History Main / SamaritanSyndrome

* ''Film/SupermanII''. Superman [[BroughtDownToNormal gives up his powers]] so he can be with Lois Lane and [[TemptingFate what happens?]] 3 Kryptonian supervillains who hate his guts show up and go on a rampage in his adopted home country. He just CantStayNormal.

** In other episodes, he's refused to let minor inconveniences like a cold and, oh, '''''blindness''''', stop him from bringing down the bad guy because he knows what kind of mayhem is being unleashed while he sits it out.

* ''[[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Mar-Vell]]'': Genis-Vell had a [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling form of]] omniscience and omnipotence that unfortunately could only be in one place doing one thing and drove himself crazy trying to pick which help to give and then seeing how wrong his choices were.

** Somewhat later, Wally doesn't check every room in a burning building, and a woman is crippled as a result. After the ensuing lawsuit, she asks him, "What about the next time? What'll you do when you're not fast enough?" He replies, "[[NotHoldingBackAnymoreSpeech We'll]] '''[[[[NotHoldingBackAnymoreSpeech never know]],'''" and proceeds to learn everything he can about the speed force, overcoming his psychological limits, and truly becoming the Fastest Man Alive.

** Somewhat later, Wally doesn't check every room in a burning building, and a woman is crippled as a result. After the ensuing lawsuit, she asks him, "What about the next time? What'll you do when you're not fast enough?" He replies, "We'll '''never know,'''" and proceeds to learn everything he can about the speed force, overcoming his psychological limits, and truly becoming the Fastest Man Alive.

** In one story his fellow superheroes make arrangements to protect the world without him for one night so that he can go on a date with a superheroine, a Franchise/WonderWoman Captain Ersatz, who is similarly as dedicated to heroism. Both of them have a hard time relaxing on the date, but it's implied that their being out of action for a little while didn't cost the world anything due to their friends stepping up their game. There's also one moment towards the very end of the issue where they enjoy a very short moment of dead silence, with no emergencies.

** In one story his fellow superheroes made arrangements to protect the world without him for one night so that he could go on a date with a superheroine. Both of them had a hard time relaxing on the date, but it's not implied that their being out of action for a little while cost the world anything. There's also one moment towards the very end of the issue where they enjoy a very short moment of dead silence, with no emergencies.

** Rorschach is what happens when this trope is taken off the far end. Walter Kovacs has no real friends, families, job, or anything of substance in his life as a civilian. His whole purpose of being is so Rorschach can gather information and continue to be a justice enforcing masked-hero, even though it eats away at his humanity. Given the book's {{deconstruction}} status, this is to be expected, as Rorschach is meant to establish what would happen to people who felt responsible to bring punishment to others at their own expense. Rorschach eventually lost his mind to his delusions, becoming NotSoDifferent from the violent thugs he beats to death on a regular basis.

Because of this trope, one key question about any superhero-containing universe is whether there is a surplus or deficit of superpowered awesomeness relative to crime and other dangers. If there is a surplus, heroes can kick back with no guilty pangs. If not, this trope may come into play in one form or another. If the hero isn't able to take time off, this can easily lead to HeroicFatigue. To help with that and with this trope, many series will have [[HeroOfAnotherStory other similarly powerful characters]] or TrueCompanions take up some of the load, say "we got this one" to give the hero some rest/free time, and remind them YouAreNotAlone. The hero may also get a SelfCareEpiphany.

A sort of variation of this trope is when someone feels guilt because they didn't do enough.

Prone to ThinkNothingOfIt -- they think the heroics are part of the job, not something requiring special gratitude. See also ChronicHeroSyndrome, where the hero is constantly compelled to help everyone who needs it, regardless of circumstances and RestrictedRescueOperation where outside forces put limits on what you can do. If the guilt comes from failing to save a relative or loved one, then it's ILetGwenStacyDie.

* Early in ''Manga/ToYourEternity'', Fushi blames himself for the deaths of his friends because of his [[FailureHero weakness]] despite his immortality. As a result, [[spoiler: he isolated himself in an island for 40 years so that he won't have to fail protecting others. Of course, that idea didn't work because the Nokkers continued to attack people anyway.]]

** This is essentially Izuku's FatalFlaw, his belief that he must save everyone, or that everything else he has done will be AllForNothing. The BigBad is aware of this trait, and exploits it in the Villain Hunt Arc. In addition to his personality fueling this thought process, [[spoiler: he also unlocks [[SpiderSense Danger Sense]] [[ChronicHeroSyndrome which tells him that people are in danger]] every time someone tries to get him to slow down and take care of himself.]]

* One of the few skills ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' hasn't [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower mastered]] is the ability to delegate his crime fighting. No matter how horrific [[WretchedHive Gotham]]'s threats become or how many powerhouses he has on speed dial, Bruce simply refuses to allow anyone else to [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself shoulder his burdens]]. It's gotten so bad that many theorize that Batman really ''is'' [[DisabilitySuperpower crazy in his own way]].

** Early in the career of Wally West, [[LegacyCharacter the third Flash]], he's having problems with his powers due to this syndrome, and visits a shrink. The shrink asks him to count how many people's lives he's personally saved, leaving out foiled alien invasions and such. Wally comes up with a number around 112. The shrink says, "I once stopped a guy from taking a bottle of pills to kill himself. That thought still keeps me warm at night. Those 112 people forgive you for not being perfect. You need to forgive yourself."

* Driven to its brutal conclusion in ''Comicbook/{{Powers}}'' with the Superman CaptainErsatz who finds himself run ragged mentally and emotionally by the task of living to save the world every second of every day. He's been around for decades and, despite his best efforts and those of all the other superheroes in the world, he keeps seeing the same problems playing out... so he starts [[SuperDickery getting contemptuous]] and [[SmugSuper develops a God complex]]. And then [[spoiler:he accidentally kills a friend, snaps, and destroys the Vatican, large chunks of the Middle East, and anything else he's come to see as inherently corrupt and contributing to The Problem instead of The Solution, before he's stopped]].

** In the Bronze Age, Kara was torn between her desire to live a normal life, her responsibilities bestowed upon her by her formidable powers and her need to save and help as many people as possible.
** During the second half of her ''Superman Family'' run she worked as a soap opera actress. Her job was extraordinarily demanding and interfered with both her private life and her Supergirl duties. Most of time she had to ignore emergencies and working as Supergirl at night instead of sleeping. And she had no time to be plain Linda Danvers. It was driving her crazy, so she eventually quit her job.

** The Big Blue offered one of the better {{deconstruction}}s of this trope. An elderly woman living in Suicide Slums[[note]]Metropolis' ghettos[[/note]] gets the idea that she is able to call down Superman on bad guys after praying twice for divine intervention. She eventually goes looking for trouble so that Superman will come in and stop it. Then she tries it when unknown to her Superman was away preventing an EldritchAbomination from devouring Earth, and goes into a gang's hang out hoping that they will be broken up. She is shot and the people of Metropolis realize that they can solve their problems without Superman. The woman bears no ill will towards him, nor do the people of Metropolis, and the story concludes that Superman is a nice thing to have around, but doesn't need to be there all the time.

** The second time had Superman mind-controlled by a powerful super villain, ditching his Clark Kent identity to be Superman 24/7 and watch over the entire world. How bad did it get? He shows up in nearly every DC Comic during one particular month, [[SupermanStaysOutOfGotham twice being tossed out of]] [[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand Gotham by Batman]], creating an entire army of Superman Robots and finally having the JLA on his ass.

** Once the protagonist of ''ComicBook/NewSuperMan'' learns how to access super-hearing he immediately hears every cry for help and bad thing in progress in the city, sending him on a rampage as he jumps from one problem to another for ''hours'', before the power fades. This experience leaves him [[HeroicBSOD wrecked with guilt over all he couldn't save and afraid to access his powers again]]. It takes some pep talk from Superman himself to snap him out of it.

** Ozymandias [[spoiler:eventually felt that his heroism was too limited in scale and decided he needed to protect the world, even [[WeHaveReserves at the expense of a small part of it]], basically taking the [[ThreeLawsCompliant First Law of Robotics]], protect humans, and evolving it into the [[ZerothLawRebellion Zeroth Law of Robotics]],protect humanity.]]

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', this is what spurs Izuku to action on the day he meets All Might. When he and Katsuki Bakugou were kids, they got into a brawl that ended with Bakugou nearly dying after Izuku accidentally threw him through a concrete wall with his newly activated Kryptonian SuperStrength. From then on, he decided that the best way to protect others from himself was to live a normal, meaningless life away from heroics. But when the Sludge Villain has Bakugou in his grasp, Izuku can't bear the thought of just watching his best friend die and rushes into the fray to pull him free.
* Surprisingly enough, this occurs to Doctor Strange in ''FanFic/ChildOfTheStorm''. He truly wants to save as many people as he can, and originally only wanted to be a doctor, at one point emphasising that the first oath he swore that he really ''meant'' was the Hippocratic Oath. However, due to his circumstances, he has to look to the big picture, and often sacrifice the one to save the many. This has resulted in a [[spoiler: 500,000 year]] lifetime of relentless self-hatred.

** Mr. Incredible's very first line in is "Every superhero has a secret identity; I don't know a single one who doesn't. Who wants the pressure of being Super all the time?" Though he laments his lack of free time at the beginning of the film, once public opinion forces him underground Mr. Incredible finds himself driven to leap back into action.

* Poor Peter Parker, in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', suffers from this. He suffers on an even larger scale than most heroes, as he's exhausted, dirt poor and failing college because he has to stay awake all night and take random breaks in the middle of the day to stop the crimes around him, costing him studying and job advancement. When he temporarily quits being Spider-Man after his powers stop working he becomes much, ''much'' happier for a little while, until this trope eventually catches up to him again.

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward suffers from this. After he saved a slave, [[spoiler: was backstabbed by her, and she tortured his brother,]] he asks Oreg whether he could have done more for her, specifically [[spoiler: break her magical bond to her master. Oreg tells him, only if she wanted that very much - [[HappinessInSlavery which she doesn't.]]]] Ward also ponders whether he maybe should have had sex with her, to make things better, even though he doesn't even like casual sex that much, and told her that he'd rather not, when she tried to seduce him. He is also infamous for attracting creatures (animal, human, ghost) who need help - they seem to know he will provide it.

* In the ''Literature/WearingTheCape'' setting there seems to be enough super powered heroes to go around; there are even "reservist" superheroes who live normal lives unless called upon for help in cases of extreme disasters. That said, some superhumans like Hope Corrigan feel the need to Use Their Powers For Good deeply enough to force them to put on a costume and fight crime when they would really rather be doing something else.

** Panacea has this, as she is among the only [[HealingHands healers]] in the world, she spends all of her free time visiting hospitals and helping people because she couldn't live with herself if she didn't. Unfortunately, the lack of oversight of her visits and her broken home life mean that nobody really notices when she begins to suffer HeroicFatigue....

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' gives us Vir Cotto, the one decent Centauri except the previous emperor. After an attempt to [[ReassignedToAntarctica promote him to Antarctica]] he uses his position on Minbar to [[DeathFakedForYou fake the death]] of 2000 Narn refugees and smuggle them to safety from his own government. This is discovered and he is demoted. His explanation makes it clear that he would've rather stayed on Minbar.

** The Doctor, as noted above, will constantly push themself to save every single life, and feels guilt whenever they have to sacrifice or fail to save any life. However, it's stated multiple times that the Doctor feels it's necessary, since anything less would result in them brushing it off as the cost of doing business. On the plus side, this leads to the Doctor successfully pulling off extraordinary stunts to rescue people even when there's no hope. On the minus, it has lead at times to a serious amount of guilt and self-hatred.

** Generally happens to every captain in every series. Picard had a particularly painful moment when he had the choice between ordering his [[TemporaryLoveInterest recent true love]] on a dangerous mission or forcing her to stay on the Enterprise, even though she was the most qualified for the mission. Eventually, he came to the realization that there was no choice at all, and ordered her to go. [[spoiler:When she survives, she requests a transfer off the ship, knowing that their feelings were clouding their judgment, and he approves it, again having to make the hard choice.]] Picard's love life sucks, man.
** The holographic Doctor on the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' has the AI equivalent of a mental breakdown not once but twice over the same issue: a crewmember dying because she and another patient had the exact same chances of survival, and he chose to operate on Harry Kim because of their friendship. The first time, Janeway had his memory of the events wiped. The second time, Seven convinced her to let the events play out at the risk of losing their only doctor. He spends days caught in loop of ranting self-recrimination, but Janeway decides to sit it out with him. In the end, the Doctor manages to pull through and keep his program from experiencing a "[[LogicBomb cascade failure]]", in part because the captain is there ''with him'' and he can see the negative effects such a vigil is having on ''her''. He breaks his behavior loop to tend to her exhaustion and realizes his responsibility to the ''surviving'' crew matters more than blaming himself for something he can't change in the past.

** Thanks to respawning, it is literally ''impossible'' to stop every crime or arrest every villain. High-level heroes routinely pass, and ignore, dozens of low-level spawns as they move around the city.

* Touched on in ''Webcomic/LoveAndCapes''. Abby wants to know what being a superhero is like, so the local expy of Doctor Strange helps get her some superpowers. Mark and Darkblade discuss that "it hasn't happened yet", and "it" turns out to be being in a situation where you can't save everyone (she can only save 14 of 15 people falling off a bridge), and Mark tells her that every hero has to come to terms with the fact that no matter how good you are, you can't save all the people who need saving. Abby understands this, but knows she would have trouble handling it, and her powers fade.

* ''WebComic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': Taken to its extreme with Franchise/{{Superman}} in [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-07-13 one strip]], where scientists figure out more and more efficient ways for him to save lives, until he's stuck ceaselessly winding a crank that powers the entire planet's energy needs, and can't stop because of the losses it would incur.

** One episode featured the hero making his annual visit to the site of his parents' murder, which makes him late for a sting operation that he helped set up. He arrives in time to help subdue the crooks, but finds that Jim Gordon has been severely wounded. Batman's guilt, which is not helped at all by [[JerkAss Detective Harvey Bullock,]] over not being there in time to save Jim sends him into a HeroicBSOD. Batman is later saved from [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath Heroic BSOD]] because he stops another attempt on Jim Gordon when he wakes up and finds out Jim has the same doubts.

-->'''Elder''': No. I am calling you ''defeated,'' Trevor Belmont. You fought your battle, and decided you lost. [...] We might well lose. But, if nothing else, we might show someone that while battles are won and lost, their is a larger war at stake.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpecialAgentOso'', a preschool-targeted series about a stuffed bear who helps young kids do basic tasks has a mild example in that Oso is sometimes invited by the parents of the kids to stay for a meal, or other such invitations, but can't accept because he has to get back to his training mission.

* In an [[TearJerker incredibly sad]] real-life case of this, Kevin Carter, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who took pictures of starving Sudanese children, committed suicide because he was [[http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/odds_and_oddities/ultimate_in_unfair.htm haunted]] by the feeling of being helpless to save any of them.

* Watching interviews with Lt. General Roméo Dallaire, military commander of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNAMIR UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda]] during the Rwandan Genocide, is rather soulcrushing. He basically blames himself personally for the uselessness of the UN's response, despite having had fewer than 500 people and next to no support from the UN or anyone else.

** This is in fact Izuku's FatalFlaw, his belief that he must save everyone. Especially prevalent after [[spoiler: he unlcoks [[SpiderSense Danger Sense]], as every time other characters try to get him to take a break, it [[ChronicHeroSyndrome tells him people need help.]]]]

* ''WebComic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': Taken to its extreme with Franchise/{{Superman}} in one strip, where scientists figure out more and more efficient ways for him to save lives, until he's stuck ceaselessly winding a crank that powers the entire planet's energy needs, and can't stop because of the losses it would incur.

* Surprisingly enough, this occurs to Doctor Strange in ''FanFic/ChildOfTheStorm''. He truly wants to save as many people as he can, and originally only wanted to be a doctor. However, due to his circumstances, he has to look to the big picture, and often sacrifice the one to save the many. This has resulted in millennia of self-hatred.

* In an [[TearJerker incredibly sad]] real-life case of this, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who took pictures of starving Sudanese children committed suicide because he was [[http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/odds_and_oddities/ultimate_in_unfair.htm haunted]] by the feeling of being helpless to save any of them.

--> '''Schindler''': I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don't know. If I'd just... I could have got more. [...] This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. I could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! And I... I didn't!

** Peter Parker in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse goes through this as well, per Spider-Man tradition. When Tony Stark meets Peter in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and asks why he became a hero, Peter explains that with his powers, anything bad that he could have prevented would make him feel responsible for it. This also drives the plot of ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'', where the still-teenaged Peter, after experiencing the traumatic events of dealing with Thanos, simply wants a respite from being Spider-Man by going on vacation and purposefully not think about this trope. Of course, it's never that easy for Spider-Man, as Peter has to grapple with once again playing a needed hero or hoping someone else will pick up the slack in his place.

* ''Film/SupermanII''. Superman [[BroughtDownToNormal gives up his powers]] so he can be with Lois Lane and [[TemptingFate what happens]]? 3 Kryptonian supervillains who hate his guts show up and go on a rampage in his adopted home country. He just CantStayNormal.

* The ''Literature/{{Beachwalker}}'' is a civilian example. Even after [[spoiler: she gets shot]], she can’t take a break because she’s the only one in a position to help her patient, and her aging employer has no one else he can depend on.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward suffers from this. After he saved a slave, [[spoiler: was backstabbed by her, and she tortured his brother]], he asks Oreg whether he could have done more for her, specifically [[spoiler: break her magical bond to her master. Oreg tells him, only if she wanted that very much - [[HappinessInSlavery which she doesn't.]]]] Ward also ponders whether he maybe should have had sex with her, to make things better, even though he doesn't even like casual sex that much, and told her that he'd rather not, when she tried to seduce him. He is also infamous for attracting creatures (animal, human, ghost) who need help - they seem to know he will provide it.

-->"Oh lord, heal this bike," [Crowley] whispered sarcastically.

%% * Stevie Rae from ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' seems to suffer from this. With her past history it's understandable.

** Literature/DianaTregarde has a minor, slightly selfish version of the trope in ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheNight''. She's a Guardian, endowed with incredible mystic powers, and she has to help anyone in her area who really needs those powers. If she doesn't, there are other Guardians who will try and stop a developing crisis, but they're a little ways away and one of them is old, one of them has a broken leg, and one has extreme acrophobia. They'll do it, but she doesn't want them to have to, not when her only problem is that the threat in question gives her panic attacks. Briefly after becoming a Guardian she tried to ignore it and [[IJustWantToBeNormal live a normal life]], but found out that it just meant that monsters would go after her on ''their'' terms.

** Misho's original Samaritan Syndrome was worsened when he made his Sacrifice to gain mastery of sorcery; going to the Loom of Fate and seeing the destiny of all mortals which, thanks to his perfect memory, resulted in: "So Misho sacrificed his ignorance."
* Touched on in ''Webcomic/LoveAndCapes''. Abby wants to know what being a Superhero is like, so the local expy of Doctor Strange helps get her some superpowers. Mark and Darkblade discuss that "it hasn't happened yet", and "it" turns out to being in a situation where you can't save everyone (she can only save 14 of 15 people falling off a bridge), and Mark tells her that every hero has to come to terms with the fact that no matter how good you are, you can't save all the people who need saving. Abby understands this, but knows she would have trouble handling it, and her powers fade.
* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' in the [[http://oglaf.com/sircoffee/ adventures of Sir Coffee]], who cannot sleep because there's always someone needing urgent help. (Page safe, but the rest of the comic is mostly NSFW)

* Feral from ''Webcomic/StrongFemaleProtagonist'' is a former superhero with a healing factor who decides that the most effective way to use her powers is to [[spoiler: constantly donate her organs almost 24/7 for the rest of her life--with no anesthesia, which doesn't work on her]].

* ''Literature/SailorNothing'': Basically Himei's job description. Interestingly, while she's used to it although ''[[ArcWords very tired]]'' of it, she knows her friends volunteered to become Sailors and help her fight but were not entirely clear on what it would cost. Specifically, she despairs that they too will become like her, numb and nearly dead from the constant pressure. So she decides that, effective immediately, it isn't enough to ''contain'' the [[BigBad Yamiko]] -- she's going to [[LetsGetDangerous wage all-out war]] against them, in hopes of [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally ending the conflict once and for all]].

** One episode featured the hero making his annual visit to the site of his parents' murder, which makes him late for a sting operation that he helped set up. He arrives in time to help subdue the crooks, but finds that Jim Gordon has been severely wounded. Batman's guilt which is not helped at all by [[JerkAss Detective Harvey Bullock]] over not being there in time to save Jim sends him into a HeroicBSOD. Batman is later saved from [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath Heroic BSOD]] because he stops another attempt on Jim Gordon when he wakes up and finds out Jim has the same doubts.
** In other episodes, he's refused to let minor inconveniences like a cold and, oh, '''''blindness''''' stop him from bringing down the bad guy because he knows what kind of mayhem is being unleashed while he sits it out.
* The Codrii Speakers of ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'' admonish Trevor Belmont for his inaction and willingness to leave the citizens of Targoviste to the horrors of Dracula's night hordes, all because the people bought into the lie that the Belmonts were excommunicated for practicing dark magic. Trevor argues that anybody could have stood up in the Belmont's defense, yet they did nothing, weakening the family despite being the only ones capable of handling Dracula. The Speaker's elder tells him this shouldn't matter, and makes this point in dialogue to him.
-->'''Elder Speaker''': Does one run away when someone tells lies about them? What has the church said about the Belmont’s? That you have been corrupted by your dealings with the supernatural. That you mock God. That you are a threat to the common good and that evil follows wherever you go. And what did you do in the face of that?

-->'''Elder''': No. A war for the soul of our people. Because if we really are the sort of people that will kill one another at the behest of a mad man’s fantasies, then perhaps it is right and proper that things from Hell should rise up and wipe us out.

-->'''Trevor''': I don’t know any of you, but that doesn’t matter does it? My family, the family you excommunicated, has fought and died for generations defending this country. We do this thing for Wallachia and her people. We don't have to know you all. We do it anyway. And it’s not the dying that frightens us; it’s never having stood up and fought for you.

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' played with this trope when Johnny decided to be a super hero and found that they wouldn't let him take a nap, play video games, or even go to the bathroom.

** The episode "Too Pooped to Puff" featured this. They're so good at repeatedly saving Townsville that the people simply stop doing ''anything'' for themselves, rationalizing it with "Eh, the Powerpuff Girls will get to it." Eventually, the entire town becomes a group of incredibly lazy slobs. Even Professor Utonium himself tries to ask them to bring him the remote control...which is lying 2 feet away on the coffee table in front of the couch Utonium is lying on. The Girls get sick of this and pretty much leave the town on its own. This all well and good until the [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed inevitable monster comes rampaging into town]]. And of course, the townspeople ask for the Girls' help. After forcing them to promise to get off their butts and do some things for themselves, the girls instruct them on how to save the day.
** Another episode had the girls racing to get home after school because they were excited to go on vacation. This resulted in time travel, causing the girls to go absent for 30 years and The Big Bad taking over. After witnessing this, the girls manage to undo the time travel and invoke a variation of this trope, telling the Professor that they can't leave Townsville. ''Ever''.

* During the 1937-1938 Rape of Nanjing, at the Ginling Girls' College, the lead American professor, Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary and a professor of education, worked tirelessly in a parallel effort to preserve the young women of her school from rape. In cooperation with the German (member of the Nazi party) businessman John Rabe, her efforts to protect her young women from degradation were ceaseless. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of girls were spared gang rape as a result of her efforts. Upon her return home, in 1941, she too committed suicide.

* Major Charles Whittlesey, who was the commander of the famous "[[Film/TheLostBattalion Lost Battalion]]" in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, managed to keep his men alive under impossible odds and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his achievements. However, the combination of guilt over his inability to save all of his men and the fact that people were always constantly reminding him of the event were likely factors in his subsequent suicide.
* Triage. The easy part is sorting out the ones who are dead and the ones that don't need any emergency care. The hard part is passing those people who need emergency care, but it would be too time and resource intensive versus their chances of survival. The only thing you can do is quick pain management and maybe find a volunteer to stay with them while they die and you move on to the next.

* Both Oskar Schindler and Karl Plagge, two Nazi Party members (well, Plagge was kicked out for not being sufficiently racist) who between them saved hundreds of Jews by claiming they were "essential workers," apparently felt enormous guilt for the rest of their lives that they couldn't save more. Plagge even refused to be officially exonerated at his de-Nazification trial, requesting to be reclassified as a "follower" of Nazism instead. Both were awarded the title of "Righteous Among Nations" by the State of Israel for their efforts, however.
* In a way, this trope applies to anyone with a decent first-world income. These [[http://www.raikoth.net/deadchild.html two]] [[http://lesswrong.com/lw/3gj/efficient_charity_do_unto_others/ articles]] point out that a ''really'' small amount of money can improve or save a life through an efficient charity. So every time you buy a computer, or go on vacation, or donate to an inefficient charity, a life that could have been saved wasn't. Hardly anyone thinks like that (because it's a slippery slope from there to "every bite of food you take could have gone to someone hungrier"), but there's an element of truth to it. On the other hand, ''using'' this argument to guilt people into giving or to "feel lucky they're where they're at' is an informal fallacy called the AppealToWorseProblems.

[[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper How unfair]] is it that [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer those people]] won the SuperpowerLottery? All of that power and not a care in the world! They can [[MundaneUtility get rich]] off those abilities or [[{{Ubermensch}} play "Superman"]]! That is, except ...every time they take a coffee break, [[FridgeLogic it means]] a BusFullOfInnocents somewhere fell off a cliff. When they took that IntrepidReporter out on a date, a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere leveled [[BigApplesauce Manhattan.]] And while they renegotiate their rent, [[{{Atlantis}} Atlanteans]] invade Madagascar. And you can [[TripleShifter forget about sleeping.]]

[[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper How unfair]] is it that [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer those people]] won the SuperpowerLottery? All of that power and not a care in the world! They can [[MundaneUtility get rich]] off those abilities or [[{{Ubermensch}} play "superman"]]! That is, except ... every time they take a coffee break, [[FridgeLogic it means]] a BusFullOfInnocents somewhere fell off a cliff. When they took that IntrepidReporter out on a date, a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere leveled [[BigApplesauce Manhattan]]. And while they renegotiate their rent, [[{{Atlantis}} Atlanteans]] invade Madagascar. And you can [[TripleShifter forget about sleeping]].

You guessed it: with great power ComesGreatResponsibility. Whereas {{Muggles}} can "pass the buck" in terms of the responsibility for [[GreenAesop recycling]], [[ApathyKilledTheCat civic duty]], or taking the government to task, {{Superhero}}es can't. Being the only ones capable of dealing with super villains and natural disasters means that the [[PowerAtAPrice price of their inaction]] is the burden of a death they could have prevented [[BeingGoodSucks on their conscience]]. [[AntiHero Or not.]] The more responsibility they feel, the more GuiltComplex they suffer for "failing" to be responsible.

When it is addressed, it's why super heroes, especially the idealistic types, tend to be {{workaholic}}s who feel great guilt over any and every death that happens on their watch. You see, the problem with having [[FlyingBrick the power of a god]] is you also get the responsibility of one... which is a burden [[AGodIAmNot no sane human is built to take.]] Being (mostly) human, {{heroes}} will have to balance the responsibilities implicit in having their abilities with basic needs like food, sleep, friendship, fun, romance, and perhaps even un-heroic hobbies and work.

Needless to say, this can go to either extreme. Some go overboard as [[ItsAllMyFault they attribute any and every un-prevented accident to themselves]], running themselves ragged, whereas others [[RefusalOfTheCall deny all responsibility in favor of living a normal life.]]

The former type tends to shun their civilian identity, friends, and [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies loved ones]]. Often becoming [[HeroicFatigue exhausted, unbalanced]], and much more at risk of snapping and going into a HeroicBSOD over a real or perceived failure. Some {{Super Hero}}es may even become a MartyrWithoutACause out of a subconscious desire to ''die'' just to get a chance to rest. This is especially true when the setting has {{Ungrateful Bastard}}s who see fit to [[IrrationalHatred blame the hero for things they can't control]]. The latter will usually be somewhat like a ZenSurvivor, while they might not go into supervillainy and actively cause death and destruction, one has to wonder at the good they could have done, and how many deaths they could have prevented... if they hadn't been, oh, mowing their lawn.

This can turn into a self perpetuating cycle if the HeroHarassesHelpers that might take some of the load off.

The "happy mean" between the two is one where they use their abilities as much and as effectively as they can while taking time for themselves. The balancing itself is itself a great source of drama for a "kitchen sink" style of superhero story. Samaritan Syndrome also lends itself well as a DramaPreservingHandicap, preventing heroes from [[NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech dangerously cutting loose.]]

->''"Look, when you can do the things that I can... but you don't... and then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."''

The "happy mean" between the two is one where they use their abilities as much and as effectively as they can while taking time for themselves. The balancing itself is itself a great source of drama for a "kitchen sink" style of superhero story. Samaritan Syndrome also lends itself well as a DramaPreservingHandicap, preventing heroes from [[WorldOfCardboardSpeech dangerously cutting loose.]]

** The Ghost suffers from this in "The Return of Doctor Mysterio". The Doctor asks him when he takes any time off, and despite his claims that he does, it is obvious that he doesn't. The Doctor, of course, is uniquely qualified to identify the symptoms.

** At one point, her boyfriend had to put her super-suit down the garbage disposal (it regenerates, so that's not as bad as it sounds) to prevent her from going after a supervillain when she was too sick to fight.

* Ben Randall in ''Film/TheGuardian'' is shown to be the product of this kind of life as a living legend in the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. He spent his life always leaving movies and parties to go out and save people stuck at sea. Notable especially for a scene when Jake Fischer asks him "what his number is" to which:
-->'''Randall''': 22.
-->'''Fischer''': 22? I expected it to be a bit more, haven't you been a swimmer for ''years''?
-->'''Randall''': It's the number of people I ''couldn't'' save. It's the only number I kept track of.

You guessed it: with great power ComesGreatResponsibility. Whereas {{Muggles}} can "pass the buck" in terms of the responsibility for [[GreenAesop recycling]], [[ApathyKilledTheCat civic duty]], or taking the government to task, {{Superhero}}es can't. Being the only ones capable of dealing with super villains and natural disasters means that the [[PowerAtAPrice price of their inaction]] is the burden of a death they could have prevented [[BeingGoodSucks on their conscience]]. [[AntiHero Or not.]]

Needless to say, this can go to either extreme. Some go overboard as they attribute any and every un-prevented accident to themselves, running themselves ragged, whereas others [[RefusalOfTheCall deny all responsibility in favor of living a normal life.]]

Because of this trope, one key question about any superhero-containing universe is whether there is a surplus or deficit of superpowered awesomeness relative to crime and other dangers. If there is a surplus, heroes can kick back with no guilty pangs. If not, this trope may come into play in one form or another. If the hero isn't able to take time off, this can easily lead to HeroicFatigue. To help with that and with this trope, many series will have [[HeroOfAnotherStory other similarly powerful characters]] or TrueCompanions take up some of the load, say "we got this one" to give the hero some rest/free time, and remind them YouAreNotAlone

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''[[Anime/MyHeroAcademia]]'', where All Might talks to his protege, Midoriya Izuku, about saving people, and that there are some even he can't save, though he always does his best to save as many as possible.

* By ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the stress of the Reaper invasion seems to have driven Shepard into a severe case of this, regardless of alignment. Implied [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and SurvivorsGuilt over those they couldn't save manifest themselves in numerous haunting [[BadDreams dream sequences]] that occur throughout the game, and past a certain point the [[TrueCompanions support of their squad]] seems to be the only thing holding them together. It's particularly driven home in the ending [[spoiler:if you choose Destroy, the only ending where they survive, they still walk towards the exploding conduit.]]