Tragic Mistake: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', efforts to save the world [[I Did What I Had to Do|at any cost]] seem to backfire whenever a character decides that they're [[The Only One]] who can do so instead of [[The Power of Friendship|relying on friends]].

** In season four, Dean demands Sam dissolve his alliance with the demon Ruby and giving up drinking demon blood to gain the power to defeat Lilith, as per the angels' requests/warnings, or walk out and "not be brothers anymore". Since Dean [[Berserk Button|calls him a monster]] and "closes that door" on him [[Parental Abandonment|just like their father did]], and Sam believes what he's doing is the only way to prevent the Apocalypse, it's more believable how Ruby and the [[Light Is Not Good|angels]] deceive Sam. He becomes Lilith's/Ruby's [[Unwitting Pawn]] and, in his efforts to stop the Apocalypse, [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|unintentionally busts Lucifer out of Hell]] to start [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]].

** In season six, {{spoiler|Castiel}} chooses not to seek Dean's help {{spoiler|in fighting the civil war in Heaven,}} and instead makes a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]], {{spoiler|[[Kick the Dog|breaks Sam's mind]], and [[Moral Event Horizon|kills his angel friends]] so he can gain the power of Purgatory's souls to win the war}} to prevent the Apocalypse from being restarted. ''Then'' he {{spoiler|[[A God Am I|declares himself the new god]].}} In season seven, {{spoiler|[[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|things go downhill from there]] as Castiel's actions unleash [[Eldritch Abomination|unkillable monsters]] on the world.}}

* ''[[Hamlet (Theatre)|Hamlet]]'': The prince learns that Claudius was indeed guilty of murdering his father, and catches Claudius unawares while praying. Instead of avenging his father right there, Hamlet decides that it's not good enough--he wants Claudius to die with unpaid sin on his soul, so killing him in the act of confessing won't do. Hamlet resolves to kill Claudius later. The fallout: Hamlet does attempt to kill Claudius later, during his confrontation with his mother, only he kills Polonius instead by mistake. His death drives Ophelia to madness and death, and angers Laertes enough to challenge Hamlet to a duel--the duel that results in the death of nearly every named character.

* ''[[Macbeth (Theatre)|Macbeth]]'': The title character's point of no return came when he killed King Duncan.

* ''[[Oedipus the King (Theatre)|Oedipus the King]]'' straddles the line between being undone by a fatal flaw and being screwed over by fate. The crime for which he was punished was that he killed his father and married his mother--but due to circumstances completely beyond his control, Oedipus never knew that they were related to him. On the other hand, you could say that this would not have happened if Oedipus had not, in his pride, quarreled with and killed another chariot driver on the road--a chariot driver who ultimately turned out to be Oedipus' father.

* In ''[[Romeo and Juliet (Theatre)|Romeo and Juliet]]'', Romeo's "point of no return" was his killing of Tybalt in vengeance for Mercutio, leading to his banishment from Verona. Granted, Tybalt was a supreme [[Jerkass]] who probably deserved it, but everything still goes to hell for both lovers because of it.

* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Theatretheatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'': Though it's arguable that Sweeney Todd's hesitation in his first attempt to kill Judge Turpin, a la Hamlet, was the point of no return for him, his ''real'' point of no return was {{spoiler|when he killed the Beggar Woman, who he did not know was actually his wife, because he had no time left before the Judge showed up for the second and last time}}.

* In Jules Massenet's opera ''Manon'', the downfall of the eponymous protagonist begins when she [[Death Byby Materialism|chooses to stay with the rich codger]] de Brétigny, instead of going to the convent as planned, or taking the hand of the penniless young hunk des Grieux. Other versions of the ''Manon'' story are similar.

* ''[[Medea (Theatre)|Medea]]'': Though Medea is the protagonist, Jason is the borderline [[Fallen Hero]], victim of his own pride and machismo.

* This is what pushes [[The Dragon|Redcloak]] into [[Anti-Villain]] (or flat-out villain) territory in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'' prequel book ''[[Start of Darkness]]''. {{spoiler|His brother Right-Eye decides that nothing they accomplish working with Xykon is worth his casual slaughter of their own troops, and acquires a weapon that can destroy Xykon despite him being a lich. Redcloak, on the other hand, thinks that it will all have been meaningless if he backs out, and kills Right-Eye. To make matters worse, Xykon reveals that he already knew about Right-Eye's plan and had taken steps to protect himself, but wanted to see what Redcloak would do.}}