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{{trope}}
[[File:everythingyoucould.jpg|link=Black Jack (Manga)|frame|Sometimes, even the greatest fail.]]
 
In every [[Medical Drama]], almost every [[Cop Show]], basically any show where the characters often have someone else's life/future in their hands, there will come a time when they will fail and the person they're trying to save will die (or wind up paralyzed, or in jail, or some other long-term bad thing). [[My Greatest Failure|The character will feel incredibly guilty,]] but an understanding friend or colleague - sometimes even the person whose life they just ruined - will insist, "You did everything you could" or "You tried your best" or variants thereof. Sometimes the character will [[I Did What I Had to Do|say the phrase him/herself]], in which case the "you" becomes "I."
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* It could be interpreted that this is what kicks off the entire plot of Naoki Urasawa's ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]''. After being assigned by the higher-ups in the hospital to save the life of a famous opera singer instead of a Turkish man, Dr. Tenma tries to console himself by getting one of these during a dinner with his fiancee, Eva. {{spoiler|She gives it to him, immediately followed by the line, "After all, not all lives are created equal." The shock of this helps him make his decision to save the life of [[Complete Monster|the title character.]]}}
* Pictured above: One of the few times ''[[Black Jack (Manga)|Black Jack]]'' failed to save someone, that someone being the surgeon that saved Black Jack as a child and inspired him to become a doctor in the first place. Black Jack's mentor's spirit(?) assures him that he did what he could.
** Specifically, he says, "To think that doctors are above life and death is just arrogant, don't you think?" It was his last words.
 
== [[Fanfic]] ==
* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]'', Yuki blames herself for not foreseeing events that could injure Kyon. He reminds her that she trained him with 30 years of martial arts in a month, gave him most of his weapons, and that he's still alive, despite all the trouble he gets involved in. Like fighting interdimensional robots.
* In ''[[Ultimate Spider Woman (Fanfic)|Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'', [[Redheaded Hero|Mary Jane Watson]] is running herself into the ground trying to juggle [[Triple Shifter|school, her acting and modeling careers, her steady job at the coffee shop, helping her mother get the medical treatment she needs, fighting crime as Spider-Woman and trying to make the rent on her apartment.]] Her friends and family keep trying to tell her that she doesn't have to go to all this trouble and that she's pushing herself too hard, but her [[Samaritan Syndrome|conscience won't allow her to let up]]. Things come to their logical conclusion at the end of issue #35 when everything finally comes crashing down on her.
 
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Resident Evil (Filmfilm)|Resident Evil]]''. As Alice and Matt near the exit, Alice feels responsible for not saving all of their comrades who died.
{{quote| '''Alice''': I failed all of them. I failed.<br />
'''Matt''': Listen to me. There is nothing else you could've done. }}
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Said a bazillion times, by almost every character, to almost every character, on ''[[ER]]''.
* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''. Cameron says this to House in the first season episode "Damned If You Do". As expected, [[Dr. Jerk|he doesn't respond kindly]].
{{quote| '''Cameron:''' I just wanted to say that I know that you did everything you could.<br />
'''House:''' I don’t need verification from you to know that I'm doing my job well. That's your problem, not mine. }}
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* After spending half of ''[[TMNTTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Ninja Turtles']]''s fourth season in a guilt-induced funk, Leonardo makes the first step towards recovery after he admits this to himself.
* Parodied brilliantly in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' -- "You can't keep blaming yourself. Blame yourself once, then move on."
** ''[[The Simpsons]]'' did use it straight in the ep with the operation on the dog when the vet throws a dead hamster into a garbage can. [[Black Comedy|The garbage can has a little basketball hoop on it -- it's clearly not the first time he's chucked a small dead animal into the garbage.]]
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