History Main / YouShouldHaveDiedInstead

'''Denethor:''' [[BrutalHonesty Yes. I wish that.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{NEOKOSMOS}}'', when the station is raided by a pirate vessel, [[spoiler:Dr. Xaveria]] goes to rescue her test subject Tye, but is killed because of it. When her colleague (and implied love interest) Dr. Zehra finds out, she has a complete breakdown:

* Webcomic/SlightlyDamned: [[spoiler:Iratu]] is like this to Buwaro because he blames him for the deaths of both [[spoiler:Darius and Sakido]], at first being dismissive and rude, after learning [[TheAtoner why]] [[spoiler:Sakido]] [[HeroicSacrifice died]] apathetic and and occasionally violent and it comes to a head when Buwaro brings up [[spoiler:Darius]], this [[BerserkButton angers]] [[spoiler:Iratu]] so much he tries to kill him.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'': Eight years prior to the story, 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 it's raining, and goes outside to meet him where she tells 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 indirectly her fault that her mother died (she had fallen ill, and her father asked her mother and Rin's parents to come home) 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]].

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'': The source of the page quote. Steward Denethor feels this way regarding the death of his eldest and favorite son Boromir, wishing that his younger son Faramir had died instead. While the novel largely leaves this as implied, the movie makes it explicit; Faramir states what he believes his father is thinking (after a scene in the Extended Edition where the Steward berates him and compares him negatively to his brother), and Denethor openly confirms it. Partly subverted in that, when Faramir returns from the ill-fated charge near death, Denethor loses it completely and tries to burn himself and Faramir alive.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'': Eight years prior to the story, 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 it's raining, and goes outside to meet him where she tells 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 indirectly her fault that her mother died (she had fallen ill, and her father asked her mother and Rin's parents to come home) 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]].

* A flashback in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'' shows that after his brother's death, Johnny's father told him that "God took the wrong son..."

* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'': Eight years prior to the story, 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 tells 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 indirectly her fault that her mother died (she had fallen ill, and her father asked her mother and Rin's parents to come home) 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]].

** In the first episode Laurel blames Oliver for her sister's death and tells him that she wishes he had died in her place. He wished the same thing too.
** When Oliver's sister Thea thinks that her mother is having an affair with Malcolm (and has been since before her father died), she tells her it should have been her on the boat.

* In Bambiii, After Bambi learns that his father was planning on sending him away to live with another doe (a deal that his father was about to cut off from), he angrily snaps at his father, going as far as to say that he wish his mother with him instead of his father.

* In BambiII, After Bambi learns that his father was planning on sending him away to live with another doe (a deal that his father was about to cut off from), he angrily snaps at his father, going as far as to say that he wish his mother with him instead of his father.

* In JerseyGirl (Film), when Ollie and Gertie gets into a heated argument, Gertie reaches to a point where she says that she wished that Ollie died and not her mother.

* In Bambi2, After Bambi learns that his father was planning on sending him away to live with another doe (a deal that his father was about to cut off from), he angrily snaps at his father, going as far as to say that he wish his mother with him instead of his father.

* In JerseyGirl(Film), when Ollie and Gertie gets into a heated argument, Gertie reaches to a point where she says that she wished that Ollie died and not her mother.

-->'''Ronin:''' They got Thanos. You get me.

Sometimes used in family situations to {{lampshade}} that the target of the comment is TheUnfavorite. A variation might be "I should have aborted you," or "You were an accident." An easy KickTheDog (or MoralEventHorizon) line. On the other hand, there are cases when Bob is right, and that if Carol had died, Alice would have lived (and, on occasion, that Carol should have died instead). This can lead to a WellDoneSonGuy relationship when it comes to a father-son dynamic.

* ''VisualNovel/NewDanganronpaV3'': [[spoiler:During the final battle between Shuichi and the Audience, it keeps being mentioned that Shuichi should have died instead of Kaede]].

'''Denethor:''' Yes. I wish that.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

--> '''Arba''': In everyone's eyes but mine, you ''pale'' in comparison to your father and big brothers, and if your cousins could trade your life for theirs, they would do it in a heartbeat.
--> '''Hakuei''': So would I. What's your point?
--> '''Arba''': ''(Beat of StunnedSilence, before changing the subject entirely)''

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', [[spoiler:when Maria has (seemingly) been killed by a snake that was about to bite Manolo, Manolo thinks it should have been him, and Joaquin says yes, it ''should'' have. He regrets this when Manolo is later found dead after accepting Xibalba's deal.]]

* In ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard,'' Hearthstone already had the problem of being born deaf, while [[OurElvesAreBetter elves]] react badly to anyone who's not "perfect." Worse, when he was eight his brother Andiron died, with Heathstone nearby but unable to hear his cries for help; as a result, their parents not only openly say that Hearthstone should have died, they insist that he pay Andiron's ''[[https://www.britannica.com/topic/wergild wergild]].'' Ironically Andiron's spirit appears later in the series and reassures Hearthstone that he was not responsible for his death.

* ''Film/BatmanForever'': During their brief fight after Robin gets in over his head against a vicious gang and is saved by Batman, Robin takes out his frustration upon Batman:

* ''Series/{{House}}'': After Amber's death, Wilson tells House he should have been alone on the bus. It doesn't help House's SurvivorsGuilt any, but Wilson's not been told anything about that and is clearly just hurting.

Sometimes used in family situations to {{lampshade}} that the target of the comment is TheUnfavorite. A variation might be "I should have aborted you," or "You were an accident." An easy KickTheDog (or MoralEventHorizon) line. On the other hand, there are cases when Bob is right, and that if Carol had died, Alice would have lived (and, on occasion, that Carol should have died instead).

** In the Saiyan Saga, a freshly mourning Bulma tells Yajirobe that he should have been killed by the Saiyans instead of Yamcha, Tien, Chiautzu and Piccolo, after he basically told the other characters "Hey, ''I'm'' still alive, you know!". Given that [[DirtyCoward Yajirobe spent most of the battle hiding from Nappa and Vegeta instead of fighting alongside the heroes,]] Bulma had every right to be angry at him.
-->'''Bulma:''' ''YOU'' should have died!! '''''YOOOUUU!!!!!'''''

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

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

[[folder: Western Animation]]

'''Denethor:''' [[BluntYes Yes. I wish that]].

* In ''Film/StandByMe'', Gordy was never as understood or loved by his parents as his athletic big brother, who was killed in a car crash a year before the film. He has a [[BadDreams nightmare]] at one point, being at the funeral, and hearing his father say, "It should have been you, Gordon." While this might be AllJustADream, Gordy mentions another detail about the funeral a moment later as it were true...

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', [[spoiler:when Maria has (seemingly) been killed by a snake that was about to bite Manolo, Manolo thinks it should have been him, and Joaquin says yes, it ''should'' have.]]

'''Denethor:''' Yes. I wish that.

* On the Creator/ComedyCentral [[TheRoast roast]] of Creator/DonaldTrump, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8wHmpP33s0 Anthony Jeselnik]] noted the recent passing of long time roaster Creator/GregGiraldo via overdose.
-->'''Jeselnik''': It's been a rough year for comedy. Not only did the world lose Creator/GregGiraldo ''[applause from audience]'' but even worse, it kept Jeff Ross.
* The day after Patrice Oneal died, fellow comedian Colin Quinn, while appearing on an impromptu memorial show on [=SiriusXM=]'s Radio/OpieAndAnthony, noted that he received several tweets from Patrice's fans wishing that he had died instead. He went on to say that Amy Schumer, who made several jokes at Patrice's expense during Comedy Central's Charlie Sheen roast, received messages stating that they hoped she got ovarian cancer.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7775877/10/Lily-Potter-s-Biggest-Secret Lily Potter's Biggest Secret]]'' Ron tells some vicious lies about Harry, Hermione and Snape to a ''Daily Prophet'' reporter in a bid for attention. Mama Weasley is Not Happy.