Heroic Blame, in the context of fiction and storytelling, refers to the phenomenon where a heroic character, often a superhero, is blamed for negative outcomes, sometimes even when those outcomes are unintended or a direct consequence of their efforts to do good.
It's important to differentiate Heroic Blame from the general concept of blame, which in itself can be a destructive and unproductive habit, particularly in professional and personal relationships. Heroic Blame, however, specifically focuses on the unique dynamic of heroes accepting or being assigned responsibility for outcomes, even when they act with good intentions.
Here's a closer look:
Self-blame and Responsibility: Heroes often internalize blame for negative events, particularly those they feel they could have prevented or done more to mitigate, notes Quora. This sense of responsibility, even when unwarranted, can be a defining characteristic of their heroism.
External Blame and Scapegoating: The general populace or supporting characters may also place blame on heroes, seeing them as the cause of conflict or collateral damage, even when those things may have been worse without the hero's intervention. This can be driven by a need to find a scapegoat or a lack of understanding about the complexities of the situation.
Psychological Implications: The concept of heroic blame delves into the psychological aspects of heroism and responsibility, raising questions about accountability and the public's perception of heroes. It highlights the human need to attribute blame when things go wrong and the tendency to scrutinize those in positions of power or influence.
Aladdin blames himself for getting both the lamp and Agrabah in Jafar's wrath.
King Triton blames himself for getting his daughter Ariel to search for Ursula the Seawitch after he destroyed her grotto, her human collection things and the statue of Prince Eric with his trident.
Rapunzel blames herself for getting trapped in a flooding cave along with Flynn Rider.
Simba, thanks to Scar's manipulation, blames himself for Mufasa's death until he learns the truth about how his father died and that it was Scar who was really responsible.
Quasimodo blames himself for inadvertently leading Frollo to the Court of Miracles (due to Frollo's bluff to Quasi earlier that he knows where it is, Quasi and Phoebus warn the gypsies there) and as he watches Esmeralda being put at stake to be burned.
Woody blames himself for lying to Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Rex and Slinky (excluding Bo Peep) about pushing Buzz out the window, and even worse while trying to escape Sid's house.
Elsa feels immense guilt when she, Anna, and Olaf discover their parents' shipwreck near the Dark Sea, and find out that they died trying to find a way to help Elsa.
Copper blames himself for Chief's injuries due to him letting Tod escape in the first place.
20th Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios
Peaches blames herself for getting separated for her father since the last thing she did to him was disown him.
Lenny blames himself for Frankie getting crushed to death by a falling anchor. Later, Oscar blames himself for Angie getting kidnapped by Don Lino, especially since they last thing they did was argue about his Sharkslayer sham.
Kayley blames herself for causing Garrett to miss Ayden's signal and ending up grazed by an arrow fired from Ruber's men, due to her rambling about finding Excalibur.
Khumba blames himself for letting Bradley and Mama V right to Phango because Mama V lost her child, Bradley breaks up with him, his mother died, Tombi fall out and his father disowns him, leaving him alone.
Robin (in Teen Titans Go to the movies) blames himself for leaving his friends and making his own movie.
Dougal, after seeing Florence unconscious in the frozen roundabout, blames himself and accepts responsibility for the escape of Zeebad.
In No Time to Spy: A Loud House Movie, Lincoln Loud blames himself for his family being launched into space by Fifi Dufus.
Shows[]
Steven Universe blames himself for going to Homeworld after letting the Gems get poofed by Yellow Diamond.
Starlight Glimmer blames herself for Silverstream going missing, especially since the last thing she did was close the counselor's office, tell Silverstream to go home for spring break and figure her problem out on her own.
Luigi blames himself for the cave people's crops being stolen.
Robin blames himself for the Red-X costume and equipment being stolen.
Homer Simpson blames himself for getting Ned Flanders in trouble with the Leftorium.
Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo blame themselves for changing Leonardo's personality by accident, after they witnessed Cleff and his henchmen cause chaos on the city with the powerful stereo.
Luz Noceda repeatedly blames herself for the Day of Unity since she unwittingly helped Philip Wittebane find the Collector, setting his plan to eradicate the Boiling Isles into motion. Before that, she blames herself for Eda Clawthorne losing her magic and struggling financially as a result.
Invincible/Mark Grayson harbours immense guilt for the destruction and death brought about by his fight with his father Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson, as well as the destruction caused by his evil alternate counterparts in the Invincible War.
Meanwhile, his mother Debbie Grayson blames herself for pushing Mark into using his Viltrumite powers to become a superhero after he recovers from a brutal fight with Conquest that almost killed him.
Anime/Manga[]
Goku blames himself for Krillin's first death, since the only reason Krillin went back to the stadium was to retrieve Goku's Power Pole and Dragon Ball, which Goku carelessly left behind because he was exhausted from fighting Tien, where Krillin had the misfortune of running into Tambourine.
Gohan blames himself for his father's second death, when he could've just instantly slaughtered Cell and instead decided to torture him, which led to Cell snapping and attempting to take Gohan with him, prompting Goku to step up and sacrifice himself to save the Earth.
Others[]
Sonic blames himself for being too slow to save Tails from the Deadly six.
Justin blames himself for failing to save Lara at the party.
Cloud Strife blames himself for Aerith's death at the hands of Sephiroth and Zack's death at the hands of Shinra soldiers and exiles himself on Aerith's church.
Princess Zelda blames herself for not considering the consequences of attempting controlling the Sacred Realm which caused Link to be sealed away for seven years and Ganondorf takes control, becoming the King of Evil in Ocarina of Time. In Breath of the Wild, she blames herself for the tragedy that befell her kingdom caused by Calamity Ganon, on part of her not unlocking her sealing power.
In the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda sees the destruction of the Jedi as his fault, as they stagnated under his watch and became easy pickings for the Sith.
Kaladin blames himself entirely for his brother Tien's death, since he had promised his parents, he would protect him.
C-3PO thinks he's responsible for Luke Skywalker and the others dying in the Death Star's trash compactor.
Barret Wallace blames himself for his hometown destroyed by Shinra in the first place.
Twilight Sparkle was crying, as she’s guilt ridden for what she’s done, believing her friends all hate her now, blaming herself that Equestria is doomed with no hope at all this time.
Quotes[]
“
i'm supposed to be the fastest, but I was.. too slow to save my buddy.
„
~ Sonic blaming himself for being too slow to Save Tails from the Deadly Six
“
Oh, this is all my fault. I should have freed the Genie when I had the chance!
(Sally: I'll get the mop and bucket. Conrad, you might want to get out of here until Mom has a chance to calm down.) Conrad: No. This was my fault. I'll take the blame. Look, Mom will be home any second. Why don't you go upstairs? (Sally: I'm not going upstairs. I'm staying with you.) Conrad: Really? Why? (Sally: Two reasons. One, the stairs are destroyed. Two, this is just as much my fault as yours. We should share the blame.)
„
~ Conrad and Sally Walden, admitting responsibility for their wrecked home, after their misadventures with the Cat in the Hat
“
(Flanders: You know, ever since that barbecue, nothing's gone right. It's like there's been a curse on me) (sobbing) It's all my fault. (Flanders: No, it's not.) Yes, it is. (Flanders: You tried to warn me about gambling my family's future on some pig in a poke. I didn't listen. Homer, you were a true friend.) No, I was a swine.
„
~ Homer Simpson, sad to think it was his fault for getting Ned Flanders in trouble with the Leftorium
“
(Peaches helplessly watches her father bing separated from her by the landmass) DADDY! (Manny: STAY ALIVE! No matter how long it takes, I WILL FIND YOU!) (sobbing) Mom, this is all my fault! If I had just-- (Ellie: Peaches! This is not your fault, okay?) 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.)
„
~ Peaches blaming herself when her father gets separated from her by an earthquake, after a harsh argument with him that resulted in her disowning him
“
(Lenny sees Frankie lying on the ground, having just got crushed by an anchor. He gasps at the sight of his brother in this state.) Frankie! (Using his powerful jaws, Lenny bites the anchor's chain clean off, then lifts it off of Frankie and tosses it away.) (Frankie: Lenny... [coughing] Lenny, is that you?) I'm here, Frankie. (Frankie: Come here.) Yes, what is it, Frankie? (Frankie: I'm so cold.) That's just because we're cold-blooded. (Frankie slaps Lenny with his fin.) Ow! (Frankie: Moron.) (With a final cough, Frankie lays still and dies. Lenny is absolutely devastated.) Frankie, no. NOOO!!! [sobbing] This is all my fault! I'm so sorry, Frankie! How am I going to explain this to Pop? Oh, no! (He swims away in grief and passes Oscar, who squeaks and lands in front of the now-deceased Frankie.)
„
~ Lenny blaming himself for Frankie getting killed by a falling anchor.
“
(Oscar finds out from Luca that Don Lino had captured Angie in order to force a sit-down.) They got Angie. And they want a sit-down. I never meant for anybody to get hurt, especially not Angie. This is all my fault.
„
~ Oscar blaming himself for Angie getting kidnapped by Don Lino, especially since the last thing they did was argue about his Sharkslayer sham.
“
(Rapunzel, Flynn, and Pascal are trapped in a dark and quickly flooding cave.) (Flynn comes up for air.) (Flynn: It's no use! I can't see anything!) (Rapunzel takes a deep breath and dives underwater. Flynn dives after her and pulls her back to the surface.) (Flynn: Hey! There's no point! It's pitch black down there.) This is all my fault. She was right, I never should have done this. [sniffs] I'm so... I'm so sorry, Flynn. [sobs]
„
~ Rapunzel blaming herself for getting trapped in a flooding cave along with Flynn Rider.
“
(Steven and Connie are unfused after failing to escape as Stevonnie.) (Connie Maheswaran: You okay? (Steven nods his head.) 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.) (Connie eats her bar and gives a piece to Steven and Steven realized his tragic mistake.) We never should've come here. (Connie stops eating.) (Connie Maheswaran: What?) This whole plan. What was I even thinking? (Connie Maheswaran: 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.) Oh right, and look where that got. (Connie Maheswaran: Oh well, we knew it wouldn't be easy.) 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 Maheswaran: 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? (Connie discovers that she still has her phone.) Hey, my phone. Oh wait, no reception.)
„
~ Steven Universe, blaming himself for going to Homeworld after letting the Gems get poofed by Yellow Diamond.
“
(Sora Takenouchi: It's not your fault.) Yes it is, I blew it. Tai asked me to protect her and I couldn't. I let everyone down. (Sora Takenouchi: Alright Matt, it seems to me there are two things you can do about this. Number one you can stand there and beat yourself up about the whole thing or number two we can find a way to rescue Kari. What's it gonna be?) You're right, let's get her.
„
~ Matt Ishida, upset that he is responsible for Kari getting kidnapped, only for Sora to encourage him to save Kari from Myotismon.
“
She's wrong. I can't go back. What would it prove, anyway? It won't change anything. You can't change the past. (He looks up at the stars.) You said you'd always be there for me! But you're not. And it's because of me. It's my fault. It's my fault. (He bows his head, choking back tears.)
„
~ Simba blaming himself for Mufasa's death due to Scar's manipulation.
“
(Starlight, Trixie, Maud Pie, Sunburst, Terramar and a petrified Mudbriar take shelter inside the Castle of the Two Sisters after escaping from a colony of cockatrice.) (Trixie: Now what?!) (Sunburst: Let's hope Silverstream found a good place to hide. There could be hundreds more cockatrices on the way. If this really is a migration, it'll take a full lunar cycle to complete.) (Terramar: Ohhh. I have to get word back to our parents that Silverstream could be surrounded by those terrifying birds!) (Maud Pie: And as handsome as Mudbriar is now, we should probably catch one of them to turn him back to normal.) (Starlight groans.) This is all my fault. I'm never taking time off from my counseling duties again. (Trixie: That seems a little extreme.) Really?! If I hadn't galloped off to a holiday celebration, Silverstream would be safe with her family, and you'd all be enjoying Maud's party! Instead, my student is missing, we're surrounded by a flock of petrifying chicken-snakes, and Maud's boyfriend was turned into a hunk of rock! (Maud Pie: You got the "hunk" part right.) And to top it off, we have no idea if Silverstream even came to Everfree at all! But I have no idea where else to look!
„
~ Starlight Glimmer blaming herself for Silverstream going missing, especially since the last thing she did was close the counselor's office, tell Silverstream to go home for spring break and figure her problem out on her own.
“
(Mario: Now wait, Luigi! The cave people can go back to picking berries.) Aw, no they can't! Oh Mario, I was so sure that we'd have a great crop, that I told the cave people they didn't have to save berries anymore, and they didn't. They don't have any food stored for the winter. *sob* AND IT'S ALL MY FAAAULT!
„
~ Luigi blaming himself for the cave people's crops being stolen.
“
Listen to them! They're dying, R2! Curse my metal body! I wasn't fast enough! It's all my fault! My poor master!
„
~ C-3PO thinking he's responsible for Luke Skywalker and the others dying in the Death Star's trash compactor.
“
Poor Chief. And it's all my fault. I shouldn't have let Tod go!
„
~ Copper blaming himself for Chief's injuries due to him letting Tod escape in the first place.
“
(After Zeebad has frozen the sun with the three diamonds, Dougal rushes to the frozen roundabout) Florence! (He peeks through the ice pane of the frozen roundabout, he sees Mr. Rusty, Basil and Coral shivering from the cold, and then he gasps, upon noticing Florence, who appears to be sitting in the frozen roundabout unconscious) Oh, Florence! Oh, no, no, no, no, no! This is all my fault. If only I hadn't been so greedy and stupid.
„
~ Dougal, after seeing Florence unconscious in the frozen roundabout, blames himself and accepts responsibility for the escape of Zeebad.
“
It's all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Calamity Ganon is lost, all because I couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything... Everything that I've done up until now. It was all for nothing. (voice cracks) So I really am just a failure! All my friends... the entire kingdom... my father most of all... I've tried and I failed them all. I left them... all to die. (falls into Link's arms and cries.)
„
~ Princess Zelda blaming herself for the tragic events that occurred after Ganon ravaged Hyrule and countless lives were lost
“
[sobbing] This is all my fault! They were looking for answers about me! (Anna: You're not responsible for their choices, Elsa.) No, just their deaths!
„
~ Elsa blaming herself for her parents’ deaths since they set out to search for answers regarding her powers.
“
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!!!!
„
~ </nowiki>Eren Jaeger blaming himself for the deaths of his squad mates after they were killed by the female titan.
“
This is all my fault... (Myrtle: Lincoln...) No. Fifi was right. I’m just a dumb kid playing spy. I couldn’t even keep track of your rings... I ruined the wedding... and our lives... And now we're stuck up here forever because of me!
„
~ Lincoln Loud blaming himself for his family getting launched into space by Fifi Dufus.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Aladdin blames himself for getting both the lamp and Agrabah in Jafar's wrath.
Darkwing Duck laments and blames himself for letting his ego get the best of him, and as a result he let himself trick Taurus Bulba into framing him for the train robbery and alas, Gosalyn Waddlemeyer is kidnapped.
Darkwing Duck blames himself for letting his own pride get in the way.
Kayley blaming herself for causing Garrett to miss Ayden's signal and ending up grazed by an arrow fired from Ruber's men, due to her rambling about finding Excalibur.
Peaches sobbing and blaming herself from being separated from her father since the last thing they did was argue.
Scamp blaming himself for a mistake by Buster for to be a wild dog, and causing Tramp to leave.
