I Regret Nothing

A Stock Phrase used by characters about to or after having done some crazy action, especially if it could result in dying.

Can be a Facing the Bullets One Liner. Compare Worth It, I Did What I Had to Do.

Anime and Manga

 * Raoh's Famous Last Words: "My life was one lived without a single regret!" Of course, this often pops up in parodies.
 * In the Impel Down arc of One Piece, this is 's last line, as he rushes forward  . It's also a major theme in the following arc and the series as a whole, as part of being a pirate is to live life without regrets (especially according to Luffy and Ace).
 * A minor character in Samurai Champloo is killed by the shrapnel from a smashed baseball bat during a particularly intense game. His last words are "I die with no regrets."

Comic Books

 * In the Marvel/Wildstorm crossover World War Three, after being defeated by Deathblow and the Thing, the dying Skrull who had replaced Iron Man says "I did what I was ordered to do. I don't regret anything".
 * At the end of the Judge Dredd story arc Apocalypse War, the last words of the defeated war marshal Kazan are: "I... regret nothing! I apologise for... nothing!"

Film - Live Action
"Margiana: You followed me instead of Koura? Then he has won the race.
 * The Golden Voyage of Sinbad: instead of following the Big Bad Prince Koura, Sinbad follows and recovers the slave girl Margiana.

Sinbad: The race perhaps.

Margiana: And the prize?

Sinbad: Not the prize.

Margiana: A crown of untold riches!

Sinbad: I regret nothing."

Literature
""What's that noise?" Asked Kadiatu.
 * Persuasion: Anne Elliot gives a speech about how "I have nothing to reproach myself with" regarding the eight years of needless pain and suffering she and Captain Wentworth endured as a result of her letting Lady Russell persuade her into breaking their engagement. Which actually makes sense in the context of the rest of the story, as the two likely would not have ended up as happily married eight years ago as they will now.
 * Played with in the Doctor Who Expanded Universe -- the Doctor is caught in a crashing plane on Mars. The woman he's with hears him humming.

"Edith Piaf," said the Doctor. "Born on a doorstop and sang the blues."

"I'd sing the blues," said Kadiatu, "if I'd been born on a doorstep. What's the song about?"

"Regret."

"What did she regret?"

"Absolutely nothing," said the Doctor.

They hit the ground."


 * Timequake features a short story by one of the characters entitled "Bunker Bingo Party," about the last few hours of Hitler's life. Before killing himself, Hitler ponders what his last words should be. He considers "I regret nothing" but it is pointed out to him that Edith Piaf has already made those words famous. He briefly considers "Bingo" but then settles on "I never asked to be born in the first place," and pulls the trigger.
 * In Jack Higgins' The Wrath of God, Oliver van Horne helped narrator Emmett Keogh against corrupt police (Keogh had tried to rescue a girl the cops were going to rape). Van Horne machine-gunned the cops, but then he and Keogh were caught and sentenced to death. As he was taken out to be shot, van Horne said, "No regrets, Keogh."

Live Action TV
"Amber: Don't you have any regrets?
 * A Stock Riff on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
 * Eko from Lost confesses this to what he thinks is the spirit of his dead brother
 * On Friends, Joey once had a date with a girl which ended with him eating her dessert while she was in the bathroom. As she stares at him in utter disgust, he just grins and says "I'm not even sorry!"
 * When Earth Final Conflict killed off Sandoval, they had him say this.
 * Subverted in the early Stargate SG-1 episode "Solitudes": trapped in an ice cavern with rescue apparently not coming, Captain Carter tells Colonel O'Neill that she has "no regrets... how about you?" True to form, O'Neill (who's currently suffering from some serious internal injuries including broken ribs) replies "I'll regret dying."
 * Played with in the House episode "Games", by Jimmy Quit, a terminally ill Punk Rock musician.

Jimmy: A lotta drugs, a lotta fights... I regret everything else."

Music
"Regrets... I've had a few.
 * Non Je ne Regrette Rien, best known for Edith Piaf's version.
 * Played with in "My Way":

But then again, too few to mention."

Real Life

 * The last words of Nathan Hale (British revolutionary who was hanged when caught spying on the King's Army): "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country [the secessionist Union of American States]."
 * Timothy McVeigh who blew up Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people, said before his execution that his only regret is that he didn't completely level it.
 * Serial Killer Carl Panzram made this statement after his arrest: "In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry."
 * Andrew Jackson once said "I have only two regrets: I didn't shoot Henry Clay and I didn't hang John C. Calhoun."
 * From Tallulah Bankhead's autobiography: "The only thing I regret about my past is the length of it. If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."
 * Murderer Thomas Kemp's final words when he was executed in April 2012 were "I regret nothing."

Video Games
"Shepard: "I'm sorry."
 * Mass Effect:
 * "It's all right, Commander. I don't regret a thing" from the original.
 * In the third game...


 * "I'm not.""

"I proved my superiority. I have already won. I regret nothing."
 * The Postal Dude from Postal says this when you have him commit suicide.
 * A recorded but unused Scout line from the Team Fortress 2 "Meet the Sandvich" video: "I regret everything! I regret everything I've ever done!"
 * Troll batriders in War Craft will shout "The ends justify the means!" before perishing in a fiery kamikaze attack.
 * Last Scenario has Famous Last Words:

""Gh-ghuahh... I am... sorry for nothing. I regret... nothing. Because I did it my way... You win, Priestess. You must be delighted. Enjoy it while you can... Because... sooner or later... you...""
 * In Metal Gear Solid 3
 * The End has a slightly different choice of words ("I have no regrets") for when you beat him the right way.
 * In one of the side videos, he starts doing the creepy old man stalker with EVA, and in the end, when he tries to shoot her for being with other men, she runs him over with her bike, and he says the same thing.
 * Disc One Final Boss Jarod's Famous Last Words in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.


 * In Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War II: Retribution, when the Ork battlewagon boss is destroyed, its pilot states that his only regret is exploding.

Web Comics

 * Awkward Zombie: at the end of this strip when Sora is criticized for his ship design.
 * This comic from Between Failures, after a Funbag Airbag incident.
 * Romantically Apocalyptic, here.

Web Original
"Hobson: Hobson give shares to Seto!
 * Parodied in the Homestar Runner toon Fall Float Parade, where Coach Z shouts "I regret everything!" when he and Marzipan are set upon by an enormous (and possibly malevolent) Marshie balloon.
 * In The Secret Life of Dolls, Anna says this at her trial for
 * Finishes a Crowning Moment of Funny in Red vs. Blue, where a minor Red Zealot character says this after acquiring the Blue flag and ranting about how the Battle Creek Reds and Blues will "worship me as though I were a god!" Then the Blues run up and kill him, making him say this.
 * In adamwestslapsod The Legend Of Zelda The Abridged Series series, after Link "defeats" Twinrova one of them says "I regret nothing!... except dying."
 * In Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series, in Kaiba's flashbacks, when he take over his step-father's company, we learn that he doesn't had enough shares but he got them from Hobson.

Gozaburo: Hobson, how could you do this to me? After I picked you up from the gutters-

Hobson: Hobson regret nothing!"

Western Animation
"Zuko: You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero. You have no right to judge me, uncle. I Did What I Had to Do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me!"
 * The Simpsons:
 * In one Halloween special, Mr. Burns is seen in hell, turned into an ugly (well, even uglier) creature, and he says this line.
 * Also, we pan over the Very Long Line to see the Itchy & Scratchy Movie, which goes over a drawbridge; the drawbridge opens and one person falls through. As he's falling he calls out the Stock Phrase in question.
 * In the Chowder episode "Grubble Gum", Gazpacho declares this once he realizes he's about to be consumed by an ever-growing katamari of grubble gum.
 * In Futurama:
 * Bender argues that all robots should be deactivated because they pollute too much, especially Hedonism-bot, who responds with "I apologize for nothing."
 * When That Guy from the 80s dies from boneitis at the end of "Future Stock" his dying words are "My only regret.. is that I have.. BONEITIS!"
 * Zuko on Avatar: The Last Airbender after passing up the opportunity to Heel Face Turn, resulting in his uncle being imprisoned:

"Terra: My name is Terra. I have done horrible things. And I have absolutely no regrets."
 * Terra on Teen Titans:

"It might be the Joker, or Two-Face, or just some punk who gets lucky. My decision. No regrets."
 * Batman contemplating his eventual demise in I am the Night.