History Main / TragicMistake

* In ''{{WesternAnimation/Amphibia}}'', on the day the girls were sent to Amphibia, [[Characters/AmphibiaMarcyWu Marcy Wu]] learned that [[spoiler:she and her family were moving out of Los Angeles]]. Shaken by the news, she [[spoiler:used the knowledge she had recently gained concerning the Calamity Box to manipulate her friends into stealing it, thus purposefully sending to them Amphibia so she could have adventures with them forever and never be alone. Unfortunately, she is quickly manipulated by [[Characters/AmphibiaKingAndrias King Andrias]] (who she saw as a friend and mentor) as a means to recover and restore power to the artifact, which will allow him to to conquer the multiverse. She's also nearly killed while trying to rectify all this, and her body ends up becoming the vessel for [[Characters/AmphibiaTheCore The Core]]]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'', Arthur being perfectly willing to kill Garth to save his son in ''ComicBook/DeathOfAPrince'', then charging ahead with his revenge quest, ended up nearly costing him his friendship with Aqualad ''and'' may have ensured his son's death by not being there for Mera when she went alone to save him. Mera subsequently blames him for their child's death, and Arthur can't really refute it.

** Hawke gets one that could be motivated by greed, ambition, or simply a tragically misplaced desire to ensure a better life for their family. Instead of just trying to get by, Hawke invests in an expedition to the Deep Roads in the hope of getting them set for life. It works, but at quite a cost. [[spoiler:The Deep Roads expedition does indeed make Hawke filthy rich, with more than enough coin to be set for life. Varric's brother betrays Hawke, goes mad, and possibly dies. Hawke's surviving sibling ends up as a Grey Warden, dead, or if it's Bethany and she stays behind, taken away by Templars. Then Knight-Commander Meredith picks up the idol that Varric's brother betrays them for, reforges it into a sword, and starts JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, culminating in Kirkwall nearly becoming a Templar-run police state. Then the Grey Warden that Hawke got the map to the Deep Roads from, Anders, commits a coldly premeditated terrorist act to force the Circles of Mages to rebel.]] None of this is really Hawke's fault, as it was the specific actions of other people that cause all these tragic events to happen. But Hawke was indirectly responsible for at least some of it, in the manner of getting the wheels turning.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' Season 2, [=McGillis=] offers an alliance to Tekkadan where he would make them "Kings of Mars" if they help him in his coup to take over Gjallarhorn. When Orga asks the members if it's okay to accept the alliance, they approve it without any second thoughts though this is because they don't know what "King of Mars" mean and just believe it might be good for the organization. Unfortunately, this leads them into tragedy [[spoiler:when they lost several of their allies and friends. This reaches the point when Rustal uses black propaganda to destroy Tekkadan's reputation, leading to Orga and Mikazuki's deaths. In the end, Tekkadan ceased to exist as an organization while the surviving members change their identities to find stable and peaceful lives]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'', [[Characters/ElenaOfAvalorEsteban Esteban]] felt like he was AlwaysSecondBest, like he was invisible. He ended up [[spoiler:helping Shuriki take over his kingdom, which led to the deaths of Elena’s parents, which he did not intend to happen. He came to regret it, but he refused to tell his remaining family of his involvement. Once Elena finds out his treachery, she disowns Esteban and made it clear she will never forgive him no matter how sorry he is]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'', Esteban felt like he was AlwaysSecondBest, like he was invisible. He ended up [[spoiler:helping Shuriki take over his kingdom, which led to the deaths of Elena’s parents, which he did not intend to happen. He came to regret it, but he refused to tell his remaining family of his involvement. Once Elena finds out his treachery, she disowns Esteban and made it clear she will never forgive him no matter how sorry he is]].

* In ''Film/Aquaman2018'', Aquaman has a clear chance to save David's father, Jesse Kane, and chooses MurderByInaction to leave them both to the mercy of the sea. This leads David to become his ArchEnemey Black Manta, swear revenge, and dedicate his life to killing him--and, as Aquaman later notes, he could have stopped it by saving them.

** This in turn, leads a broken and grief-stricken Jack Bauer to go down his own fateful path. Throughout the series, Jack's someone who's always given in to the desire for revenge, but even though it's a constant temptation he just manages to avoid following the outright route of RevengeBeforeReason. That comes to an end here, where thanks to [[spoiler:the Russians previously murdering Renee Walker [[HeKnowsTooMuch to keep her from potentially exposing them after recognizing one of their undercover agents]]]], and after Taylor makes her own mistake and intentionally sidelines him, he goes rogue to find the evidence that confirms that rogue members of the of the government on his own. Unfortunately, when he manages to get the evidence that reveals their part in the conspiracy, instead of just going through with exposing them he finally chooses to go said route [[spoiler:when he executes a surrendering Dana Walsh, ultimately choosing to kill everyone involved in the attacks since Taylor's betrayal has destroyed his belief in any sort of justice system]]. It all goes downhill form there, with him eventually [[spoiler:using an innocent person as a lure for some of the attackers, performing a borderline terrorist-level attack on Logan's motorcade in public, and killing the Russian Foreign Minister which means all of Russia, not just the crooked part, now wants him executed]]. At the very end [[spoiler:he's just ''barely'' stopped before he's able to trigger an international calamity, but by this point he's considered a terrorist who's forced to go into hiding since he'll be taken in for the death penalty, if he isn't shot on sight. Additionally his own family has been made potential targets since they could be attacked to lure him out.]]

* When ''[[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]'' from Franchise/TheFlash was in the FBI profiling a serial killer, Hunter predicted that the guy wouldn't have a gun, and thus urged his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turned out to be wrong, and the killer shot him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. For his mistake, Hunter was crippled for life, divorced by his wife, and discharged from the FBI. His desire to undo this mistake put him on the path to becoming [[EvilCounterpart Zoom]]. [[spoiler:Except years later it turns out there was no mistake -- Hunter had correctly assessed the situation and things would have ended there and then if a time-travelling Professor Zoom hadn't given the killer a gun in order to start Zolomon down the road to becoming Zoom]]. Ironically when his ex-wife Ashley Zolomon learns of Hunter's transformation into Zoom she considered leaving Hunter and getting him discharged from the FBI a terrible mistake and would leave her entire career at the FBI behind to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local meta-human profiler to help reform Hunter.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', toward the end of the Birthright route, Xander has the Avatar at his mercy, and prepares to finish him[=/=] her off. He strikes the killing blow, [[spoiler:only for Xander's younger sister Elise to end up TakingTheBullet for their sibling, resulting in her being fatally injured and dying in his arms. Overwhelmed with guilt and grief, [[SuicideByCop Xander allows the Avatar to kill him]].]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': The irreversible choice that leads to Griffith's downfall and brings all of the Hawks down with him is his tryst with Princess Charlotte immediately after Guts leaves the Band of the Hawk. From this follows his arrest and torture, the outlawing and near annihilation of the Band of the Hawk, and the whole chain of events leading up to the Eclipse -- by which time Griffith has hit the DespairEventHorizon and is persuaded to sacrifice the lives and souls of all of his followers in order to ascend to demonic godhood. The cause of this mistake was that Griffith couldn't reconcile his ambition with his human emotions -- he grew to care about Guts as more than a mere pawn, but couldn't admit his feelings to Guts or himself, nor abide not being able to control Guts's destiny. That created a void that he impulsively tried to fill with sexual conquest and control over someone else. This is just the biggest mistake in the Golden Age Arc, since Guts and Casca might be said to have made crucial mistakes of their own which contributed to that ending:

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walter White could have avoided everything that came after by taking his friend Elliot's offer of a job at Gray Matter Technologies with full health coverage for his cancer treatments. Instead, [[FatalFlaw he saw]] the offer as charity and [[{{Pride}} refused.]]

** [[spoiler:On Titan, Thanos has finally been subdued enough from the combined efforts of Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax, and Mantis to where they can finally try to get the Infinity Gauntlet, with everyone but Mantis holding him in place with their various weapons/abilities while Mantis herself has Thanos asleep with hypnotism. Unfortunately, once Quill finds out how Thanos got the Soul Stone, namely by killing Gamora to get it, he cannot contain his rage and decks Thanos, throwing the heroes' meticulous set-up off and allowing Thanos to throw them all off and ultimately score his victory, during which 50% of the universe's population is wiped from existence. "[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Aw, man...]]", indeed.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda 2'', [[BigBad Lord Shen]] is told by the protagonist that it's not too late; that he can choose who he is, and doesn't have to be defined by his desire for revenge on his family. Shen explicitly chooses to continue fighting, and dies in the battle.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': When ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} is the protector of the residents of Gotham's East End and carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar, her little sister Maggie and childhood friend Sylvia Sinclair move into the area. Despite their shaky history, Selina still trusts Sylvia, even telling Sylvia her sister is living there too. Sylvia ends up betraying her by allying with Black Mask and telling him her identity. Because of this, Black Mask kidnaps Selina's sister and her husband Simon Burton. Simon is tortured to death, while Maggie is tortured to insanity.
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': When Hunter Zolomon was in the FBI profiling a serial killer, Hunter predicted that the guy wouldn't have a gun, and thus urged his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turned out to be wrong, and the killer shot him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. For his mistake, Hunter was crippled for life, divorced by his wife, and discharged from the FBI. His desire to undo this mistake put him on the path to becoming [[EvilCounterpart Zoom]]. [[spoiler:Except years later it turns out there was no mistake -- Hunter had correctly assessed the situation and things would have ended there and then if a time-travelling Professor Zoom hadn't given the killer a gun in order to start Zolomon down the road to becoming Zoom]]. Ironically when his ex-wife Ashley Zolomon learns of Hunter's transformation into Zoom she considered leaving Hunter and getting him discharged from the FBI a terrible mistake and would leave her entire career at the FBI behind to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local meta-human profiler to help reform Hunter.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', one mistake made by Gyutaro ended up ruining his and his sister Ume's lives. The two of them grew up in poverty as the children of a prostitute who was an [[AbusiveParent abusive mother]] to them, and Ume was the one bright spot in Gyutaro's life. Unfortunately, Gyutaro taught Ume his personal "eye for an eye" mentality, resulting in her stabbing a {{samurai}} in the eye when the latter tried to rape her, and then being burned to the verge of death in retaliation. [[spoiler:The two of them ended up becoming demons when Douma happened upon them and offered to help Ume, who was later known as Daki. They then ended up killing countless people before being killed by the combined efforts of Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Uzui]]. At the end of his life, Gyutaro laments that his sister would have had a better life if she'd been born in better circumstances, and [[ItsAllMyFault blames himself for what happened to both of them]].

* In ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' Kuroyukihime, also known as Black Lotus, has two major ones. The first is the decision to kill Red Rider, spurred on by [[spoiler:her sister lying about Red Rider plotting to put the other kings at his mercy through the nonaggression pact]], which leads to her being labeled the worst criminal in Brain Burst, and [[spoiler:being kicked out of her house when she confronts her sister with a box cutter in the real world]]. The second is the decision to raid the Imperial Palace with the Elements, a team of four high-level players with special abilities [[PlotTailoredToTheParty intended to counter]] the ElementalPowers of TheFourGods (who must be engaged simultaneously, lest they recover health too quickly). The mission ends in failure, with Black Lotus and Sky Raker barely escaping, and with the other three Elements being trapped in a situation in which the enemy will kill them repeatedly if they log on, thus leading to the old Nega Nebulus breaking up.

* When ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'' [[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]] from ''{{Franchise/Batman}}'' is the protector of the residents of Gotham's East End and carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar, her little sister Maggie and childhood friend Sylvia Sinclair move into the area. Despite their shaky history, Selina still trusts Sylvia, even telling Sylvia her sister is living there too. Sylvia ends up betraying her by allying with Black Mask and telling him her identity. Because of this, Black Mask kidnaps Selina's sister and her husband Simon Burton. Simon is tortured to death, while Maggie is tortured to insanity.
* When ''[[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon]]'' from Franchise/TheFlash was in the FBI profiling a serial killer, Hunter predicted that the guy wouldn't have a gun, and thus urged his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turned out to be wrong, and the killer shot him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. For his mistake, Hunter was crippled for life, divorced by his wife, and discharged from the FBI. His desire to undo this mistake put him on the path to becoming [[EvilCounterpart Zoom]]. [[spoiler:Except years later it turns out there was no mistake -- Hunter had correctly assessed the situation and things would have ended there and then if a time-travelling Professor Zoom hadn't given the killer a gun in order to start Zolomon down the road to becoming Zoom]]. Ironically when his ex-wife Ashley Zolomon learn of Hunter's transformation into Zoom she considered leaving Hunter and getting him discharged from the FBI a terrible mistake and would leave her entire career at the FBI behind to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local meta-human profiler to help reform Hunter.

* The AVERSION of this is conspicious in ''ComicBook/TheStrangeTalentOfLutherStrode''. The story has all the elements of the tragedy...except Luther never seems to really make the mistake that leads to his doom. From the moment he grabs the Hercules Method, to the end of the strip, his fate is decided. Even his first confrontation with the Librarian fails purely because of the Librarian's strength.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

** Lucy commits a catastrophic mistake [[spoiler:[[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim by deciding to pursue an Arasaka netrunner trying to decipher info on David]] instead of telling him the truth behind her actions or clarifying her love for him turns out to be this. The "netrunner" is revealed to be a trap from Faraday, and her capture [[DamselInDistress creates a situation]] that drives David to installing the cyberskeleton and ultimately losing his life.]]

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch Lamperouge's biggest mistake would undoubtedly be [[spoiler:when he accidentally Geassed Princess Euphemia into massacring the gathered Japanese. He had intended to embrace her Special Administrative Zone wholeheartedly, but he didn't know until it was too late that he was suffering from a sudden onset of PowerIncontinence: an offhand comment became an irrevocable command, and he was forced to kill his beloved sister, tarnish her name, and destroy a fleeting chance at peaceful resolution]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has two major characters whose fatal flaws lead to terrible consequences, and in both cases it's the sin of pride that does them in. One makes a tragic mistake late in the game: [[spoiler: Merrill's true tragic mistake is summoning the Pride Demon (believing herself equal to handling any risk it poses), which ends up possessing Marethari, forcing Merrill to kill her and possibly leading to Merrill's entire clan attacking her and her friends.]] The other's true tragic mistake came before the game even started, [[spoiler: though it's really midway through his character arc since it was the events of ''Awakening'' that led up to it: Anders, being kind to a friend and believing himself strong-willed enough to resist corruption, allows the Spirit of Justice to possess him. Unfortunately, he ends up corrupting the spirit into a demon instead and is slowly driven insane, since his rage at the injustices he sees in the world (and hanging out near some of the most powerful demons in existence) transforms Justice into Vengeance.]]
** Hawke gets one that could be motivated by greed, ambition, or simply a tragically misplaced desire to ensure a better life for their family. Instead of just trying to get by, Hawke invests in an expedition to the Deep Roads in the hope of getting them set for life. It works, but at quite a cost: [[spoiler:Varric's brother betrays them, goes mad, and possibly dies. Hawke's surviving sibling ends up as a Grey Warden, dead, or if it's Bethany and she stays behind, taken away by Templars. Then Knight-Commander Meredith picks up the idol that Varric's brother betrays them for, reforges it into a sword, and starts JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, culminating in Kirkwall nearly becoming a Templar-run police state. Then the Grey Warden that Hawke got the map to the Deep Roads from, Anders, commits a coldly premeditated terrorist act to force the Circles of Mages to rebel.]] It should be noted that none of this is really Hawke's fault, as it was the specific actions of other people that cause all these tragic events to happen.

* This is what pushes [[TheDragon Redcloak]] into AntiVillain (or flat-out villain) territory in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' prequel book ''StartOfDarkness''. [[spoiler:His brother Right-Eye decides that nothing they accomplish working with Xykon is worth his casual slaughter of their own troops, and acquires a weapon that can destroy Xykon despite him being a lich. Redcloak, on the other hand, thinks that it will all have been meaningless if he backs out, and kills Right-Eye. To make matters worse, Xykon reveals that he already knew about Right-Eye's plan and had taken steps to protect himself, but wanted to see what Redcloak would do.]]

* In ''{{WesternAnimation/Amphibia}}'', on the day the girls were sent to Amphibia, Marcy learned that [[spoiler:she and her family were moving out of Los Angeles]]. Shaken by the news, she [[spoiler:used the knowledge she had recently gained concerning the Calamity Box to manipulate her friends into stealing it, thus purposefully sending to them Amphibia so she could have adventures with them forever and never be alone. Unfortunately, she is quickly manipulated by [[BigBad King Andrias]] (who she saw as a friend and mentor) as a means to recover and restore power to the artifact, which will allow him to to conquer the multiverse. She's also nearly killed while trying to rectify all this, and her body ends up becoming the vessel for [[GreaterScopeVillain The Core]]]].

* When ''[[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]]'' from ''{{Franchise/Batman}}'' is the protector of the residents of Gotham's East End and carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar, her little sister Maggie and childhood friend Sylvia Sinclair move into the area. Despite their shaky history, Selina still trusts Sylvia, even telling Sylvia her sister is living there too. Sylvia ends up betraying her by allying with Black Mask and telling him her identity. Because of this, Black Mask kidnaps Selina's sister and her husband Simon Burton. Simon is tortured to death, while Maggie is tortured to insanity.

* Howie from ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'' seals his fate by ''not'' having sex with Willow.

* ''ExperimentingFear'': Because he's in such a hurry to get his first Pokémon, Nando doesn't wait for his parents to take him to Professor Rowan's lab, decides to go alone, and gets kidnapped by a SerialKiller.