History Main / GuiltComplex

** Twilight Sparkle has responsibility OCD (detailed in RealLife below) in spades, seeing any innocent action she takes that ends up hurting others as justifiable reason to hate her forever and blaming herself for allowing the BigBad(s) to get away with their various actions. This is part of her [[DeconstructedTrope realistic portrayal of OCD]], [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome as opposed to it simply being a harmless quirk for comedy's sake]].

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Lelouch Lamperouge. To explain how deep and massive his guilt complex is would spoil the entire show. To say the least, Lelouch does many horrible things that directly or indirectly affect the people he loves that by the end he goes to extremes to atone. {{Deuteragonist}} Suzaku also has a rather large and justified guilt complex.

* "Catholic Guilt" is a stereotypical personality trait of practicing [[NunsNRosaries Catholics]] and [[CulturallyReligious former Catholics]].

* Literature/HarryPotter blames himself a lot, usually born from his ChronicHeroSyndrome. He blames himself for [[spoiler:Cedric's death]] because it was his idea for them both to grab the portkey that led them to Voldemort at the same time, even if neither could have known that object ''was'' a portkey. He blames himself for [[spoiler:Voldemort coming back to life]] because it was ''his'' blood that was used in the spell, never mind that it was taken by force. He blames himself for [[spoiler:Sirius' death]] because he should've known he was being tricked even though he had never been properly trained. He blames himself for putting his friends in danger because he should've been strong enough to choose the ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies way out. He blames himself for every life Voldemort takes because he feels Voldemort only wants ''him'', regardless of the fact that Voldemort is a psychopath who would've killed even more people if Harry hadn't been around. Boy, that's one massive Guilt Complex.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': After a short-lived time period where [[NeverMyFault she blamed everyone else]], [[FieryRedhead Asuka]] started to blame herself for ''everything'' in the second arc: [[spoiler:Unit 04 blew up due to circumstances completely out of her control?]] Her fault because she was responsible for carrying out the mission successfully, even if she hadn't made any mistakes. [[spoiler:Her best friend died in the crash?]] Her fault because she was responsible for carrying out the mission successfully, even if it was not her fault [[spoiler:and her friend's ghost personally absolved her]]. [[spoiler: the NF-14 disaster?]] Her fault even though her superiors knew that she was very unstable and should not have been put in that warplane [[spoiler:and some of them even hoped that she crashed it down.]] The program is facing hardships? Her fault for ''existing''.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, Samantha Shepard wears the loss of her galaxy around her neck like an albatross. This despite it coming from a borderline PhysicalGod and [[spoiler:the Flood]], neither of which she could have possibly prepared for. Her therapist even [[YouDidEverythingYouCould discusses this]], but at least [[HeroicBSOD for a while]] Shepard won't hear it, insisting IShouldHaveBeenBetter.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WalkingInCircles'', Solas isn't a stranger to guilt considering his past, but he still holds an enormous one toward Evelyn, considering himself to be the sources of most of her problems instead of saving her as he promised, and that she could have a simpler life without him. Even when she repeatedly tells him to stop doing so and explains that it's her choice to remain with him, he still lapses into this trope here and there. Solas's guilt complex actually causes Evelyn to suspect that he's with her out of guilt, not love.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* Queen Elsa of ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' suffers from this. [[MyGreatestFailure Almost killing Anna when they were kids]] hit Elsa hard, and even though it was an accident, she [[InternalizedCategorism sees herself as a monster]] because of it and seems to blame herself for all the grief it caused her family. In the shorts, Elsa blames herself for things out of her control, like [[WesternAnimation/FrozenFever catching a cold and therefore "ruining" Anna's birthday]] or [[WesternAnimation/OlafsFrozenAdventure lacking a family tradition]].

** ''Rainbow Rocks'' sees Sunset refrain from speaking up about what she knows of the Dazzlings because Sunset feels like it isn't her place to say anything after what happened in the first movie. This allows the Dazzlings to [[FlawExploitation manipulate Sunset with her guilt in order to keep her quiet]].
** In ''Friendship Games'', Sunset confesses that she sees all of the magic incidents around Canterlot High as being her fault. Sunset brought magic to the human world in the first movie, which lead the Dazzlings to Canterlot High in the second movie, which in turn lead into Human Twilight's magic research and the events of the third movie. Sunset even apologizes to Principal Celestia for the magic incident at the motocross event, even though the portals came from Twilight's amulet.
** ''Spring Breakdown'' has Sunset going after Rainbow Dash during a major lightning storm because Rainbow claimed to see evil magic around the boat. Sunset says (once again) that her friends wouldn't even be in this mess if she hadn't brought magic to the human world.

** ''Anime/TrigunStampede'' makes it even clearer that Vash holds himself responsible for ''all'' the suffering on the planet since the human race crashed there, and demonstrates just how he came to believe that was his fault: everything his EvilTwin does, he personally blames on Vash as necessary to "protect" him.

** The "No One Dies" arc in Dan Slott's run heavily examined this trait of Spider-Man. After [[spoiler:Martha Jameson]] is killed by the Spider Slayer, Spidey experiences a nightmare where he's tormented by visions of ''everyone'' who's ever died on his watch, from famous deaths like Gwen Stacy and Ben Reily to single issue and background characters like the kid from "The Boy Who Collects Spider-Man". Spider-Man blames himself for every death that occurs around him, even if he couldn't possibly have helped and the result is some who is strongly implied to be a borderline mental wreck, wracked with PTSD and self-loathing. Afterwards, he promises that nobody will ''ever'' die when he's around again; this ends up making his guilt complex even worse, culminating in a near breakdown in "Ends Of The Earth" after [[spoiler:the suicidal Rhino deliberately kills himself and Silver Sable just to spite Spidey by breaking his promise for him]].

* Franchise/SpiderMan lives and breathes this trope:

* Bella of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' takes the entirety of available guilt for any mistake she's partly responsible for. In one case, she's on different sides of the issue in different books ([[spoiler:a vampire struggling not to bite someone who's been injured]]), and she blames herself both times.

* Anna Yamada from ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart''. She's ''very'' anxious about bothering people in any way, and is quick to apologize for any inconvenience she thinks she's caused someone else, even if it's indirect, her not doing anything but being at the center of it, or even if they were doing something on her behalf. She tearfully apologizes to her mother after getting a nose injury during basketball practice, forcing a modeling shoot that Anna had scheduled to be canceled. [[spoiler: She later blames herself for Ichikawa breaking his arm while he was taking photos for her on a family trip to Akita, something he purpose for in the first place when she expressed wishing to go there. After sharing with him how her parents consoled her throughout her childhood every time she quit an activity from feeling she wasn't good enough, she confesses to a fear of her loved ones eventually hating her for too many screw-ups.]]

* Anna Yamada from ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart''. She's ''very'' anxious about bothering people in any way, and is quick to apologize for any inconvenience she thinks she's caused someone else, even if it's indirect, her not doing anything but being involved, or even if they were doing something on her behalf. She tearfully apologizes to her mother after getting a nose injury during basketball practice, forcing a modeling shoot that Anna had scheduled to be canceled. [[spoiler: She later blames herself for Ichikawa breaking his arm while he was taking photos for her on a family trip. After sharing with him how her parents consoled her throughout her childhood every time she quit an activity from feeling she wasn't good enough, she confesses to a fear of her loved ones eventually hating her for too many screw-ups.]]

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':

* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Miranda Lotto has a massive inferiority complex from being bullied by everyone in her hometown and constantly told she's useless. She goes out of her way to be helpful but feels she can't do anything right and relentlessly blames herself for pretty much everything that goes wrong. "I'm sorry" and "I should have..." are the things you hear her say the most. Also, she's the team's BarrierWarrior, and often thinks she doesn't do a good enough job of protecting her {{True Companions}}. Her powers allow her to heal even the most fatal wounds...but only temporarily, any injuries that she heals returning after she deactivates her Innocence. Thus, you can expect her to try and leave it on for as long as possible, even when it's obviously taking a toll on her, and then apologize profusely when she's finally forced to shut it off.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Yoriichi Tsugikuni failing to [[spoiler:kill Muzan for good]] almost 400 years prior the story absolutely destroyed his spirit, despite the fact both Yoriichi and Muzan knew he was ridiculously stronger than the demon king, but Muzan had a surprise escape maneuver Yoriichi couldn’t fully overcome, and he was slightly distracted by Tamayo, a demon who didn’t seem as malicious as all others, looking somewhat tragic even. That encounter was immediately followed by [[spoiler:Yoriichi’s own twin brother Michikatsu betraying the demon slayer corps to become a demon himself, joining Muzan; all led to Yoriichi’s complete disgraced image by association, being expelled from the Corps as result]]. Yoriichi summarized all of what happened to him being personally responsible for all deaths enacted by demons thereafter due Muzan escaping his grasp, the man just gave up on a normal life altogether since, dedicating the rest of his life to exterminate any number of demons he can find if Muzan just keeps hiding till Yoriichi dies of old age.

* Ai Kaga from ''Anime/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is an extreme case, apologizing and [[ItsAllMyFault taking the blame]] for anything and everything (including ''being born'',) and constantly worrying about inconveniencing others. In the anime she even hides BehindTheBlack until the final episode of the first season because she doesn't want to ruin the show. Her [[MeaningfulName name]] sounds like "Perpetrate".

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Yoriichi Tsugikuni failing to [[spoiler:kill Muzan for good]] almost 400 years prior the story absolutely destroyed his spirit, despite the fact both Yoriichi and Muzan knew he was ridiculously stronger than the demon king, but Muzan had a surprise escape maneuver Yoriichi couldn’t fully overcome, and he was slightly distracted by Tamayo, a demon who didn’t seem as malicious as all others, looking somewhat tragic even. That encounter was immediately followed by [[spoiler:Yoriichi’s own twin brother Michikatsu betraying the demon slayer corps to become a demon himself, joining Muzan; all led to Yoriichi’s complete disgraced image by association, being expelled from the Corps as result]]. Yoriichi summarized all of what happened to him personally responsible for all deaths enacted by demons thereafter due Muzan escaping his grasp, the man just gave up on a normal life altogether since, dedicating the rest of his life to exterminate any number of demons he can find if Muzan just keeps hiding till Yoriichi dies of old age.