Heroes always arrive late
— Masahiro Sakurai, in the Smash Bros. Dojo
Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoe: Big Damn Heroes, sir!
Mal: Ain't we just?
— Firefly, "Safe"
That was too close... you were almost a Jill Sandwich!
— Barry Burton, from the original Good Bad Translation of Resident Evil
It was, she though, the first time the experience had differed from one of her sci-fi anime series. There, when the kill-sats inevitably went out of control and targeted the good guys, they'd only be stopped from firing at the last instant, even as the villains were giving the fire command. Not so here. If her screen was accurate, they'd had all of forty-seven seconds left over.
— Hayate, in Lyrical Nanoha fan fiction Stahlkönigin
Chloe: "Clark, why do you always have to wait until the last second?"
Clark: "It wouldn't be as funny otherwise."
Clark: "It wouldn't be as funny otherwise."
"That's the thing about rescues. They only happen in the nick of time."
—The Fourth Doctor, Doctor Who, "Babblesphere"
"Thank you, Brigadier. But do you think for once in your life you could manage to arrive before the nick of time?!"
— The Third Doctor, Doctor Who, "The Mind of Evil"
'"Thank God for that. For one ghastly moment I thought I was... too late. If only more people would call in the nick of time."
—Veterinarian, Monty Python's Flying Circus, "Confuse-A-Cat"
Remember what the general said: we're the cavalry. It would be bad form to arrive in advance of schedule. In the nick of time would do nicely.
—Lt. Colonel Vandeleur, A Bridge Too Far
Benji: How close were we?
Ethan: The usual.
Ilsa: [incredulous] Usual?
Ethan: [chuckles] Please, don't make me laugh.
Ethan: The usual.
Ilsa: [incredulous] Usual?
Ethan: [chuckles] Please, don't make me laugh.
I've been doing this more than 30 years, and I've never arrived anywhere earlier than the nick of time.
—Julio Scoundrél, The Order of the Stick
I would have been quicker, but... you know. I wouldn't have been as dramatic if I didn't get here just at the nick of time.
— Eikichi Onizuka, Great Teacher Onizuka
Well, that was timely. Vidofnir must have been circling for hours.
— Thancred Waters mocks this trope, Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward
You do not think he would actually wait until the last... No, no. Of course not.
— Alphinaud Leveilleur, regarding Hien Rijin, Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood
