History Main / FailureToSaveMurder

* In ''Manga/MuhyoAndRoji'', [[spoiler:Rio Kurotori]] joins Ark after the two executors she goes to for help in saving her mother from a haunt turn her down for petty reasons.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sasuke's motives are based around [[spoiler:his feelings of guilt for not being able to stop the massacre of his clan]].
* In a filler episode of ''Manga/OnePiece'', a female member of the Desert Pirates remembers Princess Vivi and King Cobra visiting her city and promising to come help if anything happened, during which time she personally met a young Vivi. When the droughts hit, and Cobra didn't come to help, the city was deserted, and the girl was left in despair until the Desert Pirates recruited her. This caused her to resent Vivi upon seeing her again, but Vivi apologized, saying that there were many other towns requiring the king's attention, enabling the two to reconcile.
* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Kyo blames himself for [[spoiler:Kyoko Honda]]'s death. He could have gotten her out of harm's way, but he would have [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting transformed]] in the middle of a busy street, so he did nothing. Nobody else seems to know about it (except possibly [[ParentalSubstitute Kazuma]]), but he heavily associates it with [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide his mother]]]]'s death, which many people ''do'' blame him for. It doesn't help that he (mistakenly) believes [[spoiler:Kyoko]] died hating him for his inaction, either.

* In ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', Ari of Arkhanta (a farmer who enslaved a banshee to become powerful) carries a massive grudge against the Oracle of Kandrakar. The reason? Ari's son was born autistic, and the Oracle isn't doing anything to fix this.

* In the ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Wonder Woman]]'' storyline "Lifeline", Doctor Julian Lazarus's son Chris died when Chris was caught in an explosion at Lazarus's lab, Lazarus's ex-wife calling Lazarus a murderer after he informed her of the death. Lazarus was so distraught that he tried to use his experiments to bring Chris back to life, even though his work was only intended to recreate physical copies rather than a complete personality, and at best what he created was a computer program that ''thought'' it was his son.

* ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'': In the first issue, a cop screams that ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} is a murderer when the villain kills someone and she doesn't stop him. Slightly more legitimate since it seemed like she was just letting it happen (she was actually petrified in fear, this being her first real mission since being [[ThrowingOffTheDisability un-paralyzed]]), but given that the real murderer was ''still standing right there'' it seems like the cop should have had other thoughts on her mind. [[PapaWolf Commissioner Gordon]] calls the cop out on this in the next issue.
* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}}'s marriage broke down initially largely because of this. Long story short, Mockingbird was drugged and raped by the Phantom Rider, and gets revenge by choosing to let him fall to his death rather than save him. When Hawkeye finds out, via the obviously biased word of Phantom Rider's spirit that Bobbi allowed him to die, Hawkeye becomes strained with her because '[[ThouShallNotKill Avengers don't kill]]'. He later gets past it when he learns the full details, but they never return to their former closeness.
* ''ComicBook/CivilWar''. A group of superheroes fail to stop Nitro from blowing up Stamford, resulting in 300 casualties, most of whom were school children. Naturally, the public blame all superheroes for this, and call for a radical political shift to make sure superheroes are controlled to avoid this ever happening again...somehow. Only a handful of people seem to actually care about hunting Nitro down. Wolverine finally tracks him down, well after the whole Civil War nonsense is in full swing.
* ComicBook/IronMan foe The Exile killed his father and possibly his brothers in a drunken rampage despite Tony's best efforts to stop him. The Exile rightly blamed himself at first, but his Mandarin Ring (the Rings' sole purpose is to make Tony Stark suffer) convinced him that it was Tony's fault for not stopping him in time.
* ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' gives us an interesting variation: the Gryphon blames Paperinik for the death of [[spoiler:his father]] the Raider, but, as pointed out by Paperinik, he ''could'' have saved him by using his TimeMachine to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent the Raider from going on the mission in which he would have committed his]] HeroicSacrifice, had he ''really'' wanted to. Trip, the teenaged son of the Raider brought there by Eidolon, wasn't happy to hear this... Especially after Paperinik is proved right when [[spoiler:the Raider shows up, as Eidolon taking him got him to [[PapaWolf cancel that mission to save his son]]]].
** The series [[AvertedTrope averts this]] with the TimePolice: while they ''could'' go out and change the timeline to prevent horrible events they don't, and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong when someone tries]] they directly act to stop them... Because they're all too aware of the ButterflyOfDoom and won't risk things going even ''worse''. "The Day of the Cold Sun", however, shows they don't like it, and when Paperinik prevents the destruction of Duckburg in a cold fusion experiment gone wrong and stalls them long enough they're willing to settle for arresting the time pirate that helped him and make the experiment fail in a harmless way. [[spoiler:As the man who tried the experiment survives, he later goes on causing a ''greater'' mess]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Circles}}'', Paulie is the Child, Arthur is the Hero, and Douglas is the Fool. Paulie contracted HIV from a friend and Douglas blames Arthur for not stopping Paulie but Arthur was too drunk and passed out before he could do anything about it. Needless to say, Arthur took it hard and blamed himself for years.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': The General sets off a bomb next to a car while fighting Robin and while Robin manages to save the police detective standing next to it he fails to realize there were kids in the car. Since the kids were the General's brother and sister the General blames their deaths entirely on Robin and revamps his entire identity and criminal goals to try and get his revenge, despite the fact that ''he'' was the one who killed them.

* In ''Fanfic/ConstantTemptation'' Light blamed himself for being unable to protect [[spoiler:his {{Love Interest}}s from [[RonTheDeathEater his father]]]] who had them killed.

* ''Fanfic/DragonsDance'': During a mission with Team Rocket, Lance stood guard outside the door while a high-ranking member threatened a wealthy man with his ursaring if he didn't renew his business contracts with Team Rocket. The man refused, and [[spoiler: the ursaring mauled him to death]]. Lance, frozen with shock and horror, didn't do anything to save him, and considers himself just as guilty of the man's death as the rocket member who ordered the ursaring to attack.
* FatalFlaw: Hunter points out that Lance's biggest flaw is that he expects battles to be straightforward and fair, even when its clear that they won't be, and is thus constantly caught off-guard by sneak attacks and foul play. [[spoiler: She uses this to her advantage when she ambushes him and steals Ibuki's pokeball in order to extort his tokens from him instead of facing him in a fair fight.]]

* In ''Film/IRobot'', Spooner's deep antipathy for robots comes because he blames a robot for this. Both he and a young girl were involved in a vehicle accident, and [[RestrictedRescueOperation a robot only had time to save one of them.]] It chose to save Spooner (over his objections) because he had a higher chance of survival. Though he owes his life to the robot's actions, he blames it for letting the girl die, arguing that a human would have considered it more important to save the child.
* Nero's motive in ''Film/StarTrek2009''. The Fool is Nero, The Hero is Spock, and by proxy the Federation, and The Child is Romulus, with Nero's pregnant wife on it.
** Of course, ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' reveals the likely real reason: Starfleet promised to help evacuate Romulus, but a devastating attack by [[AIIsACrapshoot Synthetics]] on Mars gave Federation the pretext to break their promise and refuse aid. Shortly after that, Picard left Starfleet, disgusted by what it has become, [[VillainHasAPoint meaning Nero's accusations weren't totally wrong]].

* In the original ''Film/{{Friday the 13th|1980}}'', the motive of the first killer, Pamela Voorhees, is that the camp counselors who were supposed to be watching her son Jason when he drowned in Crystal Lake were too busy having sex instead. However, Pamela's madness has extended this to ''all'' camp counselors, even those working at Camp Crystal Lake many years after Jason's death. Though to be perfectly fair, ALL the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake are AWFULLY interested in having sex.

* This is the source of many characters' resentment of Gaius Sextus in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', specifically those who were close to "the Child," Sextus' son Gaius Septimus.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats''

* In ''[[Literature/KingmakerKingbreaker The Prodigal Mage]]'' Arlin Garrick blames Rafel and Asher for [[spoiler: the drowning of his father in a whirlpool at the blighted reef]], despite all of their early warnings and later efforts to save everyone.
* In ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Titan's Curse]]'', Percy promises Nico that he'll keep his sister Bianca safe. At the end of the book, Nico finds out about her HeroicSacrifice and runs away, blaming Percy for her death until the next book. It doesn't help that his FatalFlaw is holding grudges[[spoiler:, or that he has a [[ClosetGay heavily repressed]] crush on Percy. Even at the end of ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', he is still struggling with his anger despite, in more rational moments, accepting that there wasn't anything Percy could have done]].
* Emerald “Emry” Blair from ''Literature/OnlySuperhuman'' blamed her father for being unable to save her mother.
* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': Attempted unsuccessfully in the ''Hawk & Fisher'' spinoff series' book 1, where Hawk and Fisher are targeted by one person for failing to keep another person alive. The killer is [[spoiler: Lord Roderik Hightower, who blames them for the death of his son.]]

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'''s version of Metallo hates Clark because he didn't save his sister when her apartment burned.

** In season 4, Mac is accused of this [[spoiler: by the younger brother of a childhood friend he had failed to save when he was 14 yrs old back in Chicago]].

* In ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' the doctors fail to save a woman and they must take her off of life support, as she signed a DNR years earlier. Her husband blames the doctors and comes back to the hospital for revenge months later, [[WhamEpisode shooting up the place.]]
** It doesn't help that Shepherd comes off as a bit of a jerk when he orders her to be taken off life support. Later, when the guy sues the hospital (but before the killing spree), he is further inflamed when Shepherd reveals that it took him only a few seconds to determine if his wife would ever come out of the coma. Sure, it might make sense from a medical viewpoint, but not to a grieving husband.
* An episode of ''Series/ChicagoFire'' has Mills (a firefighter-turned-paramedic) try and fail to save a young man from overdose. The guy's father blames Mills for his death. Later, he comes to the firehouse and apologizes, but he's actually planning to have Mills kidnapped and killed. When that fails, one of the thugs he hires spills the beans, and the father is jailed.

* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' Season 2, Laurel initially blames the Hood (and as such the Arrow) for failing to save [[spoiler:Tommy]] from being killed in the Undertaking. Her father is able to get to realize that's unfair and unreasonable...which makes her realize that since he was there to save her, its ''her'' [[ItsAllMyFault fault]]. This is a viewpoint that she never truly seems to recover from, and helps cause her downward spiral.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' had Mitch experiencing a series of near-fatal accidents that coincided with an Australian lifeguard joining the crew. It turns out that years ago, while Mitch himself was working in Australia, he failed to save a drowning woman--the man's wife.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{ER}}'', Mark is unable to save a patient's life. The boy's brother is completely convinced that Mark deliberately let the kid die because of racism and refers to him as a murderer.
* ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful''. After Macy Forrester dies in a drunk-driving accident, her friend Clark irrationally blames her sister-in-law Taylor, feeling that if Taylor had helped Macy, this wouldn't have happened.

* In ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'', Rosencrantz accuses Ashley Riot of killing his own wife and son as part of a scheme by Ashley's superiors to turn him into a more loyal Riskbreaker. It's never clarified if this is the case, or if the antagonists are trying to use Ashley's guilt to undermine his exponentially-growing power, and ultimately Ashley decides that it doesn't matter.
** Hell, it's not even clear [[spoiler:if that ''was'' his family, or if it's a family he killed on an assignment]].
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
** [[spoiler:Chocolat]] acts this way towards Lloyd after an enemy tells her Lloyd killed [[spoiler:her grandmother Marble]]. She forgives him later on when the prisoners of the Iselia Ranch tell her that [[spoiler:Marble was transformed into a monster and]] Lloyd tried to save her. Lloyd appears to feel this way himself as well, as he takes the villain's accusation in shame without ever revealing what really happened [[spoiler:(nobody killed Marble-turned-monster, she came to her senses and [[HeroicSacrifice self-destructed]] to allow Lloyd and Genis to escape the Desians)]].
** A similar case occurs with [[spoiler:Kuchinawa]], who blames Sheena of killing [[spoiler:his parents]] by being unable to [[spoiler:control Volt]], even if she was merely a child at that time and [[spoiler:unable to understand Volt's speech ("It's ''just like before''! What the hell is he saying?")]]. He hides this grudge at first, but gives in to it after [[spoiler:Sheena actually manages to make a pact with Volt and multiple other Summon Spirits]] during the game. Sheena has to set him straight again by fighting a duel with him. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:his brother Orochi]] insists that the tragedy was an accident and that Sheena should not feel responsible and accept the duel.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Hope blames Snow for his mother's death after she volunteered to help Snow's resistance faction fight despite Snow trying to save her and also [[PlotArmor falling off of the same bridge]] moments later. [[spoiler:Hope plans revenge for quite a while, only to be interrupted before he can stab Snow by a missile attack which causes ''both'' of them to fall to their near deaths]]. Snow's insistence on protecting Hope ([[LastRequest as he'd promised Nora]]) at his own expense, and the revelation of how deeply he blames ''himself'' for her death, finally prompts Hope to forgive him.
* In ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', [[TheRival Kurtis]]' family got killed and he personally holds [[TheHero Captain Gordon]] accountable for this, even though the latter wasn't involved in this in any way. As far as Kurtis is concerned, though, Gordon didn't do his job as a Defender of Earth and should be replaced.
** ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'' does this on a much larger scale [[spoiler:with Judge Nemo. Though Artina, the only person to show him kindness, was killed by her own country, he blamed Valvatorez for not saving her or avenging her death (Due to Artina asking him not to do so in the case of the latter). It eventually escalates to the point where he blames ALL of humanity as well as demons and angels.]]
* [[spoiler: Dustil Onasi's]] motive in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': He joined the Sith out of resentment because he believed his father had abandoned him and his mother to die...even though it was the Sith who killed his mother in the first place.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonFable'', Konnan swears vengeance against your PC for failing to save his family and hometown from the dragon Akriloth (though in all fairness, the battle against the dragon in question [[HopelessBossFight wasn't winnable anyway]]). [[spoiler:This would eventually lead him to join the evil pyromancer Xan and become Drakonnan, the BigBad of the Fire War]].
* Brought up in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' when you receive Keita's death clip. While the characters are resolved to save him, Joe mentions that you technically have the option to do nothing and let the death come to pass as foretold, and idly wonders if that might count as killing him.
* In ''VideoGame/CorpsePartyPC98'', most of the [[KilledOffForReal deaths]] involve either [[spoiler:Yoshiki]] or [[spoiler:Satoshi]] either abandoning one of their companions after seeing them endangered or otherwise failing to take some action to prevent it. Afterwards, they feel immense guilt over their actions and lament their [[DirtyCoward cowardice]].
* Takuro accuses Hiroshi of this in ''VideoGame/NiraOni'' after the monster goes after Hiroshi and [[spoiler:poor Mika]], and they can't find the latter afterwards.
* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', both Kung Jin and [[spoiler:the undead Kung Lao]] call Raiden out for standing around and doing nothing while Kung Lao had his neck snapped by Shao Kahn in [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the previous game]].
* This is part of a character's backstory in ''VideoGame/HometownStory''. It combines the two variations as the would-be murderer is the "feels guilty for the accident" variant, leading him to not deny killing the victim when her family assumed he had (actively) killed her.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Oxenfree}}'', Clarissa feels this way about [[spoiler: Alex. Clarissa was dating Alex's older brother Michael, and they had plans to move away from home together. Alex convinced Michael to stay with her for one last trip, and the two went swimming, only for Michael to accidentally drown. Because Alex was present but unable to save him, Clarissa blames and hates her for his death.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky the 3rd'', [[spoiler:the main protagonist Kevin Graham feels that he was responsible for his mother's suicide since he ran away rather than trying to help her, despite being a child at the time.]]
* This is how Rean Schwarzer feels in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'' after [[spoiler:accidentally killing a guy who was wanting to commit SuicideByCop on him, by having someone best him in combat.]]
* A variant occurs in ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'''s "Confessions of a Broken Blade" story, where Yasuo (mis-blamed for the death of his elder) realizes that [[BrokenBird Riven]] killed the elder accidentally when she asked him to destroy her sword. Since he left the elder unguarded that night, he acquits Riven and blames himself per this trope, despite hints in the story that he couldn't have reacted quickly enough to save the elder.
* In ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners'', if you fail to save certain companions, Ayuto grapples with guilt over not being able to save them. Dr. Kuroe also expresses some remorse at not being able to do more. During the climax, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Professor Tsuchida]] personally blames [[spoiler:his assistant Kuroe]] for the death of [[spoiler:his daughter in the Luxor Massacre one year prior -- believing he had the ''ability'' to do so, but not the ''willpower'']].
* This happens in ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'' on the [[spoiler:Annihilation Route's]] ending. [[spoiler:After Iris and Ota Matsushita are killed by So Sejima, Mayumi angrily blames Date for Ota's death, and refuses to cooperate any further with his investigation.]]

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': This is one of the Dark Secrets Monokuma threatens to reveal. [[spoiler: Mondo Oowada once challenged his brother Daiya to a motorcycle race. During the race, Mondo rode recklessly and would've been hit by a truck if Daiya hadn't thrown him out of the way and been hit himself. No one ever learned of the race's true outcome, but Mondo blames himself for Daiya's death saving him.]]

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' [[spoiler: Anthony Carver, a surgeon, couldn't prevent his wife Surma from dying and believes his daughter Antimony AKA Annie hates him for "killing" her mother. It turns out his wife was dying because she's half fire-elemental and her fiery-half MUST migrate to her offspring, killing the mother in the process and while Anthony knew this he believed he could save her with medical science (he doesn't put much stock into the supernatural, never mind that Gunnerkrigg is next to a magical forest and his circle of schoolmates included the aforementioned half-fire elemental, a sorceress and ''Brunhilda, daughter of Odin''). He's also wrong about Annie: God help you if you even hint her father might be no good, plus she didn't know she's "not completely human" and when she learned the truth she thought ''she'' "killed" her mother.]]

This trope is very much a GrayAndGreyMorality trope and plays on ideas of guilt and responsibility. If Alice can save Charlie, does she have a moral obligation to try, or is it okay to KickTheSonOfABitch? If Alice cannot save Charlie, is it right for Bob to blame her for his death? If Bob does, [[RevengeMyopia what does that say about him]]?

* Sentinel's main reason for hating Optimus in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Well, his main claimed reason; Sentinel is kind of a dick. The Kid in the situation, [[spoiler:Elita-1/Blackarachnia]], isn't dead ([[ThatManIsDead at least, not physically]]) but holds a grudge against both Optimus and Sentinel for abandoning [[spoiler:her]] to a hoard of alien spiders. Optimus tires to apologize, but the Kid rejects it, while Sentinel remains being a dick and tries to "put [[spoiler:her]] out of [[spoiler:her]] misery" ([[JerkassHasAPoint which isn't entirely wrong by now]]). Sentinel never tries to apologize because he [[NeverMyFault never admits his blame]], putting it all on Optimus. At least until the aftermath has Optimus apologize first for not giving Sentinel a chance to save [[spoiler:her]], which gets Sentinel [[PetTheDog to consider being]] "sorry we ever went to that stupid planet in the first place."

* Sentinel's main reason for hating Optimus in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Well, his main claimed reason; Sentinel is kind of a dick. The Kid in the situation, [[spoiler:Elita-1/Blackarachnia]], isn't dead ([[ThatManIsDead at least, not physically]]) but holds a grudge against both Optimus and Sentinel for abandoning [[spoiler:her]] to a hoard of alien spiders. Optimus tires to apologize, but the Kid rejects it, while Sentinel remains being a dick and tries to "put [[spoiler:her]] out of [[spoiler:her]] misery". Sentinel never tries to apologize because he [[NeverMyFault never admits his blame]], putting it all on Optimus.

* Superheroes in general tend to get blamed for whatever they couldn't/didn't do.
** For example: Spider-Man fights Green Goblin over Gwen Stacy, [[ILetGwenStacyDie Spider-Man lets Gwen Stacy die]], Green Goblin gets HoistByHisOwnPetard, and Miles Warren [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Goes Mad From The Revelation]] and blames Spider-Man exclusively and attacks him as his SplitPersonalityTakeover villain The Jackal. To his credit, Miles Warren was FightingFromTheInside and when he wins, he realizes the idiocy of this and makes an HeroicSacrifice to save Spider-Man.
** Of course, a more legitimate example of this is a big part of the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' mythos--before Peter actually became a superhero he [[BystanderSyndrome let a crook run past him]] (in part because the guy the crook had robbed [[AssholeVictim had just ripped Peter off]]), only for said crook to murder [[ParentalSubstitute Uncle Ben]] shortly afterward. His [[MyGreatestFailure guilt]] over the issue is what drives him to become a superhero in the first place.
*** The "ripped him off" is largely only in the movie origin. Originally, it was more that he was riding on finally getting respect after a lifetime of being a punching bag, and felt entitled to, as he put it, "look out for number one - ME!"

* In one scene in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', Jacuzzi insists that Isaac and Miria should stop treating him like a good person because he's not -- he's fleeing from Chicago because he murdered three men. Donny interjects that Jacuzzi didn't kill them, his friends did. Against Jacuzzi's wishes. ''Because those men were about to kill him''. [[MartyrWithoutACause Jacuzzi fails to see the difference.]]

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* Kirito gets hit with this a couple of times in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''- notably, he ALWAYS blames himself:

* In ''LightNovel/{{Higehiro}}'', Sayu's ''[[AbusiveParents mother]]'' blames her for [[spoiler:her best friend Yuuko]]'s suicide, causing Sayu to run away from home and eventually have to offer SexForServices to survive. Her accusation is especially egregious because [[spoiler:Yuuko was Sayu's OnlyFriend and nobody else is more shaken by her death]].

* The [=UnSub=] in ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Hanley Waters" was a woman who had been involved in a car accident one year before. The paramedics had managed to save her, but failed to save her six-year-old son.

->'''Raiden''': Your family honored me with this memento of your cousin Lao, after his death.\\
'''Kung Jin''': A death ''you'' caused! You made him fight Shao Kahn, and stood there while that bastard snapped his neck!

[[folder:Film]]

Compare/Contrast MurderByInaction, where Alice deliberately and maliciously allows Charlie to drown, as well as BetrayalByInaction. See also HeroismAddict, where Alice deliberately put Charlie in danger to receive credit for saving him. In this case, by failing to save Charlie, Alice is just as guilty as if she killed him herself. See also WhyCouldntYouSaveThem.

* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Kyo blames himself for [[spoiler:Kyoko Honda]]'s death. He could have gotten her out of harm's way, but he would have [[InvoluntaryTransformation transformed]] in the middle of a busy street, so he did nothing. Nobody else seems to know about it (except possibly [[ParentalSubstitute Kazuma]]), but he heavily associates it with [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide his mother]]]]'s death, which many people ''do'' blame him for. It doesn't help that he (mistakenly) believes [[spoiler:Kyoko]] died hating him for his inaction, either.

* The entire motive behind [[spoiler:Godot/Diego Armando's]] quest for vengeance against Phoenix Wright in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' is that he blames Phoenix for Mia Fey's murder. Mia was ''actually'' killed by Redd White because she was investigating his blackmail empire, and Phoenix's only involvement was not being present when she was killed (and he didn't even know that Mia was looking into Redd White), and defending her sister Maya from White's FrameUp.[[spoiler: At the end of the game, he realizes that he actually blamed ''himself'' for her murder (though he had an even ''better'' excuse for not being there, as he was in aa coma at the time) and was [[PsychologicalProjection projecting his anger on Phoenix]] so he wouldn't have to face that truth.]]

* The entire motive behind [[spoiler:Godot/Diego Armando's]] quest for vengeance against Phoenix Wright in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' is that he blames Phoenix for Mia Fey's murder. Mia was ''actually'' killed by Redd White because she was investigating his blackmail empire, and Phoenix's only involvement was not being present when she was killed (and he didn't even know that Mia was looking into Redd White), and defending her sister Maya from White's FrameUp.[[spoiler: At the end of the game, he realizes that he actually blamed ''himself'' for her murder and was [[PsychologicalProjection projecting his anger on Phoenix]] so he wouldn't have to face that truth.]]

* Dumbledore from ''Literature/HarryPotter''’s brother Aberforth blames him for getting their sister killed, even a century later. He tried to run off with Grindelwald with her in tow and Aberforth tried to stop them because she was too fragile to get dragged around the world. She got killed in the ensuing chaotic MeleeATrois. As far as Aberforth is concerned if he didn’t resent his PromotionToParent and had taken better care of her, she wouldn’t have died. For his own part, Dumbledore thinks he might have well as killed her himself and considers her death [[MyGreatestFailure the biggest mistake he ever made]].

* The entire motive behind [[spoiler:Godot/Diego Armando's]] quest for vengeance against Phoenix Wright in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' is that he blames Phoenix for Mia Fey's murder. [[spoiler:At the end of the game, he realizes that he actually blamed ''himself'' for her murder and was projecting his anger on Phoenix so he wouldn't have to face that truth.]]

* Pretty much Hope's entire story for the first half of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. He blames Snow for his mother's death because she volunteered to help Snow's resistance faction fight, and although Snow tried he was unable to save her from falling from a broken bridge. [[spoiler:Hope plans revenge for quite a while, only to be interrupted before he can stab Snow by a missile attack which nearly causes ''both'' of them to fall to their deaths; Snow's insistence on protecting Hope (as he'd promised Hope's mother) at his own expense, and the revelation of how deeply he blames ''himself'' for her death, finally prompts Hope to get over his anger]].

* In Franchise/TheDCU, [[ComicBook/GreenLantern John Stewart]] failed to save the planet Xanshi in the ''Cosmic Odyssey'' miniseries. John's guilt for this was extreme enough in the years afterward that one could be forgiven for assuming that he'd blown up the planet himself. The Xanshian warrior Fatality blames the whole [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]] for the destruction of her planet, and went on a crusade to kill them all.
** In this case, John's guilt isn't unjustified. He didn't just fail to save the planet. He knocked out J'onn J'onzz, who could have saved the planet. Stewart was overconfident and didn't consider the possiblity the bomb would be yellow and decided to "protect" the guy who is on par with Superman in power.
* In ''Comicbook/{{WITCH}}'', Ari of Arkhanta (a farmer who enslaved a banshee to become powerful) carries a massive grudge against the Oracle of Kandrakar. The reason? Ari's son was born autistic, and the Oracle isn't doing anything to fix this.

* A random woman once berated ComicBook/{{Superman}} for being off-world during the "New Krypton" storyline -- while trying to stop a war -- while her husband was having an aneurysm. She thought Superman could have saved her husband with heat vision or something. Superman was the only person that actually took her seriously -- everyone else in-universe and out thought she was crazy to expect that from Superman. Most readers and critics agreed: the death of one man was of course tragic, but Superman was away trying to save entire worlds!
* In the relaunched ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2011}} first issue, a cop screams that Barbara is a murderer when the villain kills someone and she doesn't stop him. Slightly more legitimate since it seemed like she was just letting it happen (she was actually petrified in fear, this being her first real mission since being [[ThrowingOffTheDisability un-paralyzed]]), but given that the real murderer was ''still standing right there'' it seems like the cop should have had other thoughts on her mind. [[PapaWolf Commissioner Gordon]] calls the cop out on this in the next issue.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' The General sets off a bomb next to a car while fighting Robin and while Robin manages to save the police detective standing next to it he fails to realize there were kids in the car. Since the kids were the General's brother and sister the General blames their deaths entirely on Robin and revamps his entire identity and criminal goals to try and get his revenge, despite the fact that ''he'' was the one who killed them.

* In ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Titan's Curse]]'', Percy promises Nico that he'll keep his sister Bianca safe. At the end of the book, Nico finds out about her HeroicSacrifice and runs away, blaming Percy for her death until the next book. It doesn't help that his FatalFlaw is holding grudges[[spoiler:, or that he has a [[ClosetGay heavily repressed]] crush on Percy. Even at the end of HeroesOfOlympus, he is still struggling with his anger despite, in more rational moments, accepting that there wasn't anything Percy could have done]].

* In ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Titan's Curse]]'', Percy promises Nico that he'll keep his sister Bianca safe. At the end of the book, Nico finds out about her HeroicSacrifice and runs away, blaming Percy for her death until the next book. It doesn't help that his FatalFlaw is holding grudges[[spoiler:, or that he has a [[ArmouredClosetGay heavily repressed]] crush on Percy. Even at the end of HeroesOfOlympus, he is still struggling with his anger despite, in more rational moments, accepting that there wasn't anything Percy could have done]].

Compare/Contrast MurderByInaction, where Alice deliberately and maliciously allows Charlie to drown, as well as BetrayalByInaction. See also HeroismAddict, where Alice deliberately put Charlie in danger to receive credit for saving him. In this case, by failing to save Charlie, Alice is just as guilty as if she killed him herself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', [[spoiler:Harry]] expresses this in the [[strike:Season 2]] series finale, [[spoiler:blaming Spider-Man for the death of his father, Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin. Believing he could have still gotten help over being such. [[DramaticIrony This probably]] [[BaitTheDog wasn't true.]] [[FakingTheDead Not to mention he's revealed to have survived and left New York in disguise]]]].

*** It should be pointed out that even in the original comic, Peter still felt ripped off. He'd been given a check for his performance, but the bank refused to honour said check because it was made out to Spider-Man, and anyone could be under the mask. Peter briefly considers just robbing the place, and his foul mood over the whole affair contributes to his BystanderSyndrome when the aforementioned crook ran past him later.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', [[spoiler:Harry]] expresses this in the [[strike:Season 2]] series finale, [[spoiler:blaming Spider-Man for the death of his father, Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin. Believing he could have still gotten help over being such. [[BaitTheDog This probably wasn't true.]][[FakingTheDead Not to mention he's revealed to have survived and left New York in disguise]]]].

TruthInTelevision, to an extent, as enumerated in further detail on the MurderByInaction page. In many countries there is no duty to rescue another person in peril, but if you do attempt to rescue them and fuck it up it's possible for you to be held responsible for their death (there are various justifications for this, such as the idea things might have gone differently if you had done nothing, or that your incompetent intervention may have prevented[=/=]discouraged someone more competent from intervening instead). There's a reason some doctors are told to keep silent if someone calls out IsThereADoctorInTheHouse.

* Sentinel's main reason for hating Optimus in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Well, his main claimed reason; Sentinel is kind of a dick. The Kid in the situation, [[spoiler:Elita-1/Blackarachnia]], isn't dead ([[ThatManIsDead at least, not physically]]) but holds a grudge against both Optimus and Sentinel for abandoning [[spoiler:her]] to a hoard of alien spiders. Optimus tires to apologize, but the Kid rejects it, while Sentinel remains being a dick and tries to "put [[spoiler:her]] out of [[spoiler:her]] misery". Sentinel never tires to apologize because he [[NeverMyFault never admits his blame]], putting it all on Optimus.