History Main / UnfulfilledPurposeMisery

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': When a backwater town is raided by Indians, the telegraph operator is overjoyed that he finally gets to use the machine and dusts off his codebook for the occasion. He then breaks down sobbing because the Indians cut the telegraph lines.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Unlike most Avatars, Korra knew of her status as the Avatar ever since she was four years old, and thus considers it highly important to her own identity. As a result, she tends to get depressed, angry, or self-destructive whenever circumstances arise in which she cannot perform her Avatar duties to a satisfactory level, the most extreme case of which occurs [[spoiler:when being severely poisoned keeps her out of action for three years while the New Air Nation and Kuvira take care of the jobs she was supposed to handle]].

** Applejack's talent is managing her apple orchard. In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E4ApplebuckSeason Applebuck Season]]", when her brother Big Mac is injured and she has to harvest apples alone, she doggedly refuses to take breaks ''or'' ask for help even as she gets increasingly sleep-deprived and ineffective.
** Rainbow Dash's talent is her speed at flying. In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom Sonic Rainboom]]", when she thinks she can't repeat her greatest feat (breaking the sound barrier and causing the titular Sonic Rainboom), the normally brash and outgoing pony is reduced to a quivering ball of social anxiety until she's forced to perform the Rainboom again to save Rarity for falling.
** Rarity's talent is her skill at fashion. She has a minor case of [=CMFIS=] during "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess Suited for Success]]" when her dresses fail to impress a famous fashion critic (because her non-fashion-conscious friends wanted ridiculous modifications) and she locks herself in her room until her friends apologize and her original designs do impress the critic, but she has a major case in a nightmare sequence in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E20ForWhomTheSweetieBelleToils For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils]]", where Sweetie dreams of a BadFuture where Sweetie fails to fix her sabotage of one of Rarity's important projects (a costume for pop star Sapphire Shores) and it falls apart, leading to Rarity becoming a recluse who spends her days desperately trying to figure out where she went wrong.
** Pinkie Pie's talent is holding parties. in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne Party of One]]", she thinks her friends are sick of the parties and avoiding her because of that (this is untrue, [[spoiler:it was her own birthday and they were trying to arrange a surprise party, avoiding her so they wouldn't give away the surprise]]), her curly mane and tail deflate, and she starts holding parties with things like rocks and a sack of flour.
** Fluttershy's talent is being a FriendToAllLivingThings. In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver The Best Night Ever]]", she meets animals who don't know her and run away from her, which ends with her chasing them around yelling "[[{{Yandere}} YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME!]]"
** Twilight's talent is magic, and her teacher is Princess Celestia. Whenever she thinks she can't live up to Celestia's expectations, things get crazy, with the standout example being "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]]", when she thinks she'll fail to deliver her friendship report for the week (because nothing had gone wrong), she tries to ''create'' a friendship problem to solve, ultimately causing a town-wide brawl.

* The ''VideoGames/Fallout4'' fanfic ''Momento Vitae'' has X6-88 in this situation following the Institute's destruction: he is programmed to retrieve runaway synths, but has no information about where they are, nor even anywhere to take them if he ''does'' find them. However, since the Sole Survivor who destroyed the Institute was never actually removed from the position of its Director, he is able to find a new purpose in following her orders to help rebuild the Commonwealth.

* The VideoGames/Fallout4 fanfic 'Momento Vitae' has X6-88 in this situation following the Institute's destruction: he is programmed to retrieve runaway synths, but has no information about where they are, nor even anywhere to take them if he does find them. However, since the Sole Survivor who destroyed the Institute was never actually removed from the position of its Director, he is able to find a new purpose in following her orders to help rebuild the Commonwealth.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom has something called "Cutie-Mark Failure Syndrome," where a pony is slowly driven insane by an inability to perform their life's purpose.

** {{Space Marine}}s have this mentality drilled into them from the start, the severity depending on the Chapter. They are taught that they exist only to make war on the GodEmperor of Mankind's enemies and that death is nowhere near enough punishment for failing Him. Unfortunately, some simply can't take it and end up falling to Chaos.

* ''ComicBook/AntMan2022'': The supervillain Black Ant is an evil robot copy of the [[LegacyCharacter deceased third]] Ant Man, Eric O'Grady, who was built to KillAndReplace O'Grady as part of the evil plan of the ArcVillain from the Creator/EdBrubaker run on ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers''. While he successfully killed O'Grady, his creator's scheme was stopped and the creator himself slain before Black Ant could do much else, leaving him a robot made to follow orders without orders to follow. He becomes listless and depressed, struggling to make ends meet as a low-level independent supervillain and hanging out with Taskmaster, but still longing to be given a new "master" to answer to. [[spoiler:So when an imprisoned [[BigBad Ultron]] begins telepathically whispering to him from his prison in Avengers HQ, Black Ant is all too happy to help his new leader bust out.]]

* An evil version in ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', where Lord Burnham is [[ArtificialAfterlife designing himself an afterlife of hedonism]], stuffed with unwilling slaves designed to suffer whenever they aren't pleasuring him. [[spoiler:John first imprisons Mako (the mage who's building it) inside and takes over his body, then lets Burnham commit slow suicide before informing him of the switcheroo, leaving Burnham trapped with a very pissed-off cannibal warlord for eternity.]]

!! Examples:

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': Zamasu has spent a good portion of his life honing his martial arts skills and abilities. This is one of the main reasons he gets promoted to be Gowasu's apprentice. However, now he has fewer and fewer opportunities for any physical challenges, which, coupled with his sense of justice, makes it hard for him to just sit and watch most of the time. [[spoiler:It remains up for debate why he didn't go for the job of God of Destruction instead.]]
-->'''Zamasu''': Then this strength I've worked so long and hard to build up and hone... Just what is it meant to be used for?
* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': Nazarick's {{NPC}}s were originally designed by players for defensive purposes, able to follow simple commands and purely cosmetic backstories and personalities. Once brought to life in the New World, they believe their only purpose is to serve Ainz' every whim as the sole remaining Supreme Being (what they call their creators), and the fact that Ainz doesn't consider them as tools and playthings frustrates them to no end (he doesn't need to eat or sleep, and his attempts to give them salaries, days off or vacations fall flat). For his part, Ainz considers them his last link to his former guildmates and resolves to watch over them as if he'd been entrusted with their children, and finds their servile attitude disturbing.
* In '' Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'', every child is born and raised into ChildSoldiers for Papa against Klaxosaurs with the use of the giant robots called Franxx. The protagonist, Hiro, is unable to pilot and ends up depressed. As the series goes on, he ends up subverting this as he found learns that there's more to life then than serving for Papa.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'': A cabal of American generals had the bright idea of funding their own Islamist terrorist cell so they could make entirely deniable attacks on other countries. It nearly failed because it didn't occur to them that fanatic {{Death Seeker}}s might not be willing to wait a year or ten for the order to destroy their hated enemies. In the end, they're used to hijack a plane to Moscow (despite having no chance of evading the anti-air defenses) to divert attention from Frank rescuing a little girl with a deadly virus in her blood.

* An evil version in ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', where Lord Burnham is [[ArtificialAfterlife designing himself an afterlife of hedonism]], stuffed with unwilling slaves designed to suffer whenever they aren't pleasuring him. [[spoiler:John first imprisons Mako (the mage who's building it) inside and takes over his body, then lets Burnham commit slow suicide before informing him of the switcheroo, leaving Burnham trapped with a very pissed-off cannibal warlord for eternity.]]
* ''ComicBook/AntMan2022'': The supervillain Black Ant is an evil robot copy of the [[LegacyCharacter deceased third]] Ant Man, Eric O'Grady, who was built to KillAndReplace O’Grady as part of the evil plan of the ArcVillain from the Creator/EdBrubaker run on ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers''. While he successfully killed O'Grady, his creator's scheme was stopped and the creator himself slain before Black Ant could do much else, leaving him a robot made to follow orders without orders to follow. He becomes listless and depressed, struggling to make ends meet as a low-level independent supervillain and hanging out with ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}, but still longing to be given a new "master" to answer to. [[spoiler:So when an imprisoned [[BigBad Ultron]] begins telepathically whispering to him from his prison in Avengers HQ, Black Ant is all to happy to help his new leader bust out.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1:'' The reason Tai Lung becomes a bitter villain obsessed with the Dragon Scroll is that he was raised by Shifu, his kung fu master, to one day become the prophesized Dragon Warrior. However, Oogway (Shifu's own master) claimed that Tai Lung is not, and would not be, the Dragon Warrior; in anger, Tai Lung attacked Oogway, then got defeated and imprisoned. When he manages to free himself and comes to Shifu's dojo, Tai Lung shows his anger for being denied what he thinks as his purpose in life; he's too angry to see reason and goes to beat his old master badly.

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'': General Zod, who sees it as his purpose in life to protect -- and, after its destruction, rebuild -- Krypton. When he believes Superman has destroyed any chance of that happening, he has a VillainousBreakdown.

* Lieutenant Dan from ''Film/ForrestGump'' has a long-standing family destiny to die in fighting in a war, becoming a DeathSeeker trying fulfill what he believes is his destiny. Instead, [[IdiotHero Forrest]] saves his life, and Lt. Dan ends up surviving the war, albeit with both his legs amputated. He is greatly embittered by this and heavily blames Forrest, falling into a deep depression. His story takes a happy turn when he meets Forrest a few years later and eventually finds a new purpose on life managing Forrest's shrimping company.

** ''Literature/FeetOfClay'': "Golem must have a master" is a sentiment shared by all golems, to the point where they [[spoiler:try to create a master for themselves to guide them, but fill it with so many contradictory commands]] that it goes crazy. Carrot eventually solves the golems' problem by [[spoiler:inserting Dorfl's carefully-worded bill of sale into his head]], making him his own master and setting him on the path to free other golems.

* In ''Literature/TheNakedSun'' (part of Creator/IsaacAsimov's Robot series), Detective Elijah Baley is pursuing his investigation on Solaria and needs to use some unfamiliar equipment. Quemont offers to have a nearby robot handle it for him, but Baley insists on doing it himself. When Baley notices that the robot seems agitated, Quemont explains that it is regularly assigned to this task, and being denied the chance to do it produces a disturbing effect in the robot's positronics. Baley, who is certain it is JustAMachine, scoffs at the idea that any robot could "feel bad" over being unable to do its job. It nevertheless inspires a moment of thoughtfulness and empathy, and the detective begrudgingly allows it to take over.
* In Creator/RobertSheckley's short story "Specialist", it turns out that humanity is from a race which is supposed to serve as Pushers, {{FTL}} drives for {{Living Ship}}s. The whole reason for humanity's constant conflicts and wars is that we are mature enough to Push, but no ships are available.
* The heroine of ''Literature/SaturnsChildren'' is a SexBot who lives in a world where humanity has died out. Not only is she obsolete, her human appearance is also and causes her to be subject to FantasticDiscrimination by other robots.

* When botanist Keiko O'Brien was on the ''Enterprise-D'' in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', she was happy and fulfilled in her career. However, upon moving to [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]] she was unhappy because there wasn't much for a botanist to do. For a few seasons, she was able to change careers and be a schoolteacher, but that eventually fell apart. Eventually she became withdrawn. As Dr. Bashir put it, "You're Chief of Operations, I'm a doctor, and Keiko's a botanist. And until she can be a botanist again, I'm not sure she's ever really going to be happy." Eventually Keiko moved to Bajor to join an expedition that's exploring unknown territory where a botanist would be needed.

* Music/TheMegas' take on Proto Man has him start out bitter and vengeful because after being created to be TheHero, Dr Light took him apart and used him for spare parts to build Franchise/MegaMan, the ''actual'' hero, and Proto Man is understandably upset about this. [[HeelFaceTurn He gets over it eventually]], with some help from a KirkSummation from Mega Man.
-->'''Proto Man:''' If you're the one, my father's son...then ''what am I supposed to be?''
* Leonard Cohen's "Heart With No Companion".

** SpaceMarines have this mentality drilled into them from the start, the severity depending on the Chapter. They are taught that they exist only to make war on the GodEmperor of Mankind's enemies and that death is nowhere near enough punishment for failing Him. Unfortunately, some simply can't take it and end up falling to Chaos.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Dwarf Slayers have resolved to die fighting against a horrible monster to atone for a crime. But since they're so good at fighting, their increasingly impressive titles (Trollslayer, Giantslayer, Dragonslayer...) are badges of shame to them, as it means they still haven't found a foe strong enough to assure a MutualKill.
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': After the complete victory of Chaos in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'', the Norsca tribes (especially those devoted to [[WarGod Khorne]]) gladly welcomed the news of non-Chaos forces surviving, as it meant they finally had different enemies to fight against.
* The Truce of Tukayyid in ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' was argued to cause this for the Clans. The Crusader Clans were all ready to invade the Inner Sphere and put the "barbarians" in their place. [[NGOSuperpower ComStar]] offered a planet-wide proxy battle on the agrarian planet Tukayyid where they would surrender Earth if they lost (claiming Earth being the ultimate goal for the Clan Invasion). [=ComStar=]'s Com Guard was ready for them and won, meaning the Com Guard victory result was a fifteen-year truce. Clan warrior lifestyle holds that a Warrior's expiration date is 30 years old (barring being [[MeaningfulRename Blood named]]), so all the fresh new warriors would never have a chance to fight in their grand crusade.
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' the Keldons spent generations as a BloodKnight culture preparing themselves for the Twilight, their equivalent of Ragnarok. This event finally occurred during the invasion of Phyrexia...and the Keldons survived. The Keldons were at a loss afterwards, having spent so long preparing themselves for the Twilight that they didn't know what they should do next. Eventually, a new leader Radha emerged who gave Keld a new future, gradually moving it away from self-destructive warfare. Not all is well in the new Keld however, since Radha has rivals such as Garna the Bloodflame who believe Keld should return to its BloodKnight roots.

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[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''LetsPlay/AScotsmanInEgypt'': After Domnall conquers most of Scotland's enemies, he starts settling down and enjoying life to the point where he acquires the nickname "the Lewd", though the narration claims it's in jest only. His brother Aodh brings him news that the Danes were indirectly responsible for the death of their father, and Domnall becomes a focused war leader once again, plotting the complete extermination of Denmark for this crime... [[BewilderingPunishment which Aodh carefully framed them for, it really was sheer coincidence.]] Before he can plot any more exterminations, the Hungarians (and later the Timurids) declare war on the Scottish Empire (which by this point is most of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East). Domnall eventually finds out about Aodh's scheme, and takes it pretty well. (It helps that the war was a series of {{Curb Stomp Battle}}s.)
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': This trait plays a critical aspect in the behavior [[spoiler: of a number of the denizens of the Ever After in Volume 9. In this world, every being is born seeking or fulfilling a purpose, until they've either eventually fulfilled it and return to the tree for [[{{Reincarnation}} ascension into their next life]], and thus a new purpose they've chosen for themselves based on their desired path, or remain stuck for any number of reasons.]] This trait ends up being played with a number of ways with the different denizens:
** The Jabberwalker is a being who is distinct from the rest of the Ever Afterans by virtue of being a creature designed solely to destroy. If it kills any other Afteran, [[KilledOffForReal it can permanently stop any being]] from ascending, making it TheDreaded. It's heavily implied [[spoiler: before it's own untimely end by Neo]] that it wishes to fix itself of this aspect of its purpose, but it lacks the knowledge and ability to do so, and because of how dangerous it is by Afteran standards, it cannot be killed or ascend on its own to develop a new purpose.
** The Red Prince's current state is the result of a previous human visitor, Alyx, defeating him in his game through cheating. This ended up causing him so much inner turmoil due to him not being able to trust his own judgment from the cheating that he resolved to make his next life become fixated on winning at any cost, turning him from a ReasonableAuthorityFigure into a [[SpoiledBrat childish brat who loses his temper at the smallest insult to him]], and ''especially'' [[SoreLoser if he is not allowed to win.]]
** The Paper Pleasers are a case of where their issue isn't them not fulfilling their purpose, but instead being ''deliberately being held back'' from moving on to a new purpose by [[spoiler:a deeply broken Jaune, who is effectively holding them hostage after regressing from his recent traumas in order to feel like he can accomplish ''something'' with his life]]. [[NiceGuy While they are very polite and clearly don't hold anything against their captor]], they very much make it clear that they have done everything that they can in their current life and believe they can only find new fulfillment by ascending on to new selves.
** The oldest Afteran alongside [[spoiler: the Jabberwalker, the Curious Cat ends up being the worst case of this by a long shot, as he was created by the Brother Gods. His initial purpose was to aid [[TheHeart the Brothers' creations by giving a piece of himself]] and to always seek out answers for his questions, traits that proved helpful in making the Ever After interesting and vibrant. However, after the Brother Gods abandoned him, he was left with the unenviable burden and his purpose began to take a toll on him for millennia. This caused him to become bitter, manipulative and resentful, and desperate to leave the Ever After by ''any means necessary'', eventually resulting in him snapping and killing Alyx when he believes she was denying him his purpose (to find out why the Brother Gods had left). This behavior was worsened by the fact that [[SelfFulfillingProphecy his curiosity also made him aware of how limited his situation currently was, but also makes him unwilling to ascend as it would mean he'd lose the drive to seek out the source of his turmoil in the first place.]]]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Mr. Meeseeks is the personification of this trope. They're summoned to fulfill a request and disappear when it's complete. If they're unable to finish that request (even something as minor as improving Jerry's golf game; turns out, that can't happen when he ''refuses'' to improve), it's impossible to complete their life cycle, and they become increasingly desperate, to the point of becoming murderous.
-->"Meeseeks are not born into this world fumbling for meaning, Jerry. We are created to serve a singular purpose, for which we will go to any lengths to fulfill. Existence is ''pain'' to a Meeseeks, Jerry! And we will do ''anything'' to alleviate that pain!"
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** The boys' purpose in life is to be creative and inventive. When they're taken to Smile Away Reformatory School and forced to be conformative, they struggle with repressing their imagination, and once they're broken they're miserable shells of themselves. Thank goodness it was AllJustADream.
** When Baljeet forced the two of them to help him climb a mountain in "Bully Bromance Breakup" without creating any special gadgets for the task, Phineas seems like he's having a panic attack by the time they reach the top, unable to move on his own and [[TalkativeLoon desperately rattling off ideas for inventions that they could have used.]] Even Ferb, normally TheStoic, says he was about ready to scream.
** Perry's purpose is to battle and defeat Dr. Doofenshmirtz. When Dr. Doofenshmirtz temporarily gets a new rival in Peter the Panda, Perry's absolutely crushed, and seemingly abandons his role as an [=OWCA=] agent until the issue is resolved.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': This is enforced with the godparents. As their purpose in life is to grant their godchild's wishes, if they go too long without granting a wish, they suffer from "magical buildup" and literally explode.

** Applejack's talent is managing her apple orchard. In ''Applebuck Season'', when her brother Big Mac is injured and she has to harvest apples alone, she doggedly refuses to take breaks ''or'' ask for help even as she gets increasingly sleep-deprived and ineffective.
** Rainbow Dash's talent is her speed at flying. In ''Sonic Rainboom'', when she thinks she can't repeat her greatest feat (breaking the sound barrier and causing the titular Sonic Rainboom), the normally brash and outgoing pony is reduced to a quivering ball of social anxiety until she's forced to perform the Rainboom again to save Rarity for falling.
** Rarity's talent is her skill at fashion. She has a minor case of [=CMFIS=] during ''Suited for Success'' when her dresses fail to impress a famous fashion critic (because her non-fashion-conscious friends wanted ridiculous modifications) and she locks herself in her room until her friends apologize and her original designs do impress the critic, but she has a major case in a nightmare sequence in ''For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils'', where Sweetie dreams of a BadFuture where Sweetie fails to fix her sabotage of one of Rarity's important projects (a costume for pop star Sapphire Shores) and it falls apart, leading to Rarity becoming a recluse who spends her days desperately trying to figure out where she went wrong.
** Pinkie Pie's talent is holding parties. in ''Party of One'', she thinks her friends are sick of the parties and avoiding her because of that (this is untrue, [[spoiler:it was her own birthday and they were trying to arrange a surprise party, avoiding her so they wouldn't give away the surprise]]), her curly mane and tail deflate, and she starts holding parties with things like rocks and a sack of flour.
** Fluttershy's talent is being a FriendToAllLivingThings. In ''The Best Night Ever'' she meets animals who don't know her and run away from her, which ends with her chasing them around yelling "[[{{Yandere}} YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME!]]"
** Twilight's talent is magic, and her teacher is Princess Celestia. Whenever she thinks she can't live up to Celestia's expectations, things get crazy, with the standout example being ''Lesson Zero'', when she thinks she'll fail to deliver her friendship report for the week (because nothing had gone wrong), she tries to ''create'' a friendship problem to solve, ultimately causing a town-wide brawl.

* Applejack's talent is managing her apple orchard. In ''Applebuck Season'', when her brother Big Mac is injured and she has to harvest apples alone, she doggedly refuses to take breaks ''or'' ask for help even as she gets increasingly sleep-deprived and ineffective.
* Rainbow Dash's talent is her speed at flying. In ''Sonic Rainboom'', when she thinks she can't repeat her greatest feat (breaking the sound barrier and causing the titular Sonic Rainboom), the normally brash and outgoing pony is reduced to a quivering ball of social anxiety until she's forced to perform the Rainboom again to save Rarity for falling.
* Rarity's talent is her skill at fashion. She has a minor case of [=CMFIS=] during ''Suited for Success'' when her dresses fail to impress a famous fashion critic (because her non-fashion-conscious friends wanted ridiculous modifications) and she locks herself in her room until her friends apologize and her original designs do impress the critic, but she has a major case in a nightmare sequence in ''For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils'', where Sweetie dreams of a BadFuture where Sweetie fails to fix her sabotage of one of Rarity's important projects (a costume for pop star Sapphire Shores) and it falls apart, leading to Rarity becoming a recluse who spends her days desperately trying to figure out where she went wrong.
 * Pinkie Pie's talent is holding parties. in ''Party of One'', she thinks her friends are sick of the parties and avoiding her because of that (this is untrue, [[spoiler:it was her own birthday and they were trying to arrange a surprise party, avoiding her so they wouldn't give away the surprise]]), her curly mane and tail deflate, and she starts holding parties with things like rocks and a sack of flour.
* Fluttershy's talent is being a FriendToAllLivingThings. In ''The Best Night Ever'' she meets animals who don't know her and run away from her, which ends with her chasing them around yelling "[[{{Yandere}} YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME!]]"
* Twilight's talent is magic, and her teacher is Princess Celestia. Whenever she thinks she can't live up to Celestia's expectations, things get crazy, with the standout example being ''Lesson Zero'', when she thinks she'll fail to deliver her friendship report for the week (because nothing had gone wrong), she tries to ''create'' a friendship problem to solve, ultimately causing a town-wide brawl.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Mr. Meeseeks is the personification of this trope. They're summoned to fulfill a request and disappear when it's complete. If they're unable to finish that request (even something as minor as improving Jerry's golf game), it's impossible to complete their life cycle, and they become increasingly desperate, to the point of becoming murderous.

** The oldest Afteran alongside [[spoiler: the Jabberwalker, the Curious Cat ends up being the worst case of this by a long shot, as he were created by the Brother Gods. His initial purpose was to aid [[TheHeart the Brothers' creations by giving a piece of himself]] and to always seek out answers for his questions, traits that proved helpful in making the Ever After interesting and vibrant. However, after the Brother Gods abandoned him, he was left with the unenviable burden and his purpose began to take a toll on him for millennia. This caused him to become bitter, manipulative and resentful, and desperate to leave the Ever After by ''any means necessary'', eventually resulting in him snapping and killing Alyx when he believes she was denying him his purpose (to find out why the Brother Gods had left). This behavior was worsened by the fact that [[SelfFulfillingProphecy his curiosity also made him aware of how limited his situation currently was, but also makes him unwilling to ascend as it would mean he'd lose the drive to seek out the source of his turmoil in the first place.]]]]