Basic Trope: A hero feels responsible for a loved one's death.
- Straight: Alice dies on a mission and Bob blames himself.
- Exaggerated: Bob blames himself for the death of every single person he has ever even mildly liked.
- Downplayed: Alice receives terrible injuries and is in a coma for months. Bob blames himself.
- Justified: Bob accidentally let Emperor Evulz track him back to their hideout.
- Inverted:
- Emperor Evulz dies and Bob blames himself for not being able to save him.
- Alice dies and her ghost form blames Bob for her death.
- Subverted: It's the anniversary of Alice's death and Bob is looking mournful. When asked about it, he says he can't help remembering Alice's death and...he wishes she hadn't been at the hideout that particular day.
- Double Subverted: ...For which he blames himself, because he missed her and asked her to come.
- Parodied: Bob's beloved video game character dies permanently in a Final Death Mode run and he blames himself for... forgetting to make a cloud save, of all things.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Alice didn't die.
- Or alternatively, she dies but Bob doesn't blame himself.
- Enforced: The author wants Bob to have a Dark and Troubled Past.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Evulz kills Alice and purposely taunts Bob about how he wasn't able to protect her.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: After Alice's death, Bob talks to someone and sorts through his feelings so he can come to grips with the fact that he did everything possible and Alice's death wasn't his fault.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
