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** Luffy attacks with all his might, but he avoids killing his opponents. This because Luffy believes that forcing someone to live with all their hopes and dreams destroyed is a FateWorseThanDeath. Occasionally, some of Luffy's villains actually end up better off than they started (Wapol, for example, became an incredibly wealthy toymaker and tyrant of another kingdom, and Eneru went to the moon like he originally wanted).
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** Luffy attacks with all his might, but he avoids killing his opponents. This is because Luffy believes that forcing someone to live with all their hopes and dreams destroyed is a FateWorseThanDeath. Occasionally, some of Luffy's villains actually end up better off than they started (Wapol, for example, became an incredibly wealthy toymaker and tyrant of another kingdom, and Eneru went to the moon like he originally wanted).
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* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', the protagonist Josuke has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
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* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', the protagonist Josuke has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like ways, like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, hospital and was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
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* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (both the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series), Scar does a violent variation (not exactly mercy) to Dr. Marcoh and ''really'' makes it clear that post-HeelFaceTurn, he's still an AntiHero. Marcoh comes to Scar admitting that he had created the Philosopher's Stones which were used to wipe out most of the population of Ishval (Scar's country). While Scar has in the past killed state alchemists for less, he's cooled by this point and is also taken aback when Marcoh begs for death (Marcoh had been threatened by Lust and Envy that if he didn't make another Stone for them, they would kill Macoh's entire village). So, what does Scar do? He "helps" Marcoh to fake his death by using his powers to horribly disfigure his face.
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* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (both the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series), Scar does a violent variation (not exactly mercy) to Dr. Marcoh and ''really'' makes it clear that post-HeelFaceTurn, he's still an AntiHero. Marcoh comes to Scar admitting that he had created the Philosopher's Stones which were used to wipe out most of the population of Ishval (Scar's country). While Scar has in the past killed state alchemists for less, he's cooled by this point and is also taken aback when Marcoh begs for death (Marcoh had been threatened by Lust and Envy that if he didn't make another Stone for them, they would kill Macoh's Marcoh's entire village). So, what does Scar do? He "helps" Marcoh to fake his death by using his powers to horribly disfigure his face.
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* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge for Magne's death and Mr. Compress's destroyed arm to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk (just as he had intended to do to others) and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
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* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge for Magne's death and Mr. Compress's destroyed arm to instead takes take both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk (just as he had intended to do to others) and then leaves leave him for the police to retrieve. Effectively retrieve, effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
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* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Allelujah Haptism receives a cruel mercy from the Federation after the loss of Celestial Being in Season 1. Instead of being killed by the federation, Allelujah [[FateWorseThanDeath faced his worse fate]] in their hand by being placed in isolated prison, being muzzled and straitjacketed, and receive dozen torment and interrogation by the federation for 4 years before he finally being saved by his comrade thanks to Nena and Liu Mei information.
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* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Allelujah Haptism receives a cruel mercy from is subjected to this by the Federation after the loss of Celestial Being in Season 1. Instead of simply being killed by the federation, executed, Allelujah [[FateWorseThanDeath faced his worse fate]] in their hand by being is placed in an isolated prison, being muzzled and straitjacketed, and receive dozen torment suffers nonstop torture and interrogation by the federation Federation for 4 years before he finally being saved by his comrade comrades thanks to Nena and Liu Mei Mei's information.
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* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
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* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge for Magne's death and Mr. Compress's destroyed arm to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk (just as he had intended to do to others) and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
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** [[spoiler: Sometime during the TimeSkip, he and his crew defeated the rest of the Whitebeard pirates during the Payback War. But their fates are currently unknown.]]
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** [[spoiler: Sometime during [[spoiler:During the TimeSkip, TimeSkip (specifically, a year after the Battle of Marineford), he and his crew defeated the rest of the Whitebeard pirates during the Payback War. But However, their fates (aside from Marco and later Izu) are currently unknown.]]
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* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Our protagonist can do this if he thinks his enemies deserve punishment without killing them. The first example is the townspeople who watched in enjoyment as his mother burns at the stake, so he uses his magic to make their fields, walls and houses just, walk away, leaving them helpless.
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* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': ''Literature/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Our protagonist can do this if he thinks his enemies deserve punishment without killing them. The first example is the townspeople who watched in enjoyment as his mother burns at the stake, so he uses his magic to make their fields, walls and houses just, walk away, leaving them helpless.
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* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi plays off his request for The King and Malty to be spared as this. This also doubles as a case of AdaptationalHeroism, as in the original Light Novel, Naofumi instead called for the two to be executed and had to be talked down. Their punishments were quite fitting for those who would abuse their royal power for selfish gains. They were stripped of all power and authority, and to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler:Naofumi had their names legally changed to "Trash" and "Bitch" respectively.]]
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* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi plays off his request for The King and Malty to be spared as this. This also doubles as a case of AdaptationalHeroism, as in the original Light Novel, Naofumi instead called for the two to be executed and had to be talked down. Their punishments were quite fitting for those who would abuse their royal power for selfish gains. They were stripped of all power and authority, and to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler:Naofumi had their names legally changed to "Trash" and "Bitch" respectively.]]
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* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
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* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':''Literature/SwordArtOnline'':
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* At the climax, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' when the Iron-Masked Marauder is surrounded by angry forest Pokémon as they confront him for all the heinous crimes he has committed, the Marauder begs for mercy, but his pleas are ignored, and they tie him up using String Shot.
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* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': At the climax, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' climax of ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'', when the Iron-Masked Marauder is surrounded by angry forest Pokémon as they confront him for all the heinous crimes he has committed, the Marauder begs for mercy, but his mercy. His pleas are ignored, and they tie him up using String Shot.
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* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Josuke, the protagonist of part 4 has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
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* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Josuke, ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', the protagonist of part 4 Josuke has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
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* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', a previous comrade of Mugen betrays him so that she will not be alone, something she's terrified of. He kills ''everyone'' in the old crew who betrayed him and then just ignores her, even when she asks him to kill her so she can be TogetherInDeath.
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* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', a previous comrade of Mugen betrays him so knows that she will Kohza, a girl from his old crew of pirates and criminals who once had feelings for him (and whom Mugen may or may not be alone, something she's have had feelings for), is absolutely terrified of. He kills ''everyone'' of being alone, considering the worst possible thing that could happen to her. When she betrays Mugen and sets him up to die after they reunite in the old crew present, Mugen and Jin defeat and kill the last members of the gang, including Kohza's incredibly cruel and evil brother Mukuro, and Shiren, the corrupt young official who betrayed was infatuated with her. Mugen, however, ignores and refuses to harm Kohza, even as she collapses and literally screams at him and then just ignores her, even when she asks begs him to kill her so she can be TogetherInDeath.her.
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* In ''[[PornWithPlot La Blue Girl]]'' Kamiri is hypnotized by Kugutsumen, a ninja from a rival clan, and he convinces her to steal an important {{MacGuffin}} from her own ninja clan. But before she can do that, the other {{Kunoichi}} in her clan find out about this and punish her ''horrifically''. They rape her with a ''gruesomely'' spiked dildo, which leaves her vagina ''severely'' damaged (so that she can no longer use her [[DeusSexMachina ninja sex magic]]). But rather than killing her for treachery, they let her live, and exile her instead, to live out the rest of her days alone and in ''horrific'' pain. This comes back to bite them later, as Kamiri and Kugutsumen take the very same spiked dildo the Miroku ninja used on Kamiri and rape ''each and every one of them'' to death with it.
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* In ''Manga/TomodachiGame'', after surviving a round of the DeadlyGame with a bunch of thugs, GuileHero Yuichi manipulates their leader into gambling away his own fingers. After he's held down by management, he begs one of his underlings to take his place only for them all to turn on him. [[spoiler:Yuichi collapses from blood loss before he can claim his prize, but it's implied he allowed himself to do so as he already won by not only outing his opponent as a DirtyCoward and ruining his reputation, but also by leaving him [[AloneWithThePsycho in the hands of a group of people crazier than either of them]].]]
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Moments of CruelMercy in {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}.
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* It's unclear in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' whether Nagisa realizes this, but his finishing move against [[spoiler:Takaoka]] counts as this. Even as it's happening, he knows that he'll never get Nagisa's smile out of his nightmares. It may have been kinder to just kill him.
-->'''Nagisa''': [sincerely, with a genuine smile] [[spoiler:Takaoka-sensei]], thank you very much.
* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Our protagonist can do this if he thinks his enemies deserve punishment without killing them. The first example is the townspeople who watched in enjoyment as his mother burns at the stake, so he uses his magic to make their fields, walls and houses just, walk away, leaving them helpless.
** He decides to get payback on the Mirg nation for attacking his new home by sending an army of undead, their own army at that, to harass the villagers and forcing them to evacuate. He then steals their crops, poisons their waters and fields and leaves some undead for good measure, turning thousands of people who had benefitted from expelling him and the Ghoul tribe who took him in from that territory, into refugees.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** Goku planned to do this to Frieza during their fight on Namek, beating the tyrant senseless and driving him to a VillainousBreakdown before deciding that, with Frieza's ego in shambles over having been defeated by [[FantasticRacism a Saiyan of all beings]], he's NotWorthKilling, outright telling him as such and ordering Frieza to "go crawl off someplace and hide" and continue to live with the shame of his defeat. Later, after Frieza [[AnArmAndALeg lost his arm]] and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe entire lower body]], he tried it again before flying away. It backfires both times: the entire reason Frieza lost his limbs in the first place was because he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard got hit with his own energy disc]], and when Goku gave him some energy to at least survive, Frieza turned around and tried to kill him with it; by this point, Goku is done giving Frieza chances and blows him away, outright [[YouFool calling him a fool]] for not just walking away when he had the chance.
** Earlier, after Goku tricks Captain Ginyu into [[BodySurf switching bodies with a frog]], Vegeta chooses not to kill him for this reason, finding Ginyu being forced to live life as a frog amusing.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''[='s=] ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' adaptation, Gohan easily beats Ginyu-in-Tagoma's body despite being out of shape and only able to hold Super Saiyan form for a few moments. He spares Ginyu and tells him to get lost. This pisses off Frieza so badly, as it reminded him of the aforementioned mercy Goku gave him, that he goes and ''tortures Gohan for it.''
** Frieza could actually be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope. Every time Goku showed mercy with the intent of making him live with the shame, Frieza would either attempt to kill him or blow up the planet, [[spoiler:the latter of which in ''Resurrection F'' and ''Super'' killed everyone on Earth and would have led to a bad ending if Whis hadn't turned back time]]. Frieza is the type of foe who ''needs'' to be killed.
* ''Manga/FinalFantasyLostStranger'': When Sara announces her desire to spare the Magus Sisters despite their crimes, Cindy scoffs at her and asks if she wants them to suffer even more. Sara replies that she indeed wants them to suffer, but also to atone so they can work together to produce a better Mysidia.
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
** Kenshiro ends up doing this to Souther, partially. While he does ensure that Souther eventually dies soon enough, the fact that he actually does show mercy to Souther is the dagger through the heart of Souther, who himself had sworn off all kinds of mercy, making it a heavy blow onto his pride. Possibly Amiba as well. Kenshiro doesn't directly kill him and mocks Amiba's inability to avert his fate.
** He also subjects this to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CEsO0TE5Sk one particular thug]] with Hokuto Goukin Bundan Kyaku (Iron Muscle Shredding Kick). Unlike [[CruelAndUnusualDeath the fates]] of many other thugs that dealt with Kenshiro, this thug just got the muscles of his arms shredded, but by doing so deprived him of his brute strength he used to bully others. Kenshiro then suggested that the thug uses what remains of his life to live an honest life instead of bullying others since he left enough strength for the thug to do that. The thug fled the scene crying because he couldn't do whatever he wants anymore.
* Veronica of ''Manga/FrankenFran'' makes one friend (Yura) in her month-long stay at a girl's school. [[TeensAreMonsters Every other student performs multiple acts of bullying, from dumping water on her to writing on her clothes.]] [[spoiler:In the end, none of the bullies (except one) are harmed, and her friend turned out to be the one who was behind all the bullying and sold the bullied girls to pedophiles. Veronica brutally kills the men in Yura's room, along with the bully, and leaves Yura there to explain the situation to the authorities.]]
** The real irony is that it was true mercy: while even TheIngenue HumanoidAbomination Adorea managed to make some friends in that school, Veronica has NoSocialSkills nor the slightest idea how to make a friend. [[spoiler:She knew from the very beginning that Yura was a FalseFriend. Even so, Veronica really felt that a false friendship is better than nothing, so Veronica led Yura into her own plan, trying to enjoy the most of their false relationship. That simulation really [[ItMeantSomethingToMe meant something to Veronica]], and for that, [[YouWillBeSpared Yura was spared]].]] The last panel shows her denying her tears to Adorea.
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (both the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series), Scar does a violent variation (not exactly mercy) to Dr. Marcoh and ''really'' makes it clear that post-HeelFaceTurn, he's still an AntiHero. Marcoh comes to Scar admitting that he had created the Philosopher's Stones which were used to wipe out most of the population of Ishval (Scar's country). While Scar has in the past killed state alchemists for less, he's cooled by this point and is also taken aback when Marcoh begs for death (Marcoh had been threatened by Lust and Envy that if he didn't make another Stone for them, they would kill Macoh's entire village). So, what does Scar do? He "helps" Marcoh to fake his death by using his powers to horribly disfigure his face.
** And by this point, Marcoh loathes himself so much that he doesn't really care. While he has the skill and opportunity to repair the damage later, he decides to keep it as penance.
** It also served a practical purpose: No one besides the homunculi was able to recognize the disfigured doctor, allowing him and Scar's group to travel with more ease.
* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', after Motoko goes [[UnstoppableRage completely berserk]] and unloads a full clip of a .50 cal anti-material rifle [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon point blank]] into Gayle's Armed Suit cockpit for nearly killing her, running out of ammo is the only thing that stops her from killing him. At that point, the pressure from the denting of the armor plating was suffocating him inside his suit. She only allowed him to live so that he would forever regret ever hunting her down.
* ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'': Hiro leaving Kamakiri to recover by himself (not likely) comes to this. Hiro has left the Irish Wolfhound wounded, bloodied, de-fanged, and castrated on the ground, but instead of killing him for [[YouKilledMyFather killing his father when he was a puppy]], he leaves him there after saying to live with his wounds to understand the feelings and pain of others. Kamakiri tries to attack him one last time... but fails, leaving him howling in pain and rage as his death arrives.
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Josuke, the protagonist of part 4 has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
--> '''Josuke:''' If I heal you up first, then I figure it's a fair fight, right?
* A meta-example comes from ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'', which has its primary antagonist Katejina Loos lose both her eyesight and her memory in the final battle to make a surprise appearance at the very end where she is reduced to TheOphelia. The decision to spare Katejina from death was motivated by this trope, as Creator/YoshiyukiTomino detailed in an interview, describing Katejina as having committed too many war crimes for death alone to be a sufficient punishment. As he directly puts it, "Life was a heavier punishment for her".
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Allelujah Haptism receives a cruel mercy from the Federation after the loss of Celestial Being in Season 1. Instead of being killed by the federation, Allelujah [[FateWorseThanDeath faced his worse fate]] in their hand by being placed in isolated prison, being muzzled and straitjacketed, and receive dozen torment and interrogation by the federation for 4 years before he finally being saved by his comrade thanks to Nena and Liu Mei information.
* In ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', [[BigBad Moo]] claims that he knew where Holly and Suezo were hiding while [[DoomedHometown their village was being destroyed]], but deliberately left them alive. He did this specifically with the intention of making them despise him -- after all, Moo is [[ThePowerOfHate fueled by hatred]], and sees Holly as a particularly potent potential source since he's [[spoiler:possessing her father as his vessel]]. He has every intention of making things as [[ItsPersonal painfully personal]] for her as possible so that she'll hate him all the more.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
* Happens to Ritsuko in Episode 23 of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After revealing the secrets of the Terminal Dogma and of Rei and the Dummy Plug System to Shinji and Misato, Ritsuko [[spoiler:realises that Gendo used her, and destroys Rei's clones. She then breaks down into tears, inviting Misato to shoot her, saying that she welcomes death. Misato refuses, saying that Ritsuko is a fool for saying so]].
* In ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', after Chloe reveals that [[spoiler:Kirika was the one who killed Mireille's parents]], Kirika begs Mireille to keep the promise that she made in the first episode and kill her. Instead, Mireille walks away, severing their partnership and leaving Kirika with the knowledge that she is now alone. [[spoiler:They reconcile in the penultimate episode.]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Luffy attacks with all his might, but he avoids killing his opponents. This because Luffy believes that forcing someone to live with all their hopes and dreams destroyed is a FateWorseThanDeath. Occasionally, some of Luffy's villains actually end up better off than they started (Wapol, for example, became an incredibly wealthy toymaker and tyrant of another kingdom, and Eneru went to the moon like he originally wanted).
** This seems to be [[BigBad Blackbeard's]] modus operandi in dealing with his defeated opponents. If you're lucky, he'll kill you on the spot. If you're '''really''' ''un''lucky, he'll have you turned in to the World Government, who'll send your ass straight to [[HellholePrison Impel Down]], an outright ''monstrous'' prison where pirates and other criminals are put through such [[ColdBloodedTorture horrendous torture]], they beg for death on the mere first level. And Blackbeard ''greatly'' prefers the second option. [[spoiler: So far, he has done this to Portgas D. Ace (albeit as part of his larger plan) and Jewelry Bonney[[note]]At least, onscreen[[/note]]. Only the latter escaped alive.]]
** [[spoiler: Sometime during the TimeSkip, he and his crew defeated the rest of the Whitebeard pirates during the Payback War. But their fates are currently unknown.]]
* At the climax, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' when the Iron-Masked Marauder is surrounded by angry forest Pokémon as they confront him for all the heinous crimes he has committed, the Marauder begs for mercy, but his pleas are ignored, and they tie him up using String Shot.
* The ultimate fate of [[spoiler: Queen Nakia]] in ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' is this: [[spoiler: she's in perpetual house arrest and living comfortably... but she ''knows'' that she owes it to Yuri and Kail, the protagonists and her worst enemies, who intend for her to witness how the Hitite Empire blossoms and flourishes ''without'' her in power. As a plus, her son Juda aka the person she intended to put in the throne as her PuppetKing, has completely deserted her.]]
* The ending of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' can be seen this way. [[spoiler:Rather than actually killing or hurting Akio, Anthy simply walks out on him, leaving him powerless.]] Since there weren't really too many ways to kill him anyway, it mightn't have been mercy, as such. But since [[spoiler: Akio '''needs''' [[DecoyDamsel Anthy]] as a part of his plans]], this is the '''''worst''''' thing that could've happened to him, plus [[spoiler: he gets to see how Anthy ultimately regained enough of her self-worth to leave him out in the cold forever.]]
* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi plays off his request for The King and Malty to be spared as this. This also doubles as a case of AdaptationalHeroism, as in the original Light Novel, Naofumi instead called for the two to be executed and had to be talked down. Their punishments were quite fitting for those who would abuse their royal power for selfish gains. They were stripped of all power and authority, and to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler:Naofumi had their names legally changed to "Trash" and "Bitch" respectively.]]
* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', a previous comrade of Mugen betrays him so that she will not be alone, something she's terrified of. He kills ''everyone'' in the old crew who betrayed him and then just ignores her, even when she asks him to kill her so she can be TogetherInDeath.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** After managing to overpower Sugou in real life, Kirito is fully prepared to just [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and be done with it, but ultimately settles for just knocking Sugou out and letting the cops arrest and incarcerate him, his dreams and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions]] crushed, his body [[WoundThatWillNotHeal permanently damaged]], and exposed to the world as a cyber-criminal.
** After their fight in Underworld, [=PoH=] fully expects Kirito to give him a warrior's death, boasting that [[spoiler:he'll just keep coming after Kirito and Asuna again and again until he finally [[SlashedThroat slits their throats]] and [[AndShowItToYou rips their hearts out]] in real life]]. Instead, Kirito [[spoiler:subjects him to a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that [[AndIMustScream he'll never log out]].]]
* The ending of ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}G'' has [[spoiler:[[BigGood Genjurou]] sparing [[BigBad Dr. Ver]], preventing him from [[DrivenToSuicide attempting to kill himself]] [[DirtyCoward upon witnessing all his plans unravel]] when Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe, Symphogears he manipulated to advance his goals of making himself look like a hero by exploiting the chaos of the moon crashing into the Earth courtesy of Nephilim, his creation, finally wised up and [[HeelFaceTurn joined]] Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris to stop Nephilim. Genjurou's reasoning is that he's not going to let Ver be written off as having pulled off a "HeroicSacrifice" in the attempt to stop the moon's fall, instead making sure he's going to see justice done. It was so bad that by the end he's reduced into a giggling fit as he's being led away in handcuffs]].
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', after escaping his restraints Kaneki beats [[TortureTechnician Yamori]] within an inch of his life and devours his Kagune. Then, having crippled the other Ghoul suitably, he simply leaves him to be [[ThrowEmToTheWolves finished off]] whenever [[HunterOfMonsters CCG]] finally finds him.
* In ''Manga/YumeNoShizukuKinNoTorikago'', when Hurrem confronts a concubine that tried to sneak her way into the bed chamber of the sultan in an attempt to gain his favor, everyone expects Hurrem to have said concubine assassinated. But instead of that, Hurrem banishes her from the harem. Several concubines actually thought this was very merciful of her, but Gulbahar points out the opposite: the women in the harem are taken in at an early age and life in the harem is actually rather luxurious, so for them to be cast out into the world outside is actually pretty cruel.
* Hiei of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' was ordered killed by the [[LadyLand village of his birth]] due to the expectation that any male child born to their OneGenderRace of normally {{Truly Single Parent}}s would inevitably destroy them if allowed to grow up. Years later, he returned to do [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just that]], but, after seeing the pitiful lives the villagers lived, he came to the conclusion that killing them would only end their misery.
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Moments of CruelMercy in {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}.
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* It's unclear in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' whether Nagisa realizes this, but his finishing move against [[spoiler:Takaoka]] counts as this. Even as it's happening, he knows that he'll never get Nagisa's smile out of his nightmares. It may have been kinder to just kill him.
-->'''Nagisa''': [sincerely, with a genuine smile] [[spoiler:Takaoka-sensei]], thank you very much.
* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Our protagonist can do this if he thinks his enemies deserve punishment without killing them. The first example is the townspeople who watched in enjoyment as his mother burns at the stake, so he uses his magic to make their fields, walls and houses just, walk away, leaving them helpless.
** He decides to get payback on the Mirg nation for attacking his new home by sending an army of undead, their own army at that, to harass the villagers and forcing them to evacuate. He then steals their crops, poisons their waters and fields and leaves some undead for good measure, turning thousands of people who had benefitted from expelling him and the Ghoul tribe who took him in from that territory, into refugees.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** Goku planned to do this to Frieza during their fight on Namek, beating the tyrant senseless and driving him to a VillainousBreakdown before deciding that, with Frieza's ego in shambles over having been defeated by [[FantasticRacism a Saiyan of all beings]], he's NotWorthKilling, outright telling him as such and ordering Frieza to "go crawl off someplace and hide" and continue to live with the shame of his defeat. Later, after Frieza [[AnArmAndALeg lost his arm]] and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe entire lower body]], he tried it again before flying away. It backfires both times: the entire reason Frieza lost his limbs in the first place was because he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard got hit with his own energy disc]], and when Goku gave him some energy to at least survive, Frieza turned around and tried to kill him with it; by this point, Goku is done giving Frieza chances and blows him away, outright [[YouFool calling him a fool]] for not just walking away when he had the chance.
** Earlier, after Goku tricks Captain Ginyu into [[BodySurf switching bodies with a frog]], Vegeta chooses not to kill him for this reason, finding Ginyu being forced to live life as a frog amusing.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''[='s=] ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' adaptation, Gohan easily beats Ginyu-in-Tagoma's body despite being out of shape and only able to hold Super Saiyan form for a few moments. He spares Ginyu and tells him to get lost. This pisses off Frieza so badly, as it reminded him of the aforementioned mercy Goku gave him, that he goes and ''tortures Gohan for it.''
** Frieza could actually be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope. Every time Goku showed mercy with the intent of making him live with the shame, Frieza would either attempt to kill him or blow up the planet, [[spoiler:the latter of which in ''Resurrection F'' and ''Super'' killed everyone on Earth and would have led to a bad ending if Whis hadn't turned back time]]. Frieza is the type of foe who ''needs'' to be killed.
* ''Manga/FinalFantasyLostStranger'': When Sara announces her desire to spare the Magus Sisters despite their crimes, Cindy scoffs at her and asks if she wants them to suffer even more. Sara replies that she indeed wants them to suffer, but also to atone so they can work together to produce a better Mysidia.
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
** Kenshiro ends up doing this to Souther, partially. While he does ensure that Souther eventually dies soon enough, the fact that he actually does show mercy to Souther is the dagger through the heart of Souther, who himself had sworn off all kinds of mercy, making it a heavy blow onto his pride. Possibly Amiba as well. Kenshiro doesn't directly kill him and mocks Amiba's inability to avert his fate.
** He also subjects this to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CEsO0TE5Sk one particular thug]] with Hokuto Goukin Bundan Kyaku (Iron Muscle Shredding Kick). Unlike [[CruelAndUnusualDeath the fates]] of many other thugs that dealt with Kenshiro, this thug just got the muscles of his arms shredded, but by doing so deprived him of his brute strength he used to bully others. Kenshiro then suggested that the thug uses what remains of his life to live an honest life instead of bullying others since he left enough strength for the thug to do that. The thug fled the scene crying because he couldn't do whatever he wants anymore.
* Veronica of ''Manga/FrankenFran'' makes one friend (Yura) in her month-long stay at a girl's school. [[TeensAreMonsters Every other student performs multiple acts of bullying, from dumping water on her to writing on her clothes.]] [[spoiler:In the end, none of the bullies (except one) are harmed, and her friend turned out to be the one who was behind all the bullying and sold the bullied girls to pedophiles. Veronica brutally kills the men in Yura's room, along with the bully, and leaves Yura there to explain the situation to the authorities.]]
** The real irony is that it was true mercy: while even TheIngenue HumanoidAbomination Adorea managed to make some friends in that school, Veronica has NoSocialSkills nor the slightest idea how to make a friend. [[spoiler:She knew from the very beginning that Yura was a FalseFriend. Even so, Veronica really felt that a false friendship is better than nothing, so Veronica led Yura into her own plan, trying to enjoy the most of their false relationship. That simulation really [[ItMeantSomethingToMe meant something to Veronica]], and for that, [[YouWillBeSpared Yura was spared]].]] The last panel shows her denying her tears to Adorea.
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (both the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series), Scar does a violent variation (not exactly mercy) to Dr. Marcoh and ''really'' makes it clear that post-HeelFaceTurn, he's still an AntiHero. Marcoh comes to Scar admitting that he had created the Philosopher's Stones which were used to wipe out most of the population of Ishval (Scar's country). While Scar has in the past killed state alchemists for less, he's cooled by this point and is also taken aback when Marcoh begs for death (Marcoh had been threatened by Lust and Envy that if he didn't make another Stone for them, they would kill Macoh's entire village). So, what does Scar do? He "helps" Marcoh to fake his death by using his powers to horribly disfigure his face.
** And by this point, Marcoh loathes himself so much that he doesn't really care. While he has the skill and opportunity to repair the damage later, he decides to keep it as penance.
** It also served a practical purpose: No one besides the homunculi was able to recognize the disfigured doctor, allowing him and Scar's group to travel with more ease.
* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', after Motoko goes [[UnstoppableRage completely berserk]] and unloads a full clip of a .50 cal anti-material rifle [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon point blank]] into Gayle's Armed Suit cockpit for nearly killing her, running out of ammo is the only thing that stops her from killing him. At that point, the pressure from the denting of the armor plating was suffocating him inside his suit. She only allowed him to live so that he would forever regret ever hunting her down.
* ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'': Hiro leaving Kamakiri to recover by himself (not likely) comes to this. Hiro has left the Irish Wolfhound wounded, bloodied, de-fanged, and castrated on the ground, but instead of killing him for [[YouKilledMyFather killing his father when he was a puppy]], he leaves him there after saying to live with his wounds to understand the feelings and pain of others. Kamakiri tries to attack him one last time... but fails, leaving him howling in pain and rage as his death arrives.
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Josuke, the protagonist of part 4 has a Stand that allows him to [[CombatMedic restore things to their original estate, including wounds]]. However, when he's angry he can use his powers in pretty sadistic ways. Like one villain who ended up crippled in the hospital, was visited by Josuke. The villain immediately started pleading that he wouldn't hit a poor, crippled man in a hospital. Josuke heals him back to perfect health just so he can ''beat him up so bad he cripples him again''.
--> '''Josuke:''' If I heal you up first, then I figure it's a fair fight, right?
* A meta-example comes from ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'', which has its primary antagonist Katejina Loos lose both her eyesight and her memory in the final battle to make a surprise appearance at the very end where she is reduced to TheOphelia. The decision to spare Katejina from death was motivated by this trope, as Creator/YoshiyukiTomino detailed in an interview, describing Katejina as having committed too many war crimes for death alone to be a sufficient punishment. As he directly puts it, "Life was a heavier punishment for her".
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Allelujah Haptism receives a cruel mercy from the Federation after the loss of Celestial Being in Season 1. Instead of being killed by the federation, Allelujah [[FateWorseThanDeath faced his worse fate]] in their hand by being placed in isolated prison, being muzzled and straitjacketed, and receive dozen torment and interrogation by the federation for 4 years before he finally being saved by his comrade thanks to Nena and Liu Mei information.
* In ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', [[BigBad Moo]] claims that he knew where Holly and Suezo were hiding while [[DoomedHometown their village was being destroyed]], but deliberately left them alive. He did this specifically with the intention of making them despise him -- after all, Moo is [[ThePowerOfHate fueled by hatred]], and sees Holly as a particularly potent potential source since he's [[spoiler:possessing her father as his vessel]]. He has every intention of making things as [[ItsPersonal painfully personal]] for her as possible so that she'll hate him all the more.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The villain Shigaraki [[spoiler:deals this out to fellow villain Overhaul when he has the chance to kill him, while attacking the police convoy transporting Overhaul and his men to prison. Shigaraki decides it would be a crueler and more fitting revenge to instead takes both of Overhaul's arms, leaving him incapable of using his Quirk and then leaves him for the police to retrieve. Effectively leaving him a Quirkless and crippled man who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars]].
* Happens to Ritsuko in Episode 23 of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After revealing the secrets of the Terminal Dogma and of Rei and the Dummy Plug System to Shinji and Misato, Ritsuko [[spoiler:realises that Gendo used her, and destroys Rei's clones. She then breaks down into tears, inviting Misato to shoot her, saying that she welcomes death. Misato refuses, saying that Ritsuko is a fool for saying so]].
* In ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', after Chloe reveals that [[spoiler:Kirika was the one who killed Mireille's parents]], Kirika begs Mireille to keep the promise that she made in the first episode and kill her. Instead, Mireille walks away, severing their partnership and leaving Kirika with the knowledge that she is now alone. [[spoiler:They reconcile in the penultimate episode.]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Luffy attacks with all his might, but he avoids killing his opponents. This because Luffy believes that forcing someone to live with all their hopes and dreams destroyed is a FateWorseThanDeath. Occasionally, some of Luffy's villains actually end up better off than they started (Wapol, for example, became an incredibly wealthy toymaker and tyrant of another kingdom, and Eneru went to the moon like he originally wanted).
** This seems to be [[BigBad Blackbeard's]] modus operandi in dealing with his defeated opponents. If you're lucky, he'll kill you on the spot. If you're '''really''' ''un''lucky, he'll have you turned in to the World Government, who'll send your ass straight to [[HellholePrison Impel Down]], an outright ''monstrous'' prison where pirates and other criminals are put through such [[ColdBloodedTorture horrendous torture]], they beg for death on the mere first level. And Blackbeard ''greatly'' prefers the second option. [[spoiler: So far, he has done this to Portgas D. Ace (albeit as part of his larger plan) and Jewelry Bonney[[note]]At least, onscreen[[/note]]. Only the latter escaped alive.]]
** [[spoiler: Sometime during the TimeSkip, he and his crew defeated the rest of the Whitebeard pirates during the Payback War. But their fates are currently unknown.]]
* At the climax, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' when the Iron-Masked Marauder is surrounded by angry forest Pokémon as they confront him for all the heinous crimes he has committed, the Marauder begs for mercy, but his pleas are ignored, and they tie him up using String Shot.
* The ultimate fate of [[spoiler: Queen Nakia]] in ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' is this: [[spoiler: she's in perpetual house arrest and living comfortably... but she ''knows'' that she owes it to Yuri and Kail, the protagonists and her worst enemies, who intend for her to witness how the Hitite Empire blossoms and flourishes ''without'' her in power. As a plus, her son Juda aka the person she intended to put in the throne as her PuppetKing, has completely deserted her.]]
* The ending of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' can be seen this way. [[spoiler:Rather than actually killing or hurting Akio, Anthy simply walks out on him, leaving him powerless.]] Since there weren't really too many ways to kill him anyway, it mightn't have been mercy, as such. But since [[spoiler: Akio '''needs''' [[DecoyDamsel Anthy]] as a part of his plans]], this is the '''''worst''''' thing that could've happened to him, plus [[spoiler: he gets to see how Anthy ultimately regained enough of her self-worth to leave him out in the cold forever.]]
* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi plays off his request for The King and Malty to be spared as this. This also doubles as a case of AdaptationalHeroism, as in the original Light Novel, Naofumi instead called for the two to be executed and had to be talked down. Their punishments were quite fitting for those who would abuse their royal power for selfish gains. They were stripped of all power and authority, and to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler:Naofumi had their names legally changed to "Trash" and "Bitch" respectively.]]
* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', a previous comrade of Mugen betrays him so that she will not be alone, something she's terrified of. He kills ''everyone'' in the old crew who betrayed him and then just ignores her, even when she asks him to kill her so she can be TogetherInDeath.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** After managing to overpower Sugou in real life, Kirito is fully prepared to just [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and be done with it, but ultimately settles for just knocking Sugou out and letting the cops arrest and incarcerate him, his dreams and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions]] crushed, his body [[WoundThatWillNotHeal permanently damaged]], and exposed to the world as a cyber-criminal.
** After their fight in Underworld, [=PoH=] fully expects Kirito to give him a warrior's death, boasting that [[spoiler:he'll just keep coming after Kirito and Asuna again and again until he finally [[SlashedThroat slits their throats]] and [[AndShowItToYou rips their hearts out]] in real life]]. Instead, Kirito [[spoiler:subjects him to a FateWorseThanDeath by turning him into a tree and trapping him in Underworld, declaring that [[AndIMustScream he'll never log out]].]]
* The ending of ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}G'' has [[spoiler:[[BigGood Genjurou]] sparing [[BigBad Dr. Ver]], preventing him from [[DrivenToSuicide attempting to kill himself]] [[DirtyCoward upon witnessing all his plans unravel]] when Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe, Symphogears he manipulated to advance his goals of making himself look like a hero by exploiting the chaos of the moon crashing into the Earth courtesy of Nephilim, his creation, finally wised up and [[HeelFaceTurn joined]] Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris to stop Nephilim. Genjurou's reasoning is that he's not going to let Ver be written off as having pulled off a "HeroicSacrifice" in the attempt to stop the moon's fall, instead making sure he's going to see justice done. It was so bad that by the end he's reduced into a giggling fit as he's being led away in handcuffs]].
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', after escaping his restraints Kaneki beats [[TortureTechnician Yamori]] within an inch of his life and devours his Kagune. Then, having crippled the other Ghoul suitably, he simply leaves him to be [[ThrowEmToTheWolves finished off]] whenever [[HunterOfMonsters CCG]] finally finds him.
* In ''Manga/YumeNoShizukuKinNoTorikago'', when Hurrem confronts a concubine that tried to sneak her way into the bed chamber of the sultan in an attempt to gain his favor, everyone expects Hurrem to have said concubine assassinated. But instead of that, Hurrem banishes her from the harem. Several concubines actually thought this was very merciful of her, but Gulbahar points out the opposite: the women in the harem are taken in at an early age and life in the harem is actually rather luxurious, so for them to be cast out into the world outside is actually pretty cruel.
* Hiei of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' was ordered killed by the [[LadyLand village of his birth]] due to the expectation that any male child born to their OneGenderRace of normally {{Truly Single Parent}}s would inevitably destroy them if allowed to grow up. Years later, he returned to do [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just that]], but, after seeing the pitiful lives the villagers lived, he came to the conclusion that killing them would only end their misery.
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