Apology Not Accepted: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Fiction loves to advocate for [[Forgiveness]] and [[Turn the Other Cheek|Turning the Other Cheek]]. A person has done a terrible thing. They are truly remorseful and are willing to make amends. A simple apology will probably do the trick.

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'', Leon's little brother Chris comes to live with him after being raised by their aunt and uncle. Why? Because Chris thought his aunt and uncle were his parents; his cousin Sam rather brusquely broke the news that they weren't siblings and that he was responsible for his real mother's death, since she had him at fifty. This revelation traumatized Chris so much that he stopped speaking, much to his aunt and uncle's dismay. Despite them giving a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] speech to Sam, the damage was done. In the final volume, Sam comes to the pet shop where D is watching Chris, and says she wants Chris back in her life. She apologizes for what she said, and asks if they can try again. At first, Chris isn't into it, but later changes his mind, reconciling with Sam as well as his aunt and uncle.

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'':

** In an early episode, Shingo accidentally breaks his best friend Mika's handmade prizewinning doll at school. He clams up rather than apologizing, and their classmates tell Usagi about this. Usagi confronts Shingo, as he's crumpling up apology notes, and tells him to go to Mika's house and apologize. Shingo tries, but Nephrite beat him to the punch and compelled Mika to make dolls while not talking to anyone, rejecting the apology. When Shingo asks Usagi for advice, she suggests a present would do the trick. He makes a clay Sailor Moon doll, and brings it to Mika at her next doll exhibition. It's only then he and Usagi realize a youma had possessed Mika, and drains her. The youma knocks Shingo out and smashes the clay doll. Mika revives, sees the clay shards as well as Shingo's apologetic look, and finally forgives him.

** In the S finale, Sailor Uranus and Neptune call out Usagi for giving the Holy Grail to Mistress 9 in an attempt to help Hotaru fight from the inside and regain control of her body. It worked, but Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90 nearly brought about the Silence with the Grail. Usagi apologizes as her friends defend her from the Outer Senshi, saying she doesn't want them to fight. Uranus and Neptune assert that if she fights them, without her friends, they'll consider her apology. This ended up being a [[Secret Test of Character]]; when Usagi is pinned and faces a fatal attack, her Messiah powers awaken and knock down Uranus and Neptune. They then apologize to her for the insubordination to the real Messiah, something she accepts.

 

* In ''[[The Sandman]]'', Dream apologetically and solemnly tell Rose this multiple times as he prepares to kill her to save the Dreaming, as she is an [[Apocalypse Maiden]]. Rose eventually shouts at him to stop apologizing, and to get it over with already.

* ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' showed this in a few cases.

**  Robin couldn't stop apologizing to Starfire after learning that {{spoiler|Mirage kidnapped and impersonated her, and Kory lampshades how he failed to realize ''something'' was wrong when Mirage didn't have flight or starbolts. Even [[Heel Face Revolving Door]] Slade could tell something was off while stalking them, since he knows it's not like Starfire to hold back and let Robin do all the fighting. Nightwing attempts to salvage the situation by popping the question, but Raven's [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] crashed the nuptials while possessing Starfire}}.

** When Dark Angel erased Donna from existence, Wally West managed to bring her back with his memories of her. Just one problem: he brought back the idealized version of Donna, not the actual person. Donna suffered an existential crisis as a result, questioning if she was real or just the girl on whom Wally crushed. He tries to apologize and bring her back to the person she was, but she rebuffed him. Even when Donna regained her true self, they remained friends.

* ''[[Divergent]]'' has Al bawling when he apologizes to Tris for assisting in an attempt on her life, after she ranked first in the Divergent faction. Her response is that if he touches her again, she will kill him.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' has this happen a few times in the past and the present:

** Zigzagged with Percy, because he ''doesn't'' apologize at first for turning his back on the family and making his mother cry. In fact, he doesn't talk to them period after the Wizarding World learns that Minister Fudge was lying about Voldemort's return, meaning his father was right all along not to trust Fudge. The new Minister, Rufus Scrimgoeur, tries to use Percy to gain admittance to the Burrow, where Harry is spending the winter holidays. Percy is given a few moments with his family, where he ''could'' apologize for being an ambitious ass, while the Minister talks to Harry. Instead, Percy acted like the previous year didn't happen so his younger siblings — including [[Beware the Nice Ones|Ginny]] — tossed mashed parsnips at him.

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

** At a convention, Jade opted to stay in her hotel room while Brent went out to the festivities. A woman hung out with him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Brent allowed it, not knowing that Jade had seen when coming out of the hotel room. He apologized to Jade, but she didn't accept it; they had a fight and (temporarily) broke up as a result.

** Zigzagged when Jade smacks Brent for backseat-driving. While Brent was shocked that Jade would do such a thing and didn't want to talk to her, Jade did apologize but also pointed out that he was ''grabbing the wheel'', which could have made them crash. Brent refuses to listen and schedules an appointment with a therapist.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

** In "Nevermore", Robin encourages Beast Boy to apologize to Raven for upsetting her over breakfast. He tries, and for reasons he and Cyborg get trapped in Raven's mind mirror. When she realizes what they did and confronts them, Beast Boy finally apologizes. She ignores him because her angry self is on the attack.

** "Forces of Nature" inverts this, where Beast Boy refuses to apologize for a prank that hit Starfire instead of Cyborg. Instead, he keeps making jokes. As a result, she refuses to talk to him. It takes Lightning and Thunder nearly burying her alive for Beast Boy to give an apology.

** "Things Change" has Beast Boy toss mud at who he thinks is an amnesiac Terra, thinking it will trigger her powers. Instead, he splatters her in the face and she runs off before he can apologize. When he attempts to apologize the next day, she tells him bluntly that she is not Terra, only an ordinary schoolgirl.

* One ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' short has a piano fall on Tom while he's tormenting Jerry. The cat at the pearly white gates says that Tom can't get into heaven unless he has Jerry sign a certificate of forgiveness within an hour. Tom returns to life, frantic; he tries to offer a cake as an apology to Jerry, only for Jerry to eat the cake and spray pen ink in the cat's face. Faking the signature won't work because both the cat angels and dog demons are watching. When they both see the dog demon laughing as the clock ticks, Tom starts to beg and mimes his predicament, and Jerry is bewildered but signs the agreement. Unfortunately, Tom is too late and ends up in Hell... until he wakes up by the fire where a stray coal had burned him and realizes it was a dream. He not only sighs in relief but also knocks on Jerry's mouse hole, thanking him with kisses. Naturally, Jerry is confused, and ends the short shrugging at the camera. 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* A parent may say to a child "Sorry isn't enough" to explain this lesson. The child may need a while to understand it, since we are taught to say sorry when making a mistake.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Psychology Tropes]]

[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]