coping with personal failure theme

A character copes with the aftermath of having experienced a personal failure in life.

Examples

Wesley needed some words of encouragement from Captain Picard after he failed the Starfleet Academy entrance exam in tng1x19 "Coming of Age".

52 total · 7 choice · 23 major · 22 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
ahp7x14 choice Central to the story was the titular "bad actor" (c.f. the title) Bart's failure to make it in the movies and television, and his now facing impending failure even in stage theater.
bbf1x02 choice The Soul Hunter went mad about collecting the souls from living people to atone for some past error.
ds92x04 choice Verad not coping well with his failure to get a Trill symbiont
movie: Citizen Kane (1941) choice Kane with election; Kane with marriage; Susan with opera career; Kane with life
tng1x19 choice Wesley with having failed the exam, and Jake with not qualifying.
tz1959e3x02 choice In the end it appeared the whole morbid story was (whether real or not) in fact the haunted memories of Mr. Sheckly's one and only failure in his career.
voy6x24 choice Lewis Zimmerman was humiliated that the holograms he create in his own image were scrubbing plasma conduits
as1985e2x16 major The family dog was crestfallen when it failed at its one task life: to keep burglars away.
blackmirror2x03 major Jamie Salter lived with being a failed comedian.
ds94x24 major Julian was devastated by his failure that resulted in several peoples' painful deaths