi Tohno in {{AIR}} reveals she was going to [[spoiler: have a little sister but the sister died unexpectedly.]] For a while [[spoiler: her mother continues to call Minagi by the name of her dead daughter]].

* In the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, Han expresses this general sentiment, if not the exact words, to his son Anakin after [[spoiler: Chewbacca's death.]]

* In Henry James' novel WASHINGTON SQUARE, the father of heroine Catherine Sloper, Dr. Sloper, hates his daughter because his beloved wife died while giving birth to her. He spends the rest of his life belittling and tormenting her emotionally. In spite of this, she nurses him devotedly on his death bed.

-->Carly: How is he?
-->Mrs. Benson: Broken. Damaged. But I see you're fine, isn't that nice?

* Astor says this about {{Dexter}} when she finds out [[spoiler: Rita's dead]]

** Comedienne Judy Tenuta once joked that John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman would have been considered a hero if he'd aimed [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YokoOhNo two feet to the left]]

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* In TalesOfSymphonia, during [[spoiler: Zelos' "night in Flanoir" scene, Zelos reveals to you that his mother was shot by an arrow that was meant for him. His mother hits the point home with: [[TearJerker "You should have never been born."]]]]

* ''OrderOfTheStick'': [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0695.html Girard's attitude to Soon, apparently.]]

* Esther says this about {{Dexter}} when she finds out [[spoiler: Rita's dead]]

* Esther says this about "{{Dexter}}" when she finds out [[spoiler: Rita's dead]]

In Henry James' novel WASHINGTON SQUARE, the father of heroine Catherine Sloper, Dr. Sloper, hates his daughter because his beloved wife died while giving birth to her. He spends the rest of his life belittling and tormenting her emotionally. In spite of this, she nurses him devotedly on his death bed.

In Henry James' novel WASHINGTON SQUARE, the father of heroine Catherine Sloper, Dr. Sloper, hates his daughter because his beloved wife died while giving birth to her. He spends the rest of his life belittling and tormenting her emotionally. In spite of this, she nurses him devotedly on his death bed.

* Minagi Tohno in {{AIR}} reveals she was going to have a little sister but the sister died unexpectedly. For a while her mother continues to call Minagi by the name of her dead daughter.

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'', as evidenced in the page quote.