Survivor Guilt: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''There's a grief that can't be spoken.

''There's a pain goes on and on.

''Empty chairs at empty tables

 

[[Living Relic|You might be]] the [[Last of His Kind|Last Of Your Kind]] or someone else made a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] for you but whatever the reason, you're going to feel a massive sense of guilt. An easy way to generate [[Wangst]]. Expect this to occur when the [[Mary Sue]] dies or a [[Crusading Widower|husband survives the death of his family]]. Practically a guarantee in cases of [[Death by Childbirth]].

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Shinji from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' suffers from this after {{spoiler|killing Kaworu}}, which helps trigger the [[Mind Screw]] of the [[Gainax Ending]].

* Fai from ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' was the last survivor of not one but ''two'' destroyed worlds, to say nothing of {{spoiler|his twin brother sacrificing his life so that Fai could be free of the magical prison they were both trapped in. Neither the first destroyed world nor the death of his brother was actually his fault, but everybody blamed it on him anyway. By the time the second world rolled around he was perfectly capable of blaming himself without anybody else's help}}.

* The writer of ''[[Grave of the Fireflies]]'' must've felt this way because, in [[Real Life]], Setsuko was the only one who died. {{spoiler|In the book he wrote and the film, Seita dies as well; [[Tear Jerker|showing the writers remorse that he hadn't died along with his little sister...]]}}

** {{spoiler|Kotomi's situation}} also fits this trope and narrowly skirts the edges of [[Deus Angst Machina]]; her parents died in a plane crash when she was very young, right after she had a fit and told them (untruthfully) that she hated them. And then she burned up an extremely important document, the only remaining copy of the last thing her parents wrote, in an attempt to bring them back. She becomes obsessed with her parents' death, and tries for years to reproduce the document, but never manages to; and she has trouble making friends because she's secretly terrified that she might make some other mistake and cause their deaths, too. She improves, though, when she learns that {{spoiler|the thing she incinerated was a teddy bear catalog, and that her parents managed to mail her a teddy bear ''from the crashed airplane'', because [[Heartwarming Moments|it was the only thing she'd ever asked them for.]]}}

* A large portion of the cast of characters in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' fit this trope.

** Izumi (more so in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]]), in regards to {{spoiler|her dead child, who she thinks died ''twice'' because of her actions}}.

* Gohan and Krillin both suffer this in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' after all their comrades are killed in the battle with the Saiyans.

* ''[[Ranma ½]]'': One of the reasons why Ranma angsts about Akane [[Disney Death|dying]]. She dies twice, right after saving Ranma's life each time.

{{quote|'''Ranma:''' It would have been better if it were me. You should have let me die, but you're always butting in... Why did you have to get involved? Damn, Akane. You fool. Why didn't you let me go?}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* Speaking of ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', Magog blames himself for the obliteration of millions. Mind, it IS his fault, but seeing the Cable Expy have a BSOD was a little surprising.

* ''[[Smax]]'' from ''[[Top Ten]]''. The entire reason he left his home, and went as far away as Precinct 10, was that he couldn't save a little girl from a dragon. Her handprint was permanently burned onto his chest, which didn't exactly help matters.

* [[Marvel Universe|Speedball]]'s survivor guilt (plus shrapnel embedded in his spine) over his being the only one of his teammates to survive the Stamford explosion is responsible for his transformation into Penance.

* [[Superman]] has been accused of constantly doing good works partly because he feels guilty for being the last survivor of his entire planet. The extent of this varies on the character's portrayal. The [[Silver Age|Pre Crisis]] Superman left Krypton as a toddler and had total recall, so he could remember his childhood home very clearly and always felt horrible about what happened to it. The [[Post-Crisis]] John Byrne version had no memory of Krypton, and when he finally learned about it, it turned out to be a dystopia that wasn't worth missing. However, in most incarnation there ''are'' other survivors, such as Supergirl and the inhabitants of the Phantom Zone.

{{quote|"...my never-ending battle with the forces of malice is actually my id and ego clashing with my superego's need for nurturing, matched by an inner struggle with the guilt of being the only survivor of a doomed race!"}}

* Some versions of [[Batman]] have him as a victim of lifelong survivor's guilt from childhood for surviving his parent's murder as if he failed them in some way.

* The main reason why [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]' Beast Boy is constantly joking and acting like a class clown? He's got a massive case of this; cracking jokes is how he stays anything remotely sane. ''Terror of Trigon'' made hay out of this by having him hallucinate an [[Evil Counterpart]] that was ripping the hearts out of and then ''[[I'm a Humanitarian|eating]]'' his friends and family.

* Depending on the writer, ''[[X-Men]]'''s Emma Frost sometimes exhibits varying degrees of mild depression to full on psychotic behavior for being the sole survivor of the mutant massacre of Genosha.

* In ''[[Fantastic Four]]'''s spin-off ''FF'', The Thing and Franklin Richards are suffering from this after {{spoiler|Johnny Storm died}}, something that shocks [[Spider-Man]] when he becomes a member of the team, mostly because Ben Grimm is deathly serious..

* In ''Ultimate Fallout: {{spoiler|Spider-Man No More}}'', [[The Ultimates]] are hit with this hard over {{spoiler|death of [[Ultimate Spider-Man|Spider-Man]]}}: Tony Stark gives {{spoiler|Aunt May and Gwen Stacy}} a home in Europe to start life away from the tabloids, Nick Fury tells {{spoiler|Mary Jane}} that she has every right to publish the truth and that it was his fault that it happened and, worst of all, {{spoiler|Steve Rogers ''quits'' being Captain America because he gave him [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] ''and he was proven horribly wrong''.}}

 

== Film ==

* The premise of ''[[Ordinary People]]''.

** Similarly a major theme of [[The Big Chill]].

* In ''[[Stand by Me]],'' Gordie has a bit of a case of survivor's guilt over the death of his older brother, not because he was involved in it in any way so much as because he is [[The Unfavorite]] and thinks his parents would prefer it if he'd been the one who died instead of his brother.

* Nicolas Cage's character in ''[[Windtalkers]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[I Am Legend]]''.

** Specific examples from the ''[[X Wing Series]]''. Wedge Antilles has largely, though not entirely, handled this, but it pops up sometimes while he bears [[The Chains of Commanding]] and considers the friends he's sent to their deaths. Kell Tainer has incredible angst over failing to save a wingmate and being [[Medal of Dishonor|honored for the attempt]]. Myn Donos. And Tyria Sarkin is the last of her branch of the Antarian Rangers, sort of semi-Jedi, and she always feels that she's not nearly good enough to live up to them.

* This is the plot of the Lurlene McDaniel book ''The Girl Death Left Behind'', as the main character's family dies in a car wreck (on the 4th of July, no less) and she struggles with the aftermath.

* Septimus in ''Mrs. Dalloway'' watched his friend die in World War I and suffers from hallucinations.

** The Eleventh Doctor also experiences it from time to time. Unless Gallifrey is restored at some point, it's likely that all Post-Time War Doctors will experience it once in awhile.

* Surprisingly well-done in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. Dean's been feeling this since ''Faith'' but it was ramped to 1000 when his father died. Season Two bends and damages him so much that, by the time ''All Hell Breaks Loose'' rolls around, he's been reduced to a broken, martyred little boy who has a pathological need to keep Sam (who, contrary to his and his Dad's belief, is actually a big boy now who might have been at peace) alive.

* Although both Harry and Chakotay survive the destruction of the Voyager in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' (at least in an alternate timeline), only Harry really feels this. Or rather, he represents the external guilt, and Chakotay represents the internal guilt.

** Chakotay and Torres also experience this to varying degrees when they learn that [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|all the Maquis in the Alpha Quadrant have been wiped out]].

** In Garrus' Loyalty Mission in [[Mass Effect 2]], {{spoiler|Sidonis, the man who betrayed Garrus' team is shown to suffer from this. By giving him the chance, he reveals that he wasn't [[The Starscream]], but was forced into doing so by mercenaries and is filled with incredible guilt over his actions. Upon hearing the story, Garrus is unable to execute him, which Sidonis repays by delivering himself to C-Sec.}}

** Han Olar on Noveria, {{spoiler|when asked how he escaped the Rachni, says he "killed her", meaning he closed the tram door on a co-worker and watched her die.}} His letter in [[Mass Effect 2]] also indicates he wished he had died in her place.

** The krogan as a race suffer from this to an extent due to the genophage leaving 99.9% of their young stillborn.

* General Alister Azimuth in ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' {{spoiler|was left in behind by the Lombaxes as punishment for giving Tachyon access to Lombax technology. He is determined to bring them back, even if it means risking the universe}}.

 

 

* Shirou of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', though it only really becomes prominent in UBW when people actively question him about ''why'' he wants to save everyone, if that's what he really wants to do and what he does that he has fun doing. Relevant part of this trope is that he feels guilty about being unable to save anyone else at the fire, had given up and was saved by a fluke when no one else was. He feels he doesn't actually ''deserve'' to have fun and instead what he should be doing is more training that nearly kills him every night.

** Because of that, unlike normal people, Shirou is unable to create his own happiness and feels "happy" only if people around him are also happy. Which leads him always putting the needs of others before his own.

* Hanako of [[Katawa Shoujo]] ''also'' survived a fire at the cost of her family, but for a slightly more... personally traumatic reason than Shirou.

{{quote|{{spoiler|''"The fire happened when I was eight years old. It was night, and I was sleeping when it started. I... curled up into a ball... when the fire swept over me. My mother... tried to shield me. Th-that's the only reason... I lived."''}}}}

 

== Western Animation ==