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Guilt and remorse are both negative emotions associated with wrongdoing, but they differ in focus. Guilt centers on the self and the bad feeling of having done something wrong, while remorse involves empathy for the pain caused to others and a desire to make amends.
Heroes can feel guilt in a number of ways such as:
- Realizing their selfishness.
- Regretting the last thing they ever said to someone who died or left.
- Realizing how badly they screwed up.
On the one hand, there is an atoner, a person who committed a terrible misdeed and after a Heel–Face Turn, resolves to spend their entire life trying to make up for it.
On the other hand, you have the person who apologizes a lot, and out of habit, even if they know whatever happened was not their fault.
If a character indulges in this a little too much, it is never uncommon for a supporting character to snap them out of it by accusing them of arrogance for the attitude. Expect to see something along the lines of "you think you're the only one [responsible for/saddened by/involved in] this?!".
These are universally the sign that some spark of goodness resides in the one who sheds them. No matter how far gone s/he seems to be, a character who weeps for an evil act is not yet a completely evil person. This does not always mean that reform is possible (tears may be the last gasp of the conscience before plunging completely over the Moral Event Horizon, for example). But they can be the start of redemption, especially if the hero can apply the power of trust; or even better, the power of love.
Guilt:
- Focuses on: The self and the feeling of having done wrong.
- Core feeling:Self-condemnation and a sense of personal failing.
- Feeling guilty after telling a lie, even if it didn't directly hurt anyone.
Remorse:
- Focuses on: The impact of one's actions on others and the pain they have experienced.
- Core feeling: Sorrow and empathy for the harm caused, accompanied by a desire to make amends.
- Feeling remorse after cheating on a partner, acknowledging the pain and hurt caused to them and wanting to repair the relationship.
In essence: Guilt is about feeling bad for what you did, while remorse is about feeling bad for the pain you caused.
Quotes[]
| “ | Peaches: (helplessly watches her father being separated from her by the landmass) DADDY! Manny: STAY ALIVE! No matter how long it takes, I WILL FIND YOU! Peaches: (sobbing) Mom, this is all my fault! If I had just– Ellie: Peaches! This is not your fault, okay?) Peaches: What if I never see him again? And the last thing we did was fight! Ellie: Hey, your father is the toughest, most stubborn mammoth I've ever met! He'll come back for us. (wraps her trunk around Peaches) That's a promise. |
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| ~ Peaches sobbing in regret and heartbreak after her father is carried away by a landmass since the last thing she said to him was disown him. |
| “ | Young Shen was in line to rule Gongmen City... but he wanted more. I foretold that someone would stand in his way... a panda. But I never could have foretold what came next... | „ |
| ~ Soothsayer explaining to Po her guilt and agony of telling Shen the prophecy that he would be defeated by a "black and white" warrior, indirectly making her responsible for Shen's massacring the village of innocent pandas. |
| “ | Squidward: Yech! That was disgusting! I feel like I need to scrub myself. (opens up the curtain and screams after he sees Patrick in his bathtub) Patrick: Hey, buddy. I warmed it up for ya. (shows him a brush and soap) Squidward: Patrick! Get out! And put some clothes on! SpongeBob: (peeks in through the upstairs window) What's the matter, Squidward, old buddy? (notices Patrick in Squidward's bathtub and gasps) Oh, ho-ho! So this is what I find, huh?! My best friend and my ex-best friend and... (shown a toy boat, a rubber duckie, and a bath ball) ...rubber bath toys! Patrick: (simultaneously) Oh, yeah?! Well, he was my friend first! SpongeBob: (simultaneously) You're just a backbiting, backstabbing silly blob of... Squidward: (screams) This can't be happening to me! (runs away while SpongeBob and Patrick stop their arguing as they notice Squidward's gone) SpongeBob and Patrick: Squidward! SpongeBob:: Buddy! Patrick: Squidward, where are you?! SpongeBob:: Where'd ya go, friend? Patrick: Where are ya, ol' buddy? Squidward: (hiding in a trash can) Oh, this is nuts! (the trash can cover opens, revealing his head) I need a plan to get those two back together and outta my hair! |
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| ~ Squidward Tentacles feeling guilty for destroying SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship and plans to fix it up in order for them to stop bickering. |
| “ | Kirk: My God, Bones. What have I done? McCoy: What you had to do. What you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live. |
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| ~ James T. Kirk feels guilty after the Enterprise self-destructs. |
| “ | Connie: You okay? Steven: (nods his head) Connie: Well, good thing I grabbed a couple of these before the ball. Otherwise, we'd have nothing to eat. Can't escape Gem Prison on an empty stomach. (eats her bar and gives a piece to Steven) Steven: We never should've come here. Connie: (stops eating) What? Steven: This whole plan. What was I even thinking? Connie:Well, you were thinking that if you came to Homeworld and talked to White Diamond, maybe you could save all the corrupted gems on Earth. Steven: Oh right, and look where that got. Connie: Oh well, we knew it wouldn't be easy. Steven: Yeah. But, I didn't think I'd get every Crystal Gem poofed at the same time. And what will dad say when he finds out? His only son, in jail at fourteen. What a disgrace. Connie: We can't give up, one step at a time. We'll think of something. Okay, so we tried the bubble and the shields in that window. What else have we got? (discovers that she still has her phone) Hey, my phone. Oh wait, no reception. |
„ |
| ~ Steven Universe feeling guilty for entering Homeworld and letting the Gems get poofed. |
| “ | Mrs. Turner: It's 6:45. Where's Deep Toot? Mr. Turner: (chuckles) Mrs. Turner: (notices Deep Toot) Are you Deep Toot? Mr. Turner: (chuckles) Tootie: Yes, I am. (pulls out a book of Vicky pictures of her doing the stuff she did and blamed Timmy when Timmy was in television) Your babysitter, Vicky, she's meaner than you know. (Kicks the book to them) The vase, the picture, the piano. Vicky ruined them all and blamed Timmy. Mr. Turner: (gasps) Hey! She's key scratching "Vicky was here!" on my car! I punished Timmy for key-scratching "Vicky was here!" on my car! Why would she do that? Tootie: Some say it's to make parents think their kids are horrible, so they'll hire her more often. Mr. Turner: Leaping Leg holes! She's using my underwear to clean the toilet! Mrs. Turner: And I punished Timmy for that: by making him eat chocolate. Which in retrospect, isn't a very good punishment after all. Mr. Turner: Unless it's that reindeer chocolate. Tootie: Some say she's insane. Me? I say she's evil. I think she's icky. Icky with a V. Mr. Turner: (surprised) Gah! Wait a minute. Chip Skylark's hit song, "Icky Vicky", suddenly makes sense! Mrs. Turner: (discovers the truth) Oh, my gosh! Timmy was right! Vicky is terrible! Oh, Deep Toot, how can we ever thank— (notices Tootie now no longer there) Mr. Turner: She's gone! Mrs. Turner: We should've listened to Timmy. Mr. Turner: You have to tell him you're sorry. And wherever he is, wherever he's hiding, we know one thing for sure. Mr. and Mrs. Turner: He's watching television. Mr. and Mrs. Turner: (head back to the.car) Mr. Turner: (Deep Toot. (laughs) Oh man. That kills me. Who was that girl anyway? Mrs. Turner: I don't know, but she left this. (reads note) I am not Vicky's sister. Mr. and Mrs. Turner: (thinking) Hmmm. |
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| ~ Mr. and Mrs. Turner feeling guilty for not listening to their son, Timmy about Vicky after discovering that Timmy was right about Vicky being an evil babysitter. |
| “ | The bowling shoe. Penny was right. I should've listened to her. She tried to tell me, and I didn't listen to her. | „ |
| ~ Inspector Gadget feels guilty for not listening to Penny about the bowling shoe that one of Claw's men dropped at the Science Convention after discovering that Penny was right all along. |
| “ | (We see Ice Cream Cone with sad puppy dog eyes and began to cry. As the Citizens of the 11 Planets of the SyStar System began to cry. Emmet turned around and he thought he was a hero. Scene cuts to MetalBeard, Benny and Unikitty, who began to cry. Bananar was crying also. Emmet feels guilty and realizes what he has done.) What's happening? (removes his headset) What did I just do!? | „ |
| ~ Emmet Brickowski feels guilty about ruining the Wedding Temple, causing to start Armamageddon and being tricked by Rex Dangervest (who turned out to be Radical Emmet Xtreme, from the future.) |
| “ | (Perch Perkins: We interrupt this program for an important announcement.) (We see Perch Perkins in Bikini Bottom, where a crowd of people are panicking) Bikini Bottom is literally in a state of total chaos tonight. (A muscular guy knocks out Perch) (Muscular Guy: Literally!) (Perch Perkins, getting up with a black eye: We go now to news scene chopper 7. What's up?) (News Chopper: Not looking too good out here, Perch. The Krusty Krab is about to come apart of the hinges. Customers are in a rage over not getting their Krabby Patties.) (In the Krusty Krab, a large crowd of customers has showed up, furiously demanding their krabby patties) (Mr. Krabs, running up: Squidward, where the barnacles is SpongeBob? This place is going down the toilet! Patties need flipping!) (Squidward: If I knew, do you think I'd be standing here getting yelled at by a bunch of morons?) (Mr. Krabs, angrily: Don't talk back to your superior officer, you... (They both start arguing until Sandy and Patrick come in) (Sandy: Squidward! Mr. Krabs! Y'all seen SpongeBob?) (Squidward: I think we just went through this...) (Mr. Krabs: What he means to say is, no, we haven't.) (Sandy: Well, apparently, he's left Bikini Bottom, and he ain't coming back. (She hands Mr. Krabs the note that SpongeBob left) (Mr. Krabs: Let me see that. (begins reading the letter) To whom that may concern, if you found this letter, that means (muttering) sincerely... AKA...AKA? Idiot Boy? IDIOT BOY?! It is SpongeBob! What am I gonna do without me fry cook?!) (Patrick, sadly: What am I gonna do without my best friend?! I should never have been mean to you! (starts to cry) (Sandy, feeling bad: I should have never kicked you out of my house! (She starts to cry, with her helmet filling up with tears) (Squidward, close to tears: If I knew that was the last time I've seen SpongeBob-- (he begins to laugh) I would have slammed the door in his face even harder! (He fully starts laughing. Only Patrick and Sandy are crying, except Squidward, who is still laughing and Mr. Krabs, who has had enough of the customers' rage, pushes them all out of the Krusty Krab) (Mr. Krabs: All right, group meeting. Everybody out! The Krusty Krab's closed until further notice! (He closes the doors and gathers around Patrick, Sandy and Squidward) Now... how do you propose we find me money-making employee?) | „ |
| ~ Patrick, Sandy and Mr Krabs (except Squidward) feel guilty when they read SpongeBob's letter that he left Bikini Bottom, due to their harsh berating to him, as well as calling him "Idiot boy". |
| “ | Didn't you hear it? I mean, when the air all blew to pieces... I know it's my fault, but I didn't do it on purpose. (Rowf: What blew to pieces? What are you talking about?) We're dead, you and I. I've killed us both. I've destroyed everything. (Rowf: Now, calm down and tell me everything.) I was coming back, and all the grass and stones in my head were very loud. A sort of humming, like a strong wind. And I was on a road, like last time. He called me and smiled, and I went to him. And everything smashed to pieces. I smashed it like I did the other time. It all comes from me, Rowf. Out of my head. I killed that man like I killed my master. That's why we're here now, like this. We'll be punished, Rowf. (Rowf: They can't do anything worse than they've done already.) Everything bad comes out of my head! Don't you see? Perhaps dying... Even dying doesn't stop it. (Rowf: I don't understand what you're saying. As for dying, I'll fight before I'm killed!) They'll shoot you, Rowf. When they come with guns. The noise breaks the world to bits... | „ |
| ~ Snitter blaming himself for accidentally killing a man. |
| “ | (Steven wakes up from his nightmare and realizes that he is still in the prison tower with Connie.) (Steven Universe: Oh, Connie, you- you're here.) (Connie Maheswaran, waking up: Yeah. Can't exactly leave...) (Steven and Connie hear the door opening and see Blue Diamond entering prison tower to punish Steven.) I cannot believe you! Making a scene like that! (Steven Universe: Whoa. Deja blue.) (Connie Maheswaran: We didn't mean any harm! I asked Steven to dance; he wasn't trying to cause trouble!) What do you know about this, human? (Connie Maheswaran, chuckling: You think I've never been grounded before?) "Grounded"? (Steven Universe: Blue, you gotta let us out of here. We're gonna starve!) "Starve"? What is this? Another made up problem? Another trick, so I'll cave and let you out? Well not this time. You're not leaving this tower until you apologize for fusing at the ball! (Steven, however stands up to Blue Diamond.) (Steven Universe: No.) (Blue Diamond becomes shocked.) (Connie Maheswaran: Steven!) (Steven Universe: What? I'm not sorry.) (Blue's eyes are filled with tears and her hands shiver.) We finally have you back... And you're worse than ever! (Blue unleashes her blue pathokinesis aura, forcing Steven to cry.) (Connie Maheswaran: Steven!) (Steven stops crying.) (Steven Universe: It's fine, Connie; I'm not even sad.) (Connie Maheswaran: But you're really dehydrated!) (Steven Universe: Blue, Connie and I fuse all the time. It's totally normal and fine.) Agh! In what universe could that possibly be fine?! (Steven Universe: This universe! The Crystal Gems fuse all the time, too. Blue, you gotta tell me where their gems are. They didn't do anything wrong!) Ooohh! Pink! Your time on Earth has warped your sense of right and wrong! (Steven Universe: Yeah, maybe it has. Maybe Pink thought you guys were right to lock her in here when she messed stuff up. [Blue starts to become angry, but Steven continues to speak at Blue Diamond.] Yeah, maybe it has. Maybe Pink thought you guys were right to lock her in here when she messed stuff up.) That's enough! (Blue summons her blue energy, but Steven begs her to stop.) (Steven Universe: This isn't normal. [Blue backs away, becoming surprised.] How many times did you lock her in here? How many times did you make her cry?!) I didn't, I... (Blue finally discovers her tragic mistake as she dissipates the blue aura.) And I'm doing it again... Aren't I? (Blue slumps down to the wall as Steven and Connie look at Blue Diamond and Steven jumps up to comfort Blue.) And this is why you left... isn't it? (Blue and Steven look at each other as both of them have tears in their eyes and Blue looks away.) You were right to leave. I always thought that you were failing this world. But, if you were happier on Earth, maybe... this world was... failing you. (Steven smiles as Blue finally decides to help him and Connie escape Homeworld as Steven becomes glad and Blue sees White Diamond's ship out the window.) We never should have brought you back here. Your "family"- your "Crystal Gems"- are bubbled. Let's get you all back in your legs... and back home. (Blue picks up Steven and Connie and Steven and Connie smile at each other.) | „ |
| ~ Blue Diamond feeling guilty for bringing Steven to Homeworld and letting the Crystal Gems get poofed and bubbled. |
| “ | (Rapunzel: Cassandra, c'mon! I need your help! [Cass doesn't move. She just sits there with her head lowered.] Snap out of it, Cass! We gotta stop Zhan Tiri before it's too—) Too late? Raps, look around. We've failed. I've failed. (Rapunzel: No, you can--) I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! WHY WON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP ON ME?! CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT I'VE DONE?! Look around you! This is all my fault! (sobbing) I've done terrible things! All this time, I've tried so hard to prove that I was more than everyone thought, but they were right! (Cass buries her head on Raps' shoulder) (Rapunzel: No, Cassandra. No.) Raps, I'm so sorry! | „ |
| ~ Cassandra bursting into tears of genuine regret over her heinous actions towards Rapunzel, practically begs the princess to hate her. |
| “ | It's all my fault. Billy Ray could have made it along. (Billy Ray: I was as tired as you are, Arthur. It's not your fault.) (Specks: The question is, man: What do we do now?) (Specks plays his guitar.) Well, we can't just let that lady get killed! (Homer: Not to mention ourselves.) | „ |
| ~ Arthur Honeycutt blaming himself for ruining his friends' plans to save Madame Kura's life from Mr. Firat and showing the evidence to Chief Talasek. |
| “ | I'm the reason the whole guild was wiped out. If I hadn't hidden the fact that I was a beater, I could've convinced them how dangerous that trap really was. I killed them...Sachi...All of them. | „ |
| ~ Kirito blaming himself for the deaths of Sachi and the Moonlit Black Cats. |
| “ | I never should have left it to them! I should have fought her from the very start! I-It's all my fault!! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HER!!!! | „ |
| ~ Eren Jaeger blaming himself for the deaths of his squad mates after they were killed by the female titan. |