A Stock Phrase wherein a character acknowledges a past missed opportunity just as they are about to do what they were unable to (or chose not to) all those years ago. Often, the character spared a foe's life in the past and has since come to regret letting the Ungrateful Bastard live, in which case the phrase usually comes during a Sword over Head moment and may be accompanied by Prepare to Die. Bonus points if the character in question is a villain who foolishly killed one of his enemies in the Back Story but left their child, now The Hero, alive out of scorn, or a Mentor who couldn't bring himself to kill his beloved pupil, now the Big Bad, even when their Omnicidal Maniac tendencies became apparent. It can also be used by a henchman who served the Big Bad faithfully, despite any mistreatment only to be tossed aside once they got what they wanted, prompting said henchman to turn to the light side.
Note that the phrase may be used in regards to plenty of things other than murder: a risk not taken, a path not followed, a highschool sweetheart not smooched - any of these may provoke the phrase years later, optionally accompanied by a wistful expression and/or a tear in the eye.
This trope can also appear in more disguised forms, without having to invoke the Stock Phrase. "I have a certain phone call to make"/"there's a family waiting for me"/"I just realised I need to visit an old friend"/etc. are all stock sentences that stem directly from this concept.
Loosely related to I Always Wanted to Say That.
Examples:
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- One FedEx commercial had a clerk set up an incredibly huge multi-destination order over the phone. Then the other side of the line is revealed to be Santa and his elves, starting off on a tropical holiday now that they've outsourced all their present deliveries to FedEx, saying they should have thought of this years ago.
Comic Books
- Calvin and Hobbes: Calvin's dad uses the "Should have thought of this years ago" variation in one bedtime story strip: the story is about a disembodied hand that goes around strangling people and was never found, so to this day it could be anywheOHMIGOD IT'S GOT ME!!!! With Calvin out cold, his dad says the above line.
Fan Works
- Dirty Sympathy Klavier jokingly apologizes to Apollo for not pushing his brother off the Swiss Alp when he was nine.
Films — Animated
- Antz: When Col. Cutter finally rebels against Gen. Mandible's evil ways and tries to help the ants the general tried to drown.
General Mandible: Cutter, what are you doing?
Colonel Cutter: Something I should have done, a long time ago. [extends his hand to the worker ants] This is for the good of the colony, sir. - In Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame: At the climax, Frollo finally reveals to Quasimodo that he killed his mother who was trying to save him (rather than abandoning him like Frollo had always told him). Frollo then delivers the famous line, "And now, I'm going to do what I should have done... TWENTY YEARS AGO!" and proceeds to throw poor Quasi off the cathedral balcony. Too bad he ended up dying instead of killing Quasi.
- The Kung Fu Panda films both have the phrase, in which Mr. Ping the goose told his son Po the panda something he should've told him a long time ago. First Film: His secret ingredient soup. Second Film: His adoption.
- Moana: After Moana finds some old ships hidden in a cave discovers that her people were once voyagers, her father sets off to burn said ships like he said he should have done long ago. He doesn't get very far though, because he gets told he has something else to worry about.
- In Disney’s Tarzan, after the fight between Tarzan and Kerchak, the former is especially conflicted between his loyalty to his gorilla family and his newfound love in Jane. His mother, Kala, sighs and says, "Come with me. There's something I should've shown you long ago." She then takes him to the treehouse she found him in as a baby.
Films — Live-Action
- Bridget Jones' Diary
Mark Darcy: I should have done this years ago.
Daniel Cleaver: Done what?
Mark Darcy: This. [Punches Cleaver, hard] - Call Of The Prairie (1936)
Johnny Nelson: I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago...I'm going to round up those crooks!
- A Cinderella Story
Sam: Austin? What are you doing?
Austin: Something I should have done a long time ago. [he kisses her] - Downfall has Hitler say something similar to his entry on the Real Life section in his famous Villainous Breakdown scene.
Hitler: For years the military has hindered my plans! They've put every kind of obstacle in my way! What I should have done is liquidate all the high-ranking officers, like Stalin did!
- A History of Violence:
Tom: I should've killed you back in Philly.
Carl: Yeah, Joey... you should have. - Passport To Paris
Jeremy: I quit. (…) No, no. I need to thank you. For giving me the courage to do what I should have done a long time ago.
Literature
- A Feast for Crows: In his last conversation with Jaime Lannister, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen laments that he should have done more to rein in his psychotic father, King Aerys before the latter started a Civil War by murdering the loved ones of several major nobles on a whim. Rhaegar infers to Jaime he has plans to make that right which he would discuss further when he returned from what ended up being the battle at which he was killed.
Rhaegar Targaryen: When the battle's done, I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but ... well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return.
- Early in Stephen King's The Stand, Frannie Goldsmith's father touches this trope when he finally puts his foot down about his wife living in, essentially, a shrine for their dead son.
Live Action TV
- Battlestar Galactica: Colonel Tigh in "Revelations".
"I should have told you when I first found out, but I didn't have the guts."
- The Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Seeing Red" has a perfect example after Spike's Attempted Rape of Buffy.
Buffy: Ask me again why I could never love you!
Spike: Buffy... My God, I didn't--
Buffy: Because I stopped you! [quieter] Something I should have done a long time ago. - The Doctor Who episode "Father's Day"
The Doctor: Jackie Tyler, do as I say! GO! AND CHECK! THE DOORS! [she does] Should've done that ages back.
- Greg the Bunny
Gil: Hey there son!
Jimmy: What're you doing here?
Gil: Something I should have done a long time ago! [wraps his arms around Jimmy and gives him a big hug].
Jimmy: What? Molest me? - In Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Queen Bansheera completely revives by destroying Vypra and absorbing her energy, commenting that she should've done so in the beginning.
- Power Rangers Time Force episode "The End of Time: Part 3"
Jen: I should have told you this a long time ago. I love you!
- Star Trek: Enterprise episode "These Are the Voyages..."
Riker: I think I'm ready to talk to Captain Picard. Should have done it a long time ago.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation, final episode: Picard joins the bridge officers' poker game at the end, and is offered to deal. He says this line, to which Troi says 'You were always welcome.'
Theatre
- The Mrs. Hawking series: In part V: Mrs. Frost, somewhat ironically, when Nathaniel says that if he knew it would win him Mrs. Hawking's affection, he would have let "some brute beat the stuffing out of me" ages ago.
Video Games
- At the end of Merill's Rivalry path in Dragon Age II, she says this before smashing the Eluvian.
- In branch B of Drakengard 3, Cent stabs Dito when the latter tries to kill Two. As Dito chokes out, "Why...?", Cent replies that the real question is why he didn't do it before. (And given how much of an asshole Dito is, Cent has a point.)
- In Mass Effect 2, you have a second encounter with the annoying reporter you met in the first game. If you didn't punch her then and do the second time, you say "I should have done that the first time we met."
- At the end of Mega Man 7, Mega Man is sick of fighting Dr. Wily over and over again only for him to escape and try again to take over the world, so he delivers this line and starts charging his Arm Cannon. However, he's stopped by a Three Laws-Compliant and Bass rescues Wily.
- Ratchet: Deadlocked
Gleeman Vox: Now I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago... I'm going to give DreadZone fans the finale they always wanted... It's a little one act play I like to call... Death... of A Lombax.
- Red Dead Redemption II: Happens twice in Chapter 6.
- Partway through the chapter, when Arthur Morgan kicks Herr Strauss out of the gang, the latter asks, "What are you doing?!" and the former replies, "Something I shoulda done a long time ago."
- During the climax, when John Marston hears of Micah Bell's treachery from Arthur while they are fleeing from the Pinkertons, John's furious reaction is: "We should have killed him months ago!"
- In Resident Evil 5, Albert Wesker admits that he should have killed Chris years ago after the latter ruins his latest and greatest scheme.
- Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Sir Raleigh: Oh, I'm ever so sorry... how sloppy of me not to have finished the job. Obviously we should have snuffed you out as well... so, without further adieu, let me make amends by, what... BLOATING to GARGANTUAN SIZE and SQUASHING YOU like the insignificant bug that you are...
- One event chain in Stellaris can appear after you settle on a new planet in which the pollen of a native plant is found to give your colonists a mild high, which is good for morale but bad for productivity. The player is then given a choice of whether to spend credits on stamping out the plant or letting things be. If the player leaves it alone, what follows is a long chain of events where things on the colony go haywire as most people get addicted and stop working, raising the threat of insurrection and even a team from the homeworld gets afflicted and stops obeying your orders. It finally culminates in rallying the non-afflicted population into retaking control and stamping out the pollen's effects at much greater cost than before — the only choice available at this point is simply "We should have done this a long time ago".
- One of the Heavy's revenge lines in Team Fortress 2.
Heavy: I should have done this long ago!
- The Big Bad of Time Crisis 3, Giorgio Zott, pulls this when he gets ready to launch the tactical missiles meant for Lukano.
Zott: I should have gotten rid of that pesky country long ago...
Web Animation
- Etra chan saw it!: Through her daughter-in-law Tsutsuji's support, Azami
divorces her husband Hiiragi, after he never helped her fight back against his parents and cheated on her, as she should have done it a long time ago.
- Homestar Runner: When Strong Bad accidentally downloads several computer viruses, causing reality to re-write itself, Bubs takes Homestar's leg (actually a shotgun that's been affected by the viruses) and goes to shoot Strongbad's computer. "I shoulda done this like a million years ago!"
Web Comics
- Parodied in one Cyanide and Happiness strip, in which the phrase is spoken by a man named Procrastinator Pete while holding a gun. What's the thing he should have done a long time ago? File his taxes. He gives the gun to the other person so they can hold him at gunpoint and force him to do it.
Web Video
- StacheBros: In the Super Mario 3D Land episode of "Luigi Time!!!", after Luigi injures Mario (to the point of briefly killing him only to be revived with 1-UPs) for keeping a Nintendo 3DS to himself instead of giving it to him for his birthday, Mario gives it to Luigi, which makes him very excited. When Luigi sees that Mario has been playing Super Mario 3D Land on it, Luigi says "I should've killed my brother years ago! Wait...".
Western Animation
- Amphibia:
- In the Season 1 finale "Reunion", Anne, who's let Sasha push her around for long time, musters up the courage to stand up to her after the latter threatens Sprig's life.
Sasha: Anne, what are you doing?!
Anne: Something I should have done a long time ago; standing up to you! - In the Grand Finale "The Hardest Thing", when The Core demands Andrias (who by that point had come to a Heel Realization in the previous episode) to help them stop the girls from destroying them, Andrias finally had enough of serving his abusive master and calls them out in a Meaningful Echo of Anne's response above.
The Core: You Fool! You could have been immortal! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
Andrias: Something I should've done a long time ago; STANDING UP TO YOU!
- In the Season 1 finale "Reunion", Anne, who's let Sasha push her around for long time, musters up the courage to stand up to her after the latter threatens Sprig's life.
- Danny Phantom: In the episode “Beauty Marked”, Dora the Ghost Dragon says this after Sam convinced her to finally stand up to her brother Prince Aragon.
Aragon: Dora, you imbecile! What do you think you’re doing?!
Dora: What I should’ve done AGES ago! - Family Guy:
Lois Griffin: Wha? What are you doing with a gun?
Stewie Griffin: Something I should have done a very long time ago! [shoots Lois] - In the Invader Zim episode "Zim Eats Waffles", Dib manages to sneak a camera into Zim's house by simply asking GIR to do it for him. Dib remarks he should have tried that a long time ago.
- Lilith says this in the season one finale of The Owl House just before taking on half of Eda's curse.
Lilith: Oh sister, I should have done this a long time ago. With this spell declared, let the pain be shared.
- Lampshaded by The Simpsons. Marge writes a novel with the main cast as expies of herself, Homer and Flanders. Events play out in a way which mirrors the novel, resulting in Homer confronting Flanders on a cliff (in the book, the expies fall off a cliff in a fight over expy Marge). Homer cites the phrase. He asks Flanders how to be a good husband.
- Episode "Homer Goes to College"
Bart: Well, Pop, what are you gonna do?
Homer: Something I should have done a long time ago! [long pause]
Marge: You don't know, do you?
Homer: No, ma'am. - Episode "Treehouse of Horror VIII"
[Homer pulls up an axe]
Marge: Homer, what are you doing?
Homer: Something I should have done a long time ago. [turns on Bart with his axe] I'll teach you to mess with my machine!
Bart: [begins screaming and running while Homer chases him]
Homer: I'm gonna chop you good!
- Episode "Homer Goes to College"
- Gargamel's comment on the use of his Daredevil Dust to capture the Smurfs in The Smurfs (1981) episode "Reckless Smurfs".
- Wendy's comment to do something about Photoshop in the South Park episode "The Hobbit"
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- Parodied in "Jellyfish Hunter". When SpongeBob is in Mr. Krabs' jelly processing plant, he picks up a wrench, and when asked what he is doing, he says, "Something that should have been done a long time ago!"... and then proceeds to fix a loose nut.
- In "Restraining SpongeBob", Squidward says this to SpongeBob while filing a restraining order against him after his usual stupidity gets him injured.
Squidward: Now now. Calm down. I've should've given this to you a long time ago!
Real Life
- Napoléon Bonaparte said "I should have shot him" about Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the Prime Minister of France. Given Talleyrand's record, he probably should have.
- As everything fell apart in 1945, Adolf Hitler said he should have purged the Wehrmacht high command like Stalin did with his 1937-38 purges.
