Despair Event Horizon: Difference between revisions

May be preceded with a [[Hope Spot]], just to really twist the knife. And a [[Downer Ending]] might follow in really dark stories.

 

 

'''IMPORTANT:''' This is about a character losing all hope, not merely getting depressed, upset, or bored.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': [[The Hero]] Kouji almost, ''almost'' crossed it during the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness movie. After several Mykene Warrior Monsters have easily destroyed four major cities (Paris, London, New York and Moscow) they strike Tokyo. He launches Mazinger-Z to fight them... and he barely walks out of it alive. The Warrior Monsters easily rip his mecha apart and turn Tokyo into burning ruins as he is unable make anything to stop them. Back in the [[Home Base]], he learns MORE Warrior Monsters have visited while he was away. His [[Home Base]] are in ruins, [[Love Interest]] Sayaka and [[Vitriolic Best Bud|victriolic best friend]] Boss' [[Humongous Mecha]]s have been destroyed, and worst of all, his little brother Shirou got hurt cause collapsing ceiling and is in coma. Later, Kouji was sitting on -the remains of- his room, and he cried as he said he knew he could not win and he was going to die in the next battle; poor Sayaka, who was eavesdropping, also cried as hearing him.

** It was way, WAY worse in one of the first chapters of ''[[Shin Mazinger Zero]]'', where he '''did''' fully cross it. Straight after {{spoiler|seeing his grandfather murdering his father and murdering Sayaka after raping her, and losing one of his arms}} he was thrust in Mazinger-Z and his body absorbed by the machine. Turned into a raging [[The Berserker]], he began fighting Mechanical Beasts in spite of he not even knew what they were or whence they came, and his negative emotions -pain, rage, despair, sadness, loneliness- fed Mazinger-Z until {{spoiler|its sleeping consciousness woke up, transformed into an [[Eldritch Abomination]] by poor Kouji's despair, and it burnt the world to ashes.}}

* In ''[[Monster]]'', Johann gains power over people by pushing them over the line, putting them completely under his control.

* ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'': This is the entire point of the series. Li'l Slugger comes to those who have reached this point.

* Suzaku Kururugi in ''[[Code Geass]]'' crosses this twice. First, when {{spoiler|his girlfriend Euphemia died in the worst way possible}}. Later, when he {{spoiler|nukes Tokyo under the influence of Geass}}. For all his loathing of the wrong means, he realizes that it's impossible for him to live according to his ideals.

** Lelouch was already sitting on the fence after {{spoiler|[[Spoiled Sweet|Shirley]] died in his arms and [[Sugar and Ice Personality|C.C.]] lost her memories}}, but he only crosses it once and for all after {{spoiler|his attempt at rescuing [[Ill Girl|Nunnally]] [[No One Could Survive That|seemingly gets her killed]], the Black Knights betray him, and he just barely survives thanks to Rolo's [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}} This leads a [[Do Not Go Gentle]] moment : "If anyone wishes to stop me, let them try. If there is anyone who can go beyond my despair...!". With matching [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYCXO1m8NNI soundtrack]!

** Kiba suffers [[Tear Jerker|a heartbreaking one]] as well. {{spoiler|After fighting an epic battle with the [[Big Bad]] for Cheza's safety, [[Interspecies Romance|his humanoid flower/girlfriend,]] and reason for living, ''disintegrates into millions of seeds in his own hands.'' [[Heroic BSOD|He never gets over it,]] and dies shortly after. [[Last of His Kind|He's also the last thing on earth to die.]]}}

* In ''[[Black Butler]]'', Ciel eventually reached this point after he was captured following his parent's murders.

** In the manga, {{spoiler|Negi's mother Arika}} found herself on the edge of it when {{spoiler|she was about to be executed under false charges of murder and treason, as well for taking the blame for Asuna's [[Anti-Magic]] powers going haywire and plummeting a [[Floating Continent]] to the ground}}.

* Sasame reaches this point in ''[[Prétear]]'' when he realizes that {{spoiler|no matter how much he tries to reason with Takako, she can't come back from the dark side. [[Face Heel Turn|So he joins her instead]].}} It doesn't help that she nearly killed him during a battle.

** One could say that the Despair Event Horizon is the ''fighting style'' of the {{spoiler|Anti-Spiral}}. His goal in battle is to eliminate the opponent's Spiral Power, which is defined as (among other things) fighting spirit and the will to live. As such, he intentionally fights just beyond his opponent's ability, and repeatedly gives them [[Hope Spot]]s, only to cruelly crush their hopes at the last second, with the goal of crushing their will to fight altogether.

* Flit Asuno from ''[[Gundam AGE]]'' wants to finish the fight against the UE so he could return to the Minsry Colony to live a peaceful life with [[Love Interest|Yurin]] [[Shrinking Violet|L'Ciel.]] {{spoiler|And then [[Enfante Terrible|Desil]] forces her to fight for his side '''and''' brutally kills her near Ambat, and Flit loses it completely. This drives him to become a savior not for mankind, [[Dark Messiah|but for the corrupt Earth Federal Forces.]]}}

* {{spoiler|Tsubaki Kasugano aka the 6th}} in ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' crosses this in her backstory, after {{spoiler|she loses the [[Tragic Keepsake]] that kept her somewhat sane after being used as a sex slave by a [[Religion of Evil]].}} By the time we meet her, she's a full-blown [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]].

* Yomi from ''[[Ga-Rei Zero]]''. {{spoiler|Yomi's adoptive father his killed by her Seishouseki-mind-controlled adoptive [[The Rival|cousin]], the cousin takes what was supposed to be her place as the family head and her inheritance, then lures her to a fight. When the cousin admits killing Yomi's father, she goes [[Berserk Button|berserk]] and kills her. Then [[Manipulative Bastard|Mitogawa]] attacks Yomi, rendering her quadriplegic and mute, and she is accused of murdering her cousin. Her fiancee Noriyuki is too busy trying to prove her innocence to visit her in the hospital, his father breaks off their [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]] because of her physical condition, and her best friend Kagura abandons her after she admits to killing her cousin. Then Mitogawa gives her the same Seishouseki, which heals her but its mind-control powers provide the extra push to send her [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]] and killing her former friends.}} Her Despair Event Horizon is such a [[Tear Jerker]] that even after crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]] she is still a sympathetic [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]].

* In ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'', Horo crosses this line early in season 2, after learning that {{spoiler|her hometown is likely gone, and has been for centuries}}. Cue breakdown.

* In ''[[Spiral]]'', Kanone Hilbert crosses this upon realizing that the Blade Children can never be saved. His reaction is trying to kill as many of them as he can - including all of his friends ( {{spoiler|and half-siblings}}) and himself. After he is stopped, he doesn't cross back to the other side of the line: in the anime, he just leaves the country, still sulking; in the manga, the way he finally finds to "save" himself is {{spoiler|to have a meaningful death, which will give hope to the other [[Bla Chil]] and Ayumu}}.

** {{spoiler|Prince Dios and his younger sister}} also crossed this in their backstories, which is what shaped them into {{spoiler|Akio Ohtori the [[Magnificent Bastard]] and Anthy Himemiya the Rose Bride.}}

* Once upon a time, there was a German boy named [[Shaman King|Faust]] (who was a descendant [[Faust|of]] ''[[Faust|that]]'' [[Faust]], by the way). He had a [[Victorious Childhood Friend]] named Elisa, a sweet and cute [[Ill Girl]]. Faust became a doctor and worked hard to develop a cure; after many years of research, he finally created the perfect medicine for her, and when she recovered they got [[Happily Married]]... [[Deus Angst Machina|and then she was shot to death by a thug.]] The despaired Faust began researching about necromancy to find a way to properly revive Eliza, but only managed to become a Shaman and have her as his spirit partner. Needless to say, [[It Got Worse]]...and specially for Faust's rivals.

** 5th Espada Nnoitra Jiruga hit this at some point in the past and just kept on going. He's convinced that all of the Hollows are damned and that they might as well act like it. "None of us is finding redemption Nel."

** As of the X-Cution arc, {{spoiler|Tsukishima}} seems to actively want to make {{spoiler|Ichigo}} cross it. What's his method? {{spoiler|Modifying his family and friends' memories, which renders Ichigo desperate since they're his reason to fight... and yet they're defending Tsuki and believe that their dear Ichigo somehow has gone mad. it takes a MASSIVE gambit from Urahara, Isshin, and several Shinigamis to fix him.}}

* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' is about {{spoiler|young girls that approach this as they become Magical Girls, fight Witches and see how their lives are torn as a consequence, thus being very likely to become Witches themselves.}} The most straight up example is {{spoiler|Sayaka Miki, who as of episode 8 crossed this due to both her romantic woes ''and'' the side-effects of Witch fighting, and becomes a witch.}}

** Another good example is {{spoiler|Mami Tomoe in the third timeline. Learning the [[Awful Truth]] did ''not'' mix up well with her issues on loneliness and abandonment and, after seeing Sayaka turn into a witch and having to be killed by the group, she freaked out majorly: she then killed Kyouko by destroying her Soul Gem and was about to do the same to Homura (And presumably to Madoka, before eventually killing herself), so Madoka had to mercy kill her and put her out of her misery - almost crossing it herself in the process, but she manages to come back. And then she dies.}}

** {{spoiler|Kyoko's [[Jerkass]]ery in her first few episodes is revealed in episode 7 to be a case of despair event horizon crossed. The [[Pater Familicide]] she alone survived pushed her over in nothing flat... or did it? All hope she had before that incident gets promptly restored after Kyubey lets slip the [[Awful Truth]], thus inverting Mami's situation in the third timeline on its head.}}

* The ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica|Madoka]]'' sort-of [[Alternate Universe]] ''[[Oriko Magica]]'' plays this straight ''and'' subverts it:

** Subverted: {{spoiler|When Kyoko, Yuma and Mami witness Kirika's transformation into a witch and learn about the [[Awful Truth]], they're very broken and almost give up. ''Almost'', because Yuma goes [[Plucky Girl]] and gives the others a [[Rousing Speech]]. Mami and Kyoko regain their spirits, and they decide to fight on. [[Foregone Conclusion|And then Madoka dies at the hands of Oriko, so Homura resets time to start all over again]].}}

* ''[[Animal X]]'': Yuuji crosses the Despair Event Horizon when he finds out what happened to his first child: she was subjected to vivisection, died, and then her remains were kept on ice in a research facility. After that, Yuuji is quietly broken and makes remarks that show that he's reached a point where he doesn't much care if he lives or dies.

* {{spoiler|Ken Hidaka}} and {{spoiler|Youji Kudou}} from ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' end up crossing this horizon at different times. The first does it when {{spoiler|he realizes that he's become a textbook [[Ax Crazy]] [[Blood Knight]], actually ''asking'' to be locked up in jail to try calming himself down}}; the second hits it in ''Gluhen'', when {{spoiler|his [[Honey Trap]] work takes way too much of a toll on his mind.}}

** Also, {{spoiler|Omi/Mamoru's mother Kikuno}} reached it in the backstory. {{spoiler|Her husband Reiji, aware that little Mamoru was an [[Heroic Bastard]] fathered by his younger brother Shuichi, refuses to pay the ransom for a kidnapped Mamoru and the little kid was soon believed to be dead. Kikuno, already unstable for being trapped in a loveless [[Arranged Marriage]] that [[Star-Crossed Lovers|separated her from her beloved Shuichi]], commited suicide soon afterwards.}}

* Jose in ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]'' crosses it when he loses an eye in a botched attempt to kill the terrorist who killed [[Dead Little Sister|Enrica]], and cyborg girl Henrietta is reset to factory settings, destroying her personality so she'll never be able to take Enrica's place. By the nuclear power plant strike, Jose was so far beyond the Despair Event Horizon that {{spoiler|after getting fragged, he has Henrietta finish the job and, as she does so, [[Taking You with Me|shoots her in the eye, killing her]].}}

* Most of the main plot of ''[[Trigun]]'' that made it into the anime (the manga had all this backstory stuff and Knives going [[One-Winged Angel]] and staying that way for over a year while he slowly killed off the human race) was a [[Break the Cutie]]-slash-Break the Stoic plot aimed at pushing [[The Messiah|Vash]] over this, probably in hopes of inducing [[Face Heel Turn]], but possibly just to punish him for being a disloyal brother. It works insofar as he is pushed past his (admittedly impressive) limits on a couple of occasions, which variously result in a [[Ten-Minute Retirement|two year retirement]] and [[Heroic BSOD|brief catatonia]].

** ''YYH'' is just littered with this. One guy's Despair Event Horizon made him choose to be eaten alive. Another guy made him sink totally into videogames. Someone decided to restore their youth and be mocked and killed by their lover. It's one series where you really have to be strict on which one is a Despair Event Horizon and which one is just a Despair Power-up Horizon even Power-ups that include being killed/turned into an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. The villains are also notorious for being pitiful of anyone who could surpass their Despair Event Horizon and would kill people who have lost all hope. Then ''YYH'' would avert this trope and this was lampshaded by one of Older Toguro's stories about Younger Toguro where he still killed his opponents despite them overcoming their Despair Event Horizon.

 

* A Villain Protagonist equivalent (though more an Anti-Hero by this point) with Jackie Estacado of ''[[The Darkness]]'', he can handle the mob life, the killing and the people trying to kill him but after he {{spoiler|realises what a scumbag Uncle Frankie is and offers to testify against him Uncle Frankie responds by killing Jenny}}, of course the Character Development between the two at this point takes hold and the only 'rational' way for Jackie to get revenge is by {{spoiler|blowing himself, Frankie and Frankie's mob straight to hell in a flaming Inferno}}. Of course, YMMV.

* A curious [[Anti-Hero]] version occurs in ''[[Kingdom Come]]''; throughout the story, Superman is wary of encountering Magog, the [[Nineties Anti-Hero]] who in many ways replaced him in the public's regard, until he and the rest of the Justice League encounter him in the ruins of Kansas... only to discover a broken man torn apart by guilt and anguish over [[My God, What Have I Done?|his actions]] and the disastrous consequences they resulted in.

{{quote|''Proud?'' '''Proud?!''' '''''Proud''''' ''of being the Man of Tomorrow?!?''}}

** The Comedian is a straighter example: When he discovers that reality is actually [[It Got Worse|much worse]] than his dark parody of it, he breaks into Moloch's apartment to tell him about it, but the Comedian's already so far beyond the [[Moral Event Horizon|point of no return]] that he only manages to confess to his sins before he [[Lampshade Hanging|realizes how ridiculous it is]] that his nemesis is the closest thing to a friend that he has.

** Then in ''[[Sinestro Corps War]]'', Sinestro declares his intention to invoke this in Earth's population by razing Coast City ''again''. But this time it's defied, as those who did live there, when warned of the coming danger, refused to evacuate and instead shined green lights out their windows in support of the Green Lanterns. This show of courage ended up having the exact opposite effect from what Sinestro wanted.

** In "The Secret of the Indigo Tribe", Hal meets Natromo, one of the creators of the eponymous Indigo Tribe. Natromo explains how he and Abin Sur created the tribe both in preparation for the [[Blackest Night]] and {{spoiler|as a test run for the Indigo Rings, which were planned to be used against the Guardians of the Universe when they come to destroy the tribe}}. When Hal informs Natromo that [[Posthumous Character|Abin Sur is dead]], Natromo declares that there's no chance in {{spoiler|defeating the Guardians}}, and {{spoiler|destroys the tribe's Central Power Battery, not only deactivating the Indigo Rings, but also releasing the tribe from their influence. In other words, [[Oh Crap|he undid the entire tribe's]] [[Heel Face Brainwashing]]}}.

* [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] after [[Captain America (comics)|Steve Rogers]] is [[It Got Worse|killed]] at the end of ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]''. He suffers a [[Heroic BSOD]] over Steve's death, and it also makes him [[Death Seeker|even more reckless with his life]] than he's been [[Trauma Conga Line|in almost his entire history]].

* In ''[[Secret Warriors]] #24'', badass super-agent [[Nick Fury]] finally breaks {{spoiler|after he has let ''two'' teams of young agents die on his watch. Even worse, the second team was led by his ''own son'' Mikel Fury.}} While standing at the graves of the {{spoiler|second}} team, the agents of the Russian spy organization Leviathan come for him. He doesn't even try to resist.

 

* In ''[[Aeon Natum Engel]]'' many people cross the horizon when the Migou sends their ACTUAL Warships (those Swarm ships that is nearly equal to standard NEG Ship? A mere gunboat by Migou Standards), and then the Migou themselves cross this line when Moloch shows up.

* In the ''[[Oneiroi Series]]'', Redcloak rockets past it when {{spoiler|his insane daughter rapes and kills him}}.

* Too many to count in ''[[The Unity Saga]]''. In fact, the Empire systematically imposes these on a number of Starfleet officers and others.

* So many characters in ''[[Bleach]]'' fic [[Winter War]] have either [[My God, What Have I Done?|crossed the line]] or are [[Break the Cutie|dangerously close]], it's almost impossible to keep track. [[Tear Jerker|Far too understandable]], given the [[Trauma Conga Line]] that is [[Crapsack World|their world]].

 

* In ''[[Braveheart]]'', this trope hits William Wallace after he found out one of the Scottish nobles he trusted betrayed him. His anger immediately turned into distress and he seemed to simply give up, which also later caused the noble to suffer from [[My God, What Have I Done?]].

* Perhaps the most [[Tear Jerker|heartwrenching example]] of this trope is the focus of ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'', in which [[Jimmy Stewart]]'s entire life is a spiral of quiet desperation which is slowly winding him up...until he finally SNAPS. And it is terrifying.

* In ''[[Cloverfield]]'', right after the main character's brother dies on the bridge, you can see the exact moment that his mind breaks and self preservation stops mattering.

* ''[[Gettysburg]]'' showed General George Pickett cross this after the failure of his charge.

* The President of the United States in ''[[Mars Attacks!]]'' has apparently crossed this line by the time he finally gives in to his General's request to fight back against the Martians using nuclear weapons.

* In ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'', Private Gomer Pyle is driven into a psychotic breakdown both by the original [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]], Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, and by the rest of his platoon, which ultimately leads to {{spoiler|Hartman's murder and his own suicide}}. The moment when Pyle hit the Despair Event Horizon was probably when {{spoiler|Hartman found a jelly doughnut in his foot locker just when things were starting to go well for him and proceeded to punish the entire platoon for it, which was then followed by the platoon taking it out on Pyle in the harrowing "blanket party" scene}}.

* In the spirit of one-upmanship and outdoing the rest of this list, ''[[A Serbian Film]]'' has Milos have one after learning that {{spoiler|he was drugged and made to rape and kill people, including his own son, he was raped himself, and all of it was filmed for a snuff director's entertainment}} after which we get a [[Shower of Angst]] shot with him in the fetal position in the shower. Eventually this leads to him killing himself.

* The flashback scene in ''[[Tron: Legacy]]''. Clu takes over, the Sea of Simulation is poisoned so no more life can come from it, Tron is {{spoiler|thought dead, but it's ''[[Fate Worse Than Death|much]]'' ''[[Reforged Into a Minion|worse]]''}}, the Iso Cities are destroyed, and the portal back to the human world flickers out. The brash and cheerful protagonist for the first film clearly died at that point, leaving behind a hollowed-out [[Zen Survivor]].

* In ''[[Black Death (film)|Black Death]]'', {{spoiler|Osmund}} certainly suffers one of these as a result of his journey.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Otherland]]'', the suffering endured by the Other, the quasi-AI operating system of the titular network, comes to a peak after [[Psycho for Hire]] Dread takes over the system, torturing it to the point where it gives up all hope of preserving itself or its secret, and instead hatches a plot to [[Driven to Suicide|destroy itself]] [[Taking You with Me|along with all of its tormentors]].

* In ''Use of Weapons'', happens in a rather nasty way to {{spoiler|the original Cheradenine in one of the flashback chapters when he discovers what Elethiomel did to his sister, complete with [[Title Drop]] for emphasis. It's strongly hinted that the same happened to Elethiomel as well which led to him becoming [[The Atoner]] and thus the events of the rest of the book.}}

* Kiritsugu Emiya from ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' suffered from this in his backstory. Similar to [[Fate/stay night|Archer]], he was driven to despair by his ideals because he kept getting betrayed by them.

* ''[[Darkness Visible]]'' has two notable examples. Most importantly, this is the reason why {{spoiler|the leader of the Dark Tide is trying to end the world. He crossed the event horizon when his wife died. Badly.}} Lewis crosses his own despair event horizon {{spoiler|in Hyde Park, when he realises that he will never survive the mental strain of closing all the rogue Thresholds. Being [[Stiff Upper Lip|British]], he gets on with it regardless, but quite without hope for his own survival. It is only thanks to [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Marsh]] getting him to a doctor immediately after his collapse that he lives.}}

* [[Ciaphas Cain]] ('''[[Warhammer 40,000|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]''') ends up fighting a [[Deal with the Devil|witch]] who ''[[Emotion Bomb|weaponizes this]]''—simply meeting [[Creepy Child|the boy's]] eyes leaves a ''priest'' writhing and screaming. Cain himself ends up [[Heroic Willpower|fighting to stay sane]] from an onset of [[Religious Horror]] until [[Power Nullifier|Jurgen's aura]] gets in range.

 

 

{{quote|''Goodbye cruel world,

''I'm leaving you today.

* [[Radiohead]] seem to have built their whole career on this.

 

* [[Played for Laughs]] in the [[Riff Trax]] of ''Twilight''. Two girls are having a discussion in the high school's cafeteria, when one mentions, "We're talking Olympic sized." Mike Nelson is right on top of it, chiming in, "High school girls discussing [[Biggus Dickus|wang sizes]]. We have officially hit rock bottom, gentlemen."

** And in the 'Trax for the ''[[Star Wars Holiday Special]]'', while watching Harvey Korman debase himself in a miserably unfunny sketch, Mike sighs and says, "Well, Nietzsche was right; dead as a doornail."

 

 

* [[Bret Hart]]'s [[Face Heel Turn|heel turn]] and reformation of the Hart Foundation was largely based on his growing disapproval of America's failing [[Real Life Writes the Plot|family]] [[Values Dissonance|values]] in the wake of Steve Austin's new wave of popularity. It got worse when Shawn Michaels and HHH formed D-Generation X.

* Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs took each other down all because of Lacey. Aries persuaded Lacey to leave her boyfriend and the Age of the Fall, only to have Jacobs lose even more of his mind and take Lacey out of ROH for good.

** The real damage to Aries was done after he won the feud with Jimmy Jacobs and moved on to Age of the Fall Lieutenant Tyler Black. The fans began to get behind Black after a series of matches against Nigel McGuinness and [[Bryan Danielson]] to the point where some of them began to boo A-Double.

 

* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''

** This is the Chaos God Nurgle's ''modus operandi'': prey upon those who have succumbed to despair and cynicism, especially if this anguish comes from a [[Plaguemaster|hideously-disfiguring disease]]. His victims wallow in self-pity until they fully embrace decay and entropy, find themselves perversely enjoying the experience, and begin worshiping him. In other words, through Father Nurgle you can fall past the Despair Event Horizon and end up [[Affably Evil]].

** In ''[[Changeling: The Lost]]'', crossing the despair event horizon is {{spoiler|the reproductive cycle of the True Fae.}}

 

* {{spoiler|Oersted}} in ''[[Live a Live]]''. {{spoiler|After being tricked, he finds that everyone has now abandoned him and considers him a demon, his only remaining ally is dragged away to be tortured, and is blamed for the death of said ally who expends the last of his power to set Oersted free. Oh, then he finds out that his best friend betrayed him to this fate because he was jealous. Oh, and the 'Aesop' which has been so far in the game? "Don't lose hope as long as somebody believes in you". That went ''[[Sarcasm Mode|well]]''. The last person who he hoped believed in him, the princess? After Oersted duels his traitorous friend and kills him, she asks why he didn't come to rescue her (''ouch''. He ''did''. Straybow only got there first by faking his death and ruining Oersted's life), declares that she loves said traitor, and ''kills herself''. That was the absolute last straw, the severing of his last tenuous tie to sanity.}}

* After {{spoiler|spending a year in coma and seeing the destruction of the world firsthand, Cid's death}} in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' proves to be {{spoiler|Celes'}} final straw, {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide|driving her to toss herself off a cliff]]. She survives by a miracle, and seeing Locke's bandanna tied around a pigeon's wing gives her a new reason to live.}} [[Guide Dang It|This event can be prevented]] by successfully playing a [[Mini Game]], but the path of failure is much better written.<ref>The developers seem to think so too, because the 'right thing' to do is willfully obscure, and the remainder of the plot tacitly assumes the character is dead.</ref>

** Earlier on, Keisuke, already destabilized by a whole childhood of witnessing and suffering bullying, finally snaps when he sees Midori being nearly lunched to death to the people she was trying to save.He spends the following days going [[Knight Templar]] and killing anyone that commits any kind of injustice.

* Kratos from ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'', when Athena tells him that {{spoiler|though they implied they would do so, they never actually said they'd let him forget killing his family. They only promised to forgive him.}}

* Before ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'' starts, Angel crossed this when {{spoiler|her boyfriend died in her arms from injuries sustained in a terrorist attack on his hospital, all due to fear of the new, possibly not even infectious disease she'd been working on finding a cure for.}}

* ''[[Breath of Fire]] IV'' has this in spades.

* Happens many, MANY times in the [[Fire Emblem]] franchise:

** ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Seisen no Keifu]]'': {{spoiler|Lord Sigurd}} can [[Iron Woobie|hold himself up]] as well as possible when {{spoiler|his wife Diadora is kidnapped, his father Byron is falsely accused of threason and dies, ''he'' himself is accused of treason, and bth his sister Ethlin and her husband/Sigurd's [[Lancer]] Cuan are murdered.}} However, the moment he sees that {{spoiler|his kidnapped wife was actually [[Hypnotize the Princess|mindwiped]] into marrying Alvis, who once was his sort-of ally}}, he can only scream in utter horror and betrayal {{spoiler|right before Alvis himself burns him to death, and Sigurd's army is decimated shortly afterwards.}}

** [[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Thracia 776]]: {{spoiler|Evayle}} once was close to this horizon. So much that whatever happened to her ( {{spoiler|the Basttle of Barhera}}), robbed her not only of {{spoiler|her husband and children}}, but of {{spoiler|her memories of having ever been Bridget, the lost princess of Jungby and a member of Sigurd's troops.}} Much to our relief, at the end of the game we learn that {{spoiler|some years after the second war of Grandbell, she recovered her memories and reunited with Patty and Faval.}}

*** Olwen and {{spoiler|Misha}} also were pretty close to it, once they learned about {{spoiler|the horrifying child hunts conducted by the Grandbellian empire.}} They both pulled through it via [[Heel Face Turn]]s.

*** {{spoiler|Renault}} ''did'' cross it several years ago, when {{spoiler|his partner and best friend was killed in battle.}} He was so utterly shattered that {{spoiler|he threw himself into battle blindly (and killed Lucius's dad in the process) and collaborated with Nergal in hopes to have his friend revived, among other things. He recovered a part of his sanity, however, and became [[The Atoner]] in the end.}}

*** Don't forget {{spoiler|Harken}}, an [[The Ace|Ace]] who was [[Broken Hero|throughly]] [[Broken Ace|broken]] after being {{spoiler|the [[Sole Survivor]] of Lord Elbert's decimated crew.}} We meet him as a powerful enemy whom the {{spoiler|Pherae}} charas must recruit as soon as possible [[Death Seeker|lest he fights them to death]], and his supports reveal how the horrors he witnessed and the helplessness he felt drove him into becoming an [[Empty Shell]] of the man he once was. For worse, some other supports (pecifically, with {{spoiler|marcus}} heavily imply that he had severe self-esteem {{spoiler|and abuse/abandonment}} issues ''before'' the whole [[Break the Cutie]] deal.

** ''[[Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones]]'': {{spoiler|Prince Lyon}} never was the most self-assured person, despite his [[Badass Bookworm]] status and being {{spoiler|the Imperial Prince of Grado.}} (His [[Ill Boy|weak health]] didn't help either.) But then his beloved father and idol {{spoiler|Emperor Vigarde}} died of illness, so the poor guy's mental health took a BIG nosedive. And soon, [[It Got Worse]].

* ''[[Persona 2]]'''s [[Complete Monster|Nyarlathotep]] actively attempts to force ''everyone'' in the game who raises a hand against him over the edge. [[Eldritch Abomination]] + [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|A Form To Actively Horrify You]] + [[Hannibal Lecture]] + [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] = this trope. Of course, the heroes' actions might [[Dare to Be Badass|make all]] [[Shut UP, Hannibal|his]] [[Talk to the Fist|effort]] worthless...

* In ''[[Dante's Inferno (video game)|Dantes Inferno]]'', Dante's will is steadily broken as he goes deeper in Hell and he is forced to face the many sins he committed in life. When a corrupted Beatrice calls him out on his misdeeds and betrayal of her trust, he falls to his knees and gives up on trying to redeem himself, deciding that he deserves to be trapped in Hell.

* In ''[[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]]'', Gabriel crosses it right after a moment of utter triumph {{spoiler|when he ''kicks Satan's ass''}} when he sees that {{spoiler|Marie is about to leave for the afterlife forever and that he cannot go with her.}} Realizing that the hope he believed in was hollow, Gabriel collapses and cries silently. {{spoiler|Even centuries later, he has not recovered. As the immortal Dracula, all he does is hide in shadows while longing for a death that may never come.}}

* Shadow the Hedgehog can fall into this during certain endings of his [[Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)|titular videogame]] (i.e. discovering he is an android, believing he is an experiment gone wrong). However, other endings he'll completely avert it. Ironically, no matter what happens, he will always end the story by saying "This is who I am."

* Gerald Robotnik crosses this ''hard'' in the Last Story of ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' when he finds out about {{spoiler|Maria's death}}.

 

* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' has a couple of primary examples:

** In the backstory, {{spoiler|Kotomine}} crossed the Despair Event Horizon after the death of his wife, abandoning his attempt at living a 'good' life and fully embracing the fact that he can only feel happy through hurting others.

* Junpei goes through this in most of the [[Multiple Endings|Bad Endings]] of ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors]]'', but none more so than in the [[Kill'Em All|"Submarine Ending,"]] right before {{spoiler|he gets killed.}}

 

* In ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'', an ''[[Exalted]]'' webcomic, this is canonically how Abyssal Exalted get created, as shown in Renegade Deathknight Secret's backstory flashback. Her entire village is killed by a demonic plague, she's deathly ill, and just as she's given up all hope of living, the Neverborn show up and offers her Exaltation in exchange for servitude.

* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', Lucy when {{spoiler|she thought Mike died}} and shortly after, when {{spoiler|she finally confessed her love for him and he rejected her.}} The first one came with [[Dissonant Laughter]].

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has Vaarsuvius crossing the line after realizing the true extent of his/her earlier [[Moral Event Horizon]].

* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', Claire's [[Dark and Troubled Past]] has brought her to the state that she does not even care that the villagers, looking for [[The Scapegoat]], will [[Burn the Witch]] because they think she killed her children.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'', {{spoiler|Dr. Horrible crosses the Despair Event Horizon after his death ray backfires in Captain Hammer's hands and the shrapnel kills Penny}}.

* Happens a '''lot''' in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', more often than not later in the game, but given the [[There Can Only Be One|premise]], is it really that surprising?

* Happens to cup in [[Channel 101]]'s "2 girls, 1 cup the show". Unlike most of the cases in this page, the result is hilarious.

* Oancitizen of ''[[Brows Held High]]'' is driven to this in his ''[[Ken Park]]'' review. [[Hilarity Ensues|Genocide ensues.]]

{{quote|"But yeah, I was expecting to look down there and see this giant eyeball looking up at me, angry at me because I blew off its eyelashes or something, then the whole building starts shaking and I guess I'd… ball up and ''cry'', because what do you do when something that big wants to kill you?"}}

 

* An Alternate Universe in ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' showed a demoralized Supes enslaving Metropolis alongside Lex Luthor because he [[My Greatest Failure|couldn't save Lois Lane from a car bomb]].

** Similarly, in ''[[Justice League]]'', {{spoiler|Flash's execution by President Luthor}} led to another alternate universe's Justice League becoming the [[Knight Templar|Justice Lords]].

* Twilight Sparkle in the pilot episode and season 2 premiere of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''.

* During the [[Time Skip]] in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', {{spoiler|Aqualad}} went through this when {{spoiler|Tulla, the girl he loved, died during a mission with the team as Aquagirl and when he discovered Black Manta was his biological father and that Aquaman knew and hid it from him.}} Feeling betrayed by ''everyone'' in his life, he went to the only place he felt he could belong: {{spoiler|at his father Black Manta's side.}}

 

== [[Real Life]] ==