History Main / ICantDoThisByMyself

TheHero has accepted (or even [[JumpedAtTheCall jumped at]]) TheCall, and is ready to embark upon his grand journey to defeat the BigBad. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he's left his old friends in the dust. Even more unfortunately, he's just discovered that he has FeetOfClay or that his powers are fueled by ThePowerOfFriendship.

* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers: "Snow ((Hey Oh))" from ''Stadium Arcadium''

* "Superman" by Lazlo Bane is best known for being the title music from ''{{Scrubs}}'', which specifically uses the lyrical hook of "I can't do this all on my own 'cause I know I'm no Superman."

* ''RedVsBlue'':

In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', Diaval is frustrated that the title character doesn't invoke this trope, and instead tries to send him away when she needs him most, as she's knowingly walking into a trap. He imitates her voice and says "I can't do this without you, Diaval." Hilarious and heartwarming at the same time.

** In ''[[Machinima/RedVsBlueTheRecollection Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'', Agent Washington repeatedly uses this phrase or some variant of it to convince the Red and Blue teams to join his fight against the Meta, so much so that it's parodied in the first {{Rooster Teeth Short|s}}, where a fake recording session of Washington's voice actor Shannon [=McCormick=] shows him saying this, along with several other satirical versions of Wash's frequent statements. None of them would consider Wash a "friend", though - they only join him because they each hope to get something for themselves out of the deal (except for Caboose, who always seems happy to help anyone - [[PlayerKilling even if they]] [[StopHelpingMe don't want him to]]). In fact, Wash tries everything from pulling rank to outright bribery (though notably not asking nicely) to get the teams to cooperate.

-->'''Usopp:''' Hey.

Compare CombinedEnergyAttack and GondorCallsforAid. Contrast InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn and ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself.

* In ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Galatea]] tries to get her [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080719.html sister Molly to help,]] because she doesn't want to have to [[WeCanRuleTogether conquer the world all by herself.]]

* [[OnePiece Monkey D. Luffy]] gets an entire speech dedicated to the fact he can't survive without his TrueCompanions. A recent arc also had Luffy alone making several off-hand comments wishing his crew was present to do what he could not.

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', during the second episode of the Makaiju arc, Usagi is the only member of her team that had her memories restored and thus the only member of the Sailor Senshi with the ability to fight. Memories of watching her friends die one by one to fight for her leads her to try and fight the Cardian that episode entirely alone - even at the cost of possibly never having her friends back again. Luna ultimately disobeys her wishes when she sees Sailor Moon clearly outmatched by the Cardian and returns the rest of the team's memories so they can help her. Unlike other examples of this trope, the team immediately helps her after regaining their powers and memories again and don't even require an apology.

SeenItAMillionTimes. Compare CombinedEnergyAttack and GondorCallsforAid. Contrast InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn and ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself.

* After the 5th case in ''[[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'', the player is called upon to show the prosecutor Edgeworth a piece of evidence from the case that neither he nor Phoenix Wright could have put together without the other's help. More of an "I ''couldn't'' do this by myself", but still...

* Played with during the Doom Tree arc of ''SailorMoon'' when Usagi attempts to fight on her own, and even after that neglects to clue Mamoru in. The [[TrueCompanions Sailor Scouts]] aren't best pleased.

SeenItAMillionTimes.

SeenItAMillionTimes.

!!Examples

* In [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Eva]], Shinji says this to Asuka when the burden of creating a new world falls on his shoulders. [[spoiler: She refuses.]]

* Played with during the Doom Tree arc of SailorMoon when Usagi attempts to fight on her own, and even after that neglects to clue Mamoru in. The [[TrueCompanions Sailor Scouts]] aren't best pleased.

* Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly", between second and third chorus: "Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone..."
* Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Snow ((Hey Oh))", first verse: "When I sit alone, come get a little lone, but I need more than myself this time..."
* Red's "Pieces". "I tried so hard/Thought I could do this on my own/I've lost so much along the way..."
* U2's "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own".

[[AC:{{Machinima}}]]
* In ''[[RedVsBlue Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'', Agent Washington repeatedly uses this phrase or some variant of it to convince the Red and Blue teams to join his fight against the Meta. None of them would consider Wash a "friend", though - they only join him because they each hope to get something for themselves out of the deal (except for Caboose, who always seems happy to help anyone - [[PlayerKilling even if they]] [[StopHelpingMe don't want him to]]). In fact, Wash tries everything from pulling rank to outright bribery (though notably not asking nicely) to get the teams to cooperate.
** Tex also invokes this trope when she realizes she needs one of the "idiots" to carry a bomb for her, as she doesn't have the upper body strength needed.

* Inverted by sci-fi action game VideoGame/{{Iji}} - After Dan and Iji's family is killed by an alien invasion, Dan urges his sister to forget about family bonds and throw away her feelings so she can focus on the mission, but in the end, it is Iji's love for her brother and her memories of her dead sister that sustain her through her fight against the invasion. Dan realizes this later in the game and acknowledges that neither of them can do it by themselves.

* In [[NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Eva]], Shinji says this to Asuka when the burden of creating a new world falls on his shoulders. [[spoiler: She refuses.]]

* ''MassEffect2'' has Shepard saying this to the Illusive Man when told that s/he needs to stop the Collectors and that humanity is at war. Shepard replies "If this is a war, I'll need an army. Or a really good team."

* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has one of these. Buffy does it to Giles after she saves him when he goes to kill Angelus, right after Jenny's death.

* If you're enough of a jerk in DragonAge, Alistair will [[WhattheHellHero call you out]] for what you're doing to the reputation of the Grey Wardens. But he still remains in your party, adding that he can't stop the Blight by himself.

* Inverted by sci-fi action game {{Iji}} - After Dan and Iji's family is killed by an alien invasion, Dan urges his sister to forget about family bonds and throw away her feelings so she can focus on the mission, but in the end, it is Iji's love for her brother and her memories of her dead sister that sustain her through her fight against the invasion. Dan realizes this later in the game and acknowledges that neither of them can do it by themselves.

Feeling greatly humiliated and apologetic, he must now convince his friends to rejoin him in the fight. A simple apology won't cut it after the way he brushed them off. They're not coming back until he says "[=~I Can't Do This By Myself~=]"; only then will they rejoin him, and even then they often feign reluctance to drive the point home.

[[AC:{{LiveAction TV}}]]
* The brief sample of the theme song from ''{{Scrubs}}'' has the lyrics "I can't do this all on my own 'cause I know I'm no Superman."

[[redirect:{{ptitle7dvwfax1}}]]