10 Film Heroes Who Totally Failed In Their Quest

10. Batman - The Dark Knight

The Quest

Fight crime, defend the innocent and, er, don't kill anyone.

What Happens

The middle entry of Christopher Nolan's iconic superhero trilogy charges the Caped Crusader (Christian Bale) with stopping The Joker's (Heath Ledger) reign of tyranny, saving the soul of Gotham, positioning hot-shot D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as the city's new hero and trying to make amends with the love of his life, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Why Did He Fail?

The Dark Knight is ultimately a story where nobody really wins, but Batman loses far more decisively than anyone else.

Though Batman eventually captures The Joker, this is only after the Clown Prince of Crime has corrupted Dent, killed Rachel and forced him into a position where he must take the wrap for Dent's rampage, turning Gotham against him in the process.

Oh, and though the film doesn't really want to admit it, he also breaks his no-kill policy in order to save Jim Gordon's (Gary Oldman) son, which really just emphasises how stupid black-and-white "no murder" rules really are.

As revealed in The Dark Knight Rises, all of this heartbreak ultimately turns Bruce into a Howard Hughes-esque recluse for eight whole years. That's quite a life-ruining fail if there ever was one.