History Main / DespairEventHorizon

** [[spoiler: Itachi]] experienced this for sure...and then some. After [[spoiler: being ordered to massacre his clan, his aunt/uncle, his parents, his lover, and even his little brother, he carried out the order...except he could not bring himself to kill his younger brother, and instead tried to lead him on a path to revenge, with Itachi being the target. Considering the fact that he had to act like a Complete Monster to everyone from that day foreward, he was viewed as such by everyone. He basically stayed alive purely for his brother's sake, and when he died by his brother's hands,]] he was smiling. Probably the first (and last) time he smiled since the day he [[spoiler: massacred his clan as per his orders.]]

*** Perhaps the most effective example in the series takes place during a volume-long WarIsHell flashback that is nothing more than a long drawn out horrific war crime. [[spoiler: Scar, who at the time is a WarriorMonk, is shown as having grown deeply embittered from the long genocide campaign; then his entire TOWN is blown up, and in the destruction, his entire extended family is killed. Scar loses his arm and his face is shredded; to save his life, his brother alchemically [[LifeOrLimbdecision grafts his own tatooed arm to Scar's bleeding stump]], [[HeroicSacrifice dying in the process]]. Scar wakes up, in the care of the Amestrian doctors Rockbell and has a truly epic FreakOut where he murders the doctors (who happen to be the parents of Edward Elric's childhood friend) and stumbles outside to find that his beloved country is a bloody ruin. Cue BigNo, and a brutal RoaringRampageOfRevenge that he implies he wants to end with suicide by State Alchemist.]]

* Yomi from ''GaReiZero''. [[spoiler: Yomi's adoptive father his killed by her Seishouseki-mind-controlled adoptive [[TheRival 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 [[BerserkButton berserk]] and kills her. Then [[ManipulativeBastard Mitogawa]] attacks Yomi, rendering her quadraplegic 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 PerfectlyArrangedMarriage 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 JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and killing her former friends.]] Her Despair Event Horizon is such a {{Tearjerker}} that even after crossing the MoralEventHorizon she is still a sympathetic WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

* Hitler's reaction upon hearing "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxCNCDWaWyE Steiner didn't have sufficent forces]]" in the movie ''{{Downfall}}'', complete with an epic VillainousBreakdown.

** Finally, [[spoiler:Shirou]] goes through this in the Heaven's Feel route. [[spoiler:He gives up on his ideals to save Sakura, who happens to be eating people and is about to turn into a world destroying monster.]] He's not one to sit around though so he just takes up another cause with gusto.

* In the GalaxyRangers fanfic ''Chrysalis,'' the [[BigBad Queen]][[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen of the Crowns]] shoves Zach over the line by [[MakeYouWatch torturing his team in front of him]] and even [[spoiler: faking an execution of Niko]] while he is kept in a well-appointed prison. He attempts suicide. She forces her medical staff to keep him alive, explicitly stating that he's not going to do much of anything unless ''she'' wishes it. The final blow is a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind where she brutally overpowers him by [[HannibalLecture pointing out his failure to save his wife, the League, or his Rangers]]. To save what little is left of his sanity, he goes into an AngstComa.

* Anemone of ''EuekaSeven'' crosses the horizon and plummets into a downward spiral the moment she learns that [[LoveMartyr Dominic]], her [[{{Tsundere}} favorite punching bag]] [[LoveEpiphany with whom she just realizes she is in love]], has seemingly left her for good. [[TearJerker Her subsequent ramblings of self-hatred and loss of the will to live are so depressing that they effectively tug at the heartstrings of all who hear them]].

* The French Army at Waterloo, after the defeat and retreat of Napoleon's Old Guard (his EliteMooks, who had never yet been defeated). [[OhCrap As the horrifying news spread, French soldiers began to shout ''"Le Garde recule, sauve qui puet!"'' ("The Guard retreats, save yourself if you can!")]]. The French army realized that all was lost, and when the Allies mounted their final attack moments later the entire French army (save the remmnants of the Guards regiments, who made a LastStand) [[TacticalWithdrawal legged it for the rear]].

* The French Army at Waterloo, after the defeat and retreat of Napoleon's Old Guard (his EliteMooks, who had never yet been defeated). [[OhCrap As the horrifying news spread, French soldiers began to shout ''"Le Garde recule, sauve qui puet!"'' ("The Guard retreats, save yourself if you can!")]]. The French army realized that all was lost, and when the Allies mounted their final attack moments later the entire French army (save the remmnants of the Guards regiments, who made a LastStand) [[TacticalRetreat legged it for the rear]].

* Season 3 of ''{{Torchwood}}'' has multiple {{Despair Event Horizon}}s - as you would expect from a plot that involves [[spoiler:the governments of the world caving into an alien race's demands for 10% of the Earth's children. ObstructiveBureaucrat AntiVillain Frobisher is told by the [[PresidentEvil Prime Minister]] that, for PR purposes, his daughters will be among the 10% given to the aliens - so Frobisher takes a gun home and kills his wife and children, before turning it on himself. Then Jack, who has just had to [[GoingDownWithTheShip watch his boyfriend die pointlessly]], realises that there's a way to defeat the aliens after all... but it will mean killing a child. And the only child close to hand is his own grandson, who he is forced to murder in front of his screaming daughter. Safe to say, Jack doesn't hang around on Earth for very long after that.]]

* [[spoiler: Oersted]] in ''LiveALive''. [[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 ''[[SarcasmMode well]]''.]]

* Himei, also known as ''SailorNothing'' starts the story like this.

* In the [[spoiler: final]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTUA_wdp78 episode]] of ''{{Dinosaurs}}'', the main character accidentally [[spoiler: triggers an ice-age by over-industrializing the world]]. He then has to [[spoiler: explain why they're all going to die to his youngest child]]. Cut to the outside of the house, where [[spoiler: snow is piling over the entire house]]. In the final shot, a newscaster solemnly states that [[spoiler: the snow is getting harsher, the days are getting darker, and there's no end in sight. He issues a formal "Good night". He reconsiders for a moment, then looks straight in to the camera with weary, uncertain eyes, and solidly states, "Good bye". FadeToBlack.]] [[TearJerker This show was supposed to be ''funny'', goddammit!]]

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

* Horo crosses this line early in season 2, after learning that her hometown is likely gone, and has been for centuries. Cue Breakdown.

* Used as a major game element and plot point in FinalFantasyXIII. Characters [[SummonMonster Eidolons]] only appear when a character reaches this point.