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Was It Really Worth It?: Difference between revisions
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|'''GLaDOS''', ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]''}}
[[Alice and Bob|Bob]] takes things too far, either in his quest for power, revenge, or even just to win a battle. After it's all said and done, he or Alice have to ask "'
Note that the question doesn't necessarily even have to be asked, nor must it be after the deed's been done.
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{{endingtrope}}
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Afro Samurai]] Resurrection,'' after Afro kills {{spoiler|Shichigoro in front of his adopted son Kotaku,}} ''the show itself'' compares him to the villain of the first season, with flashbacks to Afro's father being killed. ''Afro'' makes the comparison at the end, {{spoiler|leaving the Number 2 headband in Kotaku's hands with a quiet "Whenever you're ready."}}
* The ending of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' is a great example of this applied to a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. The manga seems to answer: "Yes, it was worth it." The anime ''seems'' to agree with the manga, but acknowledges the severity of {{spoiler|Rosette}}'s sacrifice to a greater extent.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Previously [[Ho Yay/Comic Books|very close]] teammates, the [[Civil War (Comic Book)|last conversation]] between [[Iron Man]] and [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] has the latter in a cell, awaiting trial, and asking the former, "Was it worth it?" Later, an opportunistic villain assassinates Captain America on his way to trial, and Iron Man, confronted with his body, finally answers the question. Was it worth it? [[My God, What Have I Done?|No]]. [[Pyrrhic Victory|No, it was not]].
* ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' ends with {{spoiler|Ozymandias successfully completing his plan to create world peace, but at the price of millions of lives}}. His face, after Dr. Manhattan tells him before leaving the galaxy, "Nothing ends, Adrien. Nothing ever ends," suggests he's asking himself whether it was worth it.
* In a comic by Joakim Pirinen, a young boy has murdered his mother and almost made it look like suicide. The cop investigating asks him, as he is about to be taken away:
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'''Gordon''': If you're asking me "Did the good guys win?" Yes, the good guys won, Batman. But, I won't know if it was worth it for a very long time... }}
== [[Film
* In the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' animated movie, Leo and Raph have a grudge match, in which Leo is the dominant fighter, but Raph breaks his swords when he decides to take it to the line, and Leo is consequently captured not long after.
* Disney's The Rescuers, Penny has gone way too far making herself a diva at certain subjects, so people begin to paralyze her by reporting her, hitting her, and yelling at her.
** What.
* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2]]'', the Soothsayer, [[Big Bad|Lord Shen's]] adviser and [[Parental Substitute]] asks him if, in the end, everything he's done will be worth it. While he says it will, even Lord Shen seems to wonder rather it will be or not.
* The question in ''[[Dogma]]'' "Was Wisconsin ''really'' that bad?", an eternity there as opposed to destroying the entire universe and making war on God to get home.
* The ending of the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' film has the main surviving humans wondering if using the Oxygen Destroyer was worth the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] of {{spoiler|[[Eyepatch of Power|Dr. Serizawa]]}} and worrying that another Godzilla may appear.
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* In ''[[American History X]]'', the words that convince [[Edward Norton]] to stop being a skinhead are, ''"Has anything you've done made your life any better?"''
== [[Literature]] ==
* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]
* In Chris Roberson's ''Imperial Fists'' novel ''Sons of Dorn'', Captain Taelos knows, objectively, that sacrificing the scouts [[We Need a Distraction|as a distraction]] was a sound move, but he finds the cost very bitter.
* In the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Wings of Fire'', Patrick McLanahan says this after the Night Stalkers receive very large paychecks for the mission where {{spoiler|Paul was killed and Wendy went missing.}}
* At the end of [[Douglas Adams]]' ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/The Restaurant At The End of The Universe|The
{{quote|Arthur paused.
'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' he said at last.
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{{quote|For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?}}
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]'' episode "The Christmas Show":
{{quote|Danny Tripp: Was sleeping with him for that information really worth it? }}
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'''The Doctor:''' '''YOUR COLLECTION?!''' Well, was it worth it?! Worth all those men's deaths?! Worth Rose?! }}
* At the end of ''[[Torchwood]]: Children of Earth'', in order to defeat the 456, Captain Jack has to {{spoiler|kill his grandson}}. He can't live with himself afterwards (ironic, given he's immortal) and leaves the Earth.
* In ''[[Babylon 5]]'
{{quote|'''Vir''': "What was it all for, Londo? What was any of it even for?"}}
* The pilot episode of ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' ends with Sheppard asking Weir if the hundred or so people he saved were really worth reawakening the Wraith.
* In ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' Morgana has a [[Dreaming of Things to Come|dream of the far-distant future]], one that implies that both she and Arthur die on the battlefield. She reaches for Merlin standing above her, who asks her: "Is this really what you wanted, Morgana?"
== [[Music]] ==
* [[Eric Bogle]]'s song about the
{{quote|The young people ask what are they marching for, and I ask m'self the same question. }}
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Fable (video game series)|Fable]]'', after you kill Jack of Blades, and have the opportunity to get the Sword of Aeons, your sister gives you a short speech, asking if striking her down would be worth it for the power. It's up to the player whether it is or isn't. {{spoiler|Canonically, you don't kill her. She's the same Theresa as the one in Fable 2}}.
* In Blue's story in ''[[SaGa Frontier]]'', after killing Kylin for the gift for Space magic, Mei-Ling asks "All this for the Gift?" A very valid question, as apparently, Kylin maintains a paradise for all children that exists which gets destroyed on his death.
* ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' has GlaDOS ask "Well, you found me. Congratulations. Was it worth it? Because despite your violent behavior, the only thing you've managed to break so far is my heart." However, she is asking it in the context of attempting to save her own skin (figuratively speaking) from a test subject who has gone [[Off the Rails]] and is trying to destroy her. It isn't until the second game that we find out that Chell's actions may have inadvertently made things much, much worse.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]''. {{spoiler|[[Lonely at the Top|King]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Delita]] [[The Chessmaster|Heiral]] practically betrayed everybody, including his best friend, to get the crown of Ivalice on himself, only to find it unsatisfactory as nobody really trusts him, not even his wife Ovelia (whom he may actually love), to the point that she stabs him to prevent further damage to the kingdom}}.
* ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''. To explain it would ruin the game.
* Glenn and Janus from ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', in ''both'' directions. Glenn accepted all kind of humiliations, including being transformed into a humanoid frog, for the sake of protecting the kingdom and the queen of Guardia. Janus dedicated all his life to prevent the emergence of Lavos, abandoning his initial good nature and becoming the powerful dark mage Magus in the process. Glenn eventually thinks that all he has done and endured was worth it; Magus, who despite all his power couldn't prevent the return of Lavos, came to the opposite realization.
* Shepard (as in you, the player) from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' can throw this at Mordin, asking him accusingly if enacting the genophage, which reduced the fertility of the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], was really worth it. For the record, he says {{spoiler|yes. Probably.}}
** Shepard also gets confronted by a human reporter with a distinctly anti-alien bias, who demands to know if {{spoiler|spending human lives to save the Council in the previous game was worth it.}} [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Shepard's responses consist of either completely flooring the reporter]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|by telling her she's disrespecting the dead and their sacrifice,]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|or flooring her with a fist to the face.]]
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'', the ambitious, slick, social-climbing Stan wins the election for class president (important to him for his college applications), but at the cost of the only serious relationship he'd ever had. When Aggie tells him he'd better be ready to face the consquences of choosing "power over love and friendship," he responds sadly, "I kinda have to be...don't I?"
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the Robin vs. Speedy fight during the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode "Winner Take All", Robin wins, but snaps Speedy's bow while doing so, in what had been a friendly match. After Robin celebrates his victory, Speedy asks this before being teleported away.
* Macbeth in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' uses Revenge as the 'it: "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. And I have waited nine hundred years for this meal." However, Goliath points out to him and his nemesis Demona that every time either of them has attempted to get revenge, it only made their lives worse. "What profit vengeance?" [[Word of God|has been described by producer]] [[Greg Weisman]] as one of his favorite themes.
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** Parody/subversion in the episode "Casa Bonita", where Cartman effectively holds Butters hostage in order to take his place at Kyle's birthday celebration, which is being held at the eponymous establishment. In the final scene, a cop asks Cartman if it was worth making the town panic, alienating his friends, and going to juvenile hall. Cartman dreamily responds [[Worth It|"Totally."]]
* A Subversion in ''[[Hot Wheels Battle Force 5]]'' during the second season finale "Unite And Strike!" [[Big Bad|Krytus]] asks [[Big Good|Sage]] if it was worth freezing the entire Red Sentient civilization just to stop his multiversal conquest. Sage's response is that Krytus was such a threat to not only the Blue Sentients but the entire multiverse that [[Godzilla Threshold|she had no choice]] but to resort to her [[Nuclear Option]]. Krytus responds that she was absolutely right, [[Complete Monster|not that he cares]].
* From an episode of ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'' - Spidey has caught [[Master of Disguise| the Chamaeleon]], prevented the assassination of an ambassador, which in turn has likely prevented a war from starting, and as usual, [[Hero with Bad Publicity| nobody has even acknowledged his part in it]]. He’s even certain Jonah will blame him for it in the next edition of ''The Daily Bugle'', which is certain to sell out within hours of release. As he perches on a rooftop, sulking and wondering if it’s all worth it, Nick Fury flies by on a S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft, giving him a thumbs up and a “Thanks!” for the “heck of a job!” Spidey is shocked someone actually did that, and figures maybe it’s worth it after all.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* The Battle of Hamburger Hill
* [[World War I]]
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* The Battle of Bunker Hill. Even though the British won it took over 800 wounded and 226 killed, including a notably large number of officers. This was against a small group of people who were low on supplies from the start. At the end the commanding officer made a statement with the general mean "this was not a victory, simply an achievement of the objective".
* Let's just face it: war. Period. While arguments can be made in certain situations that, yes, it was worth it for the defending side against an openly hostile and unprovoked attack, the ''concept'' of war as a necessity is one of the great philosophical debates of all time.
** Then again, according to [[Sun Tzu]], war should only be started when it is definitely worth it.
* The atomic bombings of Japan. There's a reason there was plenty of consideration over whether it'd be worth using a nuclear weapon as opposed to a full invasion of Japan. Ultimately, the general belief is it ''was'' worth it, because millions of lives would've been lost in such an invasion on ''both'' sides, and resulted in turning every significant city in Japan into nothing but rubble piles with a conventional bombing campaign.
* The battle of Iwo
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:Alice and Bob]]
[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:This Index Asked You a Question]]
[[Category:Alice and Bob]]
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