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* Doomsday's first appearance in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. In the comics when Doomsday first appeared he killed Superman. (Superman soon got better). However, in the Justice League cartoon, he's not facing our Superman, but rather Supes' KnightTemplar counterpart from an AlternateUniverse, Justice Lord Superman, who is completely unburdened by moral constraints like ThouShaltNotKill. Not long after the fight has started and he's felt how strong and dangerous Doomsday is, Justice Lord Superman decides to skip out on a protracted battle with Doomsday and simply uses his eye lasers to ''lobotomize Doomsday'', bringing the fight to a swift end in a way that Superman never would have done. (Doomsday eventually got better and was mighty pissed, but that's another story/episode).
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* Doomsday's first appearance in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. In the comics comics, when Doomsday first appeared appears, he killed kills Superman. (Superman soon got better). However, in the Justice League cartoon, "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E11And12ABetterWorld A Better World]]", he's not facing our Superman, but rather Supes' KnightTemplar counterpart from an AlternateUniverse, Justice Lord Superman, who is completely unburdened by moral constraints like ThouShaltNotKill. Not long after the fight has started and he's felt how strong and dangerous Doomsday is, Justice Lord Superman decides to skip out on a protracted battle with Doomsday and simply uses his eye lasers to ''lobotomize Doomsday'', bringing the fight to a swift end in a way that Superman never would have done. (Doomsday eventually got gets better and was is mighty pissed, but that's another story/episode).story/episode.)
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** Downplayed in the revived series four episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End". The Daleks take over the Earth and several other planets with their creator Davros at the head of a full-fledged Dalek army. The Doctor is on a severe pacifist kick and rejects all means of actually fighting back against the threat, even condemning Martha's and Jack's [[TakingYouWithMe gambits]] to thwart the Daleks' plans. The army is only destroyed when a cloned version of the Doctor, who because of the circumstances of his creation is TheUnfettered, does what the real Doctor won't and triggers a galaxy-sized backfire that destroys all the Daleks completely.
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* ''Anime/CrossAnge'': When Ange has her brother Julio at her mercy, she's more than ready to finish him off even when he shamelessly tries to plead for his life. However, [[BigBad Embryo]] steps in and kills Julio himself, because he does not want Ange to "taint her hands".
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* In the 1947 ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story that introduces Joe Chill, the [[DeathByOriginStory killer of Bruce Wayne's parents]], Batman confronts Chill and, in a fit of anger, reveals his SecretIdentity to him. Since this was back when recurring villains didn't get to learn such secrets, but Batman doesn't kill, Chill is instead killed by his own enraged men after he tells them he is responsible for creating Batman... and, naturally, dies before he can say just who's behind the mask.
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* In the 1947 ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story that introduces Joe Chill, the [[DeathByOriginStory killer of Bruce Wayne's parents]], Batman confronts Chill and, in a fit of anger, reveals his SecretIdentity to him. Since this was back when recurring villains didn't get to learn such secrets, but Batman doesn't kill, Chill is instead killed by his own enraged men after he tells them he is responsible for creating Batman...[[TheDreaded Batman]]... and, naturally, dies before he can say just who's behind the mask.
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* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'': [[spoiler:Bondrewd dismembers his daughter Prushka and turns her into an anti-curse cartridge, which Reg, Riko, and Nanachi are horrified by. However, Prushka in her cartridge form is able to produce a Life-Reverberating Stone, which is necessary for a White Whistle to be made that can help Riko and her friends get to the sixth layer of the Abyss. A White Whistle can only be made by the death of a cave raider's loved one, and even though they only knew each other a short time, Prushka and Riko grew to like each other very much.]]
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* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'': [[spoiler:Bondrewd dismembers his daughter Prushka and turns her into an anti-curse cartridge, which Reg, Riko, and Nanachi are horrified by. However, Prushka in her cartridge form is able to produce a Life-Reverberating Stone, which is necessary for a White Whistle to be made that can help Riko and her friends get to the sixth layer of the Abyss. A White Whistle can The only be made way to make a Life-Reverberating Stone is by the death of a cave raider's loved one, one sacrificing themselves for them, and even though they only knew each other a short time, Prushka and Riko grew to like each other very much.]]
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* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'': [[spoiler:Bondrewd dismembers his daughter Prushka and turns her into an anti-curse cartridge, which Reg, Riko, and Nanachi are horrified by. However, Prushka in her cartridge form is able to produce a Life-Reverberating Stone, which is necessary for a White Whistle to be made that can help Riko and her friends get to the sixth layer of the Abyss. A White Whistle can only be made by the death of a cave raider's loved one, and even though they only knew each other a short time, Prushka and Riko grew to like each other very much.]]
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* ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'': Kraven is revealed to be a DeathSeeker who is trying to find a WorthyOpponent to slay him in battle, by forcing them into battles to the death (because he's SecretlyDying of cancer and can't bear the thought of passing quietly of a disease). Of course the Spider-Man duo, as heroes who refuse to kill, can't grant him this request even if they defeat him, [[spoiler:so Kraven is instead killed by Venom, who takes over the role of BigBad afterwards.]]
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* A similar scenario, combined with a BatmanGambit, plays out in ''Film/EnemyOfTheState''. The film opens with Dean negotiating with mobster Pintero over a compromising videotape that Dean had obtained, and which he gives Pintero in exchange for leaving Dean's clients alone. Later, Dean unknowingly obtains a recording that shows the assassination of a Congressman, which places him in the NSA's crosshairs. When he and Brill are captured by NSA bigwig Reynolds, he tells Reynolds that he will take them to the tape, leading them to Pintero instead. Dean remains vague enough about what he means by "the tape" when introducing them that Pintero assumes Reynolds is the man who made the mob tape coming to blackmail him, while Reynolds thinks that Dean gave the assassination tape to The Mafia, leading to a violent shootout where both Mafia and NSA forces wipe each other out.
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* A similar scenario, combined with a BatmanGambit, plays out in ''Film/EnemyOfTheState''. ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'': The film opens with Dean negotiating with mobster Pintero over a compromising videotape that Dean had obtained, and which he gives Pintero in exchange for leaving Dean's clients alone. Later, Dean unknowingly obtains a recording that shows the assassination of a Congressman, which places him in the NSA's crosshairs. When he and Brill are captured by NSA bigwig Reynolds, he tells Reynolds that he will take them to the tape, leading them to Pintero instead. Dean remains vague enough about what he means by "the tape" when introducing them that Pintero assumes Reynolds is the man who made the mob tape coming to blackmail him, while Reynolds thinks that Dean gave the assassination tape to The Mafia, leading to a violent shootout where both Mafia and NSA forces wipe each other out.
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* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': In the 2023 Faerie Festival, the [[NatureHero heroic]] Illusen and the [[DarkIsEvil villainous]] Jhudora attempt to get information from [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Monty]], but he gives dodgy answers. Jhudora has Illusen step outside so that she can scare Monty into telling the truth.
-->'''Jhudora:''' If fear is what motivates him, then let me have a private chat with Monty. Just the two of us.\\
'''Monty:''' Hold on there, Illusen, let's not be hasty now! You seem like the levelheaded one here to me, so maybe just hang back with us-\\
'''Illusen:''' Buh-bye, and good luck Monty! *Steps outside*
-->'''Jhudora:''' If fear is what motivates him, then let me have a private chat with Monty. Just the two of us.\\
'''Monty:''' Hold on there, Illusen, let's not be hasty now! You seem like the levelheaded one here to me, so maybe just hang back with us-\\
'''Illusen:''' Buh-bye, and good luck Monty! *Steps outside*
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* In ''Film/BadLieutenantPortOfCallNewOrleans'', the title character is being pursued by gangsters who want him to pay $50,000 for roughing up the son of a local real estate mogul. Rather than paying, he lures them to a place where he's meeting a drug kingpin that he's in business with. When the gangsters try to steal the kingpin's product in payment for what the protagonist owes, the kingpin and his men kill them all.
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* In ''Film/BadLieutenantPortOfCallNewOrleans'', ''Film/TheBadLieutenantPortOfCallNewOrleans'', the title character is being pursued by gangsters who want him to pay $50,000 for roughing up the son of a local real estate mogul. Rather than paying, he lures them to a place where he's meeting a drug kingpin that he's in business with. When the gangsters try to steal the kingpin's product in payment for what the protagonist owes, the kingpin and his men kill them all.
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* This tends to apply frequently to the main characters of ''Manga/ApocalypseNoToride'', although ''most'' of their actions could be written off as {{Villainous Rescue}}s. One particular instance of this is Yoshioka stabbing another inmate through the hand and pinning him to a table to divert the zombies, giving them a chance to escape.
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* This tends to apply frequently to the main characters of ''Manga/FortOfApocalypse'', although ''most'' of their actions could be written off as {{Villainous Rescue}}s. One particular instance of this is Yoshioka stabbing another inmate through the hand and pinning him to a table to divert the zombies, giving them a chance to escape.
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Correct namespace folders. The RWBY entry was decided on the Is This An Example? thread
.
.[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 5's climax, the heroes and fight villains over the Relic of Knowledge, but the heroes aren't yet as skilled as the villains. They succeed due to a third-party antagonist taking on the strongest villain. [[spoiler:Raven sides with the villains only to gain access to the Relic, which she intends to take for her own reasons. She fights Cinder, successfully defeats the Fall Maiden's powers, and leaves her for dead. However, Yang confronts her with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech just as she's about to take the relic, resulting in her abandoning it to the heroes and ensuring their victory.]]
[[/folder]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 5's climax, the heroes and fight villains over the Relic of Knowledge, but the heroes aren't yet as skilled as the villains. They succeed due to a third-party antagonist taking on the strongest villain. [[spoiler:Raven sides with the villains only to gain access to the Relic, which she intends to take for her own reasons. She fights Cinder, successfully defeats the Fall Maiden's powers, and leaves her for dead. However, Yang confronts her with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech just as she's about to take the relic, resulting in her abandoning it to the heroes and ensuring their victory.]]
[[/folder]]
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* Both inverted and played straight in the same example in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' when A_J requests that she and Pi be put through the re-education process. Inverted when Egg, arguably the only 'true' good guy (or at the very least [[KnightTemplar the only one without centuries of blood on her hands]]), is forced to make the decision - then played straight when Req, the most amoral of the four, is the one to push the button.
** A_J is quick to blame Egg when [[spoiler:the Doctor dies]], however.
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].
** A_J is quick to blame Egg when [[spoiler:the Doctor dies]], however.
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].
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* Both inverted and played straight in the same example in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' when A_J requests that she and Pi be put through the re-education process. Inverted when Egg, arguably the only 'true' good guy (or at the very least [[KnightTemplar the only one without centuries of blood on her hands]]), is forced to make the decision - then played straight when Req, the most amoral of the four, is the one to push the button.
**button. A_J is quick to blame Egg when [[spoiler:the Doctor dies]], however.
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].however.
**
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].
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[[folder:Web Video]]
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].
[[/folder]]
* In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee the crew of the USS Exit Strategy needs a bit more time to counterattack the villains, who are already locked on to them and might just win. Cue [[spoiler:Mechakara, whom those same villains betrayed at the end of the last episode, beating up the whole evil bridge]].
[[/folder]]
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** In ''Transformers ComicBook/MoreThanMeetsTheEye'' Whirl believes he's already a monster and knows that sometimes to keep people safe there are difficult decisions in which there is no winner. He is willing to make those choices so that good people aren't forced to do bad things.
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** In ''Transformers ComicBook/MoreThanMeetsTheEye'' ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', Whirl believes he's already a monster and knows that sometimes to keep people safe there are difficult decisions in which there is no winner. He is willing to make those choices so that good people aren't forced to do bad things.
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* ''Fanfic/ADevilAmongstWorms'', Makima is the one to permanently defeat [[spoiler:Leviathan]] and drive most of the villains, like the ABB and E88 out of Brockton Bay, not that the people of Earth-Bet realize Makima's [[SatanicArchetype true nature]].
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This trope is about the villain doing an unheroic act that helps the heroes, which spares the heroes from being unheroic. This entry is just listing how villains have died in the show, which has nothing to do with the trope.
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* A majority of the villains in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are killed and the cause is, if it's not a case of [[SelfDisposingVillain their own hands]], then at the hands of villains. Two notable examples include [[spoiler:Lionheart, a traitor who helped contribute to the fall of Beacon, [[YouHaveFailedMe being killed by Salem]] and Jacques, Weiss's abusive father, meeting his end via Ironwood's {{BFG}}.]] There's tons to count that it's easier to count how many villains ''did'' die by RWBY's hand: [[spoiler:Two: Adam Taurus and Ironwood indirectly when they had Atlas fall on Mantle and Winter leaving him for dead]].
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-->'''Princess Luna:''' Eris, I don't want to hurt you.
-->''[cue fireball enveloping Eris in flames, blasting her out of the window and into oblivion]''
-->'''Daybreaker:''' I do.
-->''[cue fireball enveloping Eris in flames, blasting her out of the window and into oblivion]''
-->'''Daybreaker:''' I do.
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-->'''Princess Luna:''' Eris, I don't want to hurt you.
-->''[cueyou.\\
''[cue fireball enveloping Eris in flames, blasting her out of the window and intooblivion]''
-->'''Daybreaker:'''oblivion]''\\
'''Daybreaker:''' I do.
-->''[cue
''[cue fireball enveloping Eris in flames, blasting her out of the window and into
-->'''Daybreaker:'''
'''Daybreaker:''' I do.
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* Film/JamesBond:
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* Film/JamesBond:''Film/JamesBond'':
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* At the end of ''Film/BlueBeetle2023'', [[spoiler:Carapax has a HeelRealization, drags BigBad Victoria Kord into an inferno, and detonates the reactor core of his OMAC suit]], neatly disposing of the villain without Jaime having to dirty his own hands.
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* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''':
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* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''':''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
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* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' did this too.
** Throughout Season 2, the Inquisitors, Vaders personal QuirkyMiniBossSquad, had been a recurring threat to the heroes. However, they were so badly outclassed by the Jedi that the only reason they kept coming back was that they were allowed to retreat. Finally in [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E19TwilightOfTheApprentice Twilight of]] [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII the Apprentice]] the heroes were forced into a brief EnemyMine with Maul, who slaughtered them all in short order and berated the heroes for refusing to do it themselves.
** Throughout Season 2, the Inquisitors, Vaders personal QuirkyMiniBossSquad, had been a recurring threat to the heroes. However, they were so badly outclassed by the Jedi that the only reason they kept coming back was that they were allowed to retreat. Finally in [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E19TwilightOfTheApprentice Twilight of]] [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII the Apprentice]] the heroes were forced into a brief EnemyMine with Maul, who slaughtered them all in short order and berated the heroes for refusing to do it themselves.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' did this too.
**''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Throughout Season 2, the Inquisitors, Vaders personal QuirkyMiniBossSquad, had been a recurring threat to the heroes. However, they were so badly outclassed by the Jedi that the only reason they kept coming back was that they were allowed to retreat. Finally in [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E19TwilightOfTheApprentice Twilight of]] [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII the Apprentice]] the heroes were forced into a brief EnemyMine with Maul, who slaughtered them all in short order and berated the heroes for refusing to do it themselves.
**
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* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3: Corruption'', Dark Samus kills [[spoiler:the corrupted Hunters]] after [[YouHaveFailedMe you defeat them]]. Samus probably couldn't bring herself to ShootTheDog, making Dark Samus quite convenient in a twisted, twisted way.
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* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3: Corruption'', ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'', Dark Samus kills [[spoiler:the corrupted Hunters]] after [[YouHaveFailedMe you defeat them]]. Samus probably couldn't bring herself to ShootTheDog, making Dark Samus quite convenient in a twisted, twisted way.
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'''Scorpius:''' ''(sigh)'' I can. ''(grabs pistol in John's hand, and fires)''
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'''Scorpius:''' ''(sigh)'' ''[sighs]'' I can. ''(grabs ''[grabs pistol in John's hand, and fires)''fires]''
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* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars Dual Strike'', the BigBad is defeated and at the player's mercy. But the machine he hooked himself up to is still draining the planet, and he needs to be killed. Von Bolt taunts Jake, asking if he can really shoot a defenseless old man. The player is offered a choice of whether to shoot him or not and if you don't, [[spoiler: Hawke shows up and does it for you.]] The odd thing about this is that [[spoiler:''either way'', the shooter just destroys Von Bolt's machine itself.]]
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* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
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* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
* A staple of the ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' franchise.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': In ''Advance Wars Dual Strike'', the BigBad is defeated and at the player's mercy. But the machine he hooked himself up to is still draining the planet, and he needs to be killed. Von Bolt taunts Jake, asking if he can really shoot a defenseless old man. The player is offered a choice of whether to shoot him or not and if you don't, [[spoiler:Hawke shows up and does it for you.]] The odd thing about this is that [[spoiler:''either way'', the shooter just destroys Von Bolt's machine itself]].
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* A staple of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' franchise.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
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[[folder:Web Comics]]
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* ''Film/BlueBeetle2023'': [[spoiler:BigBad Victoria's right hand man Carapax is the one who kills Victoria, taking himself in the process]], which spares the hero-protagonist Jaime from having to do it.
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[[index]]
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/ComicBooks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/FanWorks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/LiveActionTV
[[/index]]
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/ComicBooks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/FanWorks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/LiveActionTV
[[/index]]
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* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/ComicBooks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/FanWorks
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/LiveActionTV
[[/index]]
* In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', Quanxi takes out huge numbers of Santa Claus' doll minions when Denji is reluctant to harm them out of fear that they're still human and very much alive despite their transformation.
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* The big bads of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' kill off most of their own subordinates who fail them, which keep Sailor Moon and company from having to get their hands dirty. This courtesy does not, of course, extend to the BigBad themselves or often to their [[TheDragon Dragon]], who Sailor Moon will more often than not kill ''personally''. In [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], they regularly kill most of their adversaries.
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* The big bads of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' kill off most of their own subordinates who fail them, which keep Sailor Moon and company from having to get their hands dirty. This courtesy does not, of course, extend to the BigBad themselves or often to their [[TheDragon Dragon]], who Sailor Moon will more often than not kill ''personally''. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], manga]] and ''[[Anime/SailorMoonCrystal Crystal]]'', they regularly kill most of their adversaries.
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[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': At the climax of the movie Iago, who was an outright villain in [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the first movie]] and is [[HeelFaceTurn starting to turn]], is the one to [[spoiler:push Jafar's lamp into lava and kill the evil genie for good]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift'', [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]] is implicitly devoured by [[OurSirensAreDifferent the sirens]].
-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' That's me!\\
'''Siren:''' Let's rule the seas together!\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' ''Aye-aye!''\\
'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')
* Simba from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' is too moral to give Scar the killing blow. However, the hyenas who Scar [[JustGivingOrders tried to blame for everything]] when things started looking bad... they have no such morals. And they haven't eaten in a while...
-->'''Scar:''' Ah! My friends!\\
'''Shenzi''': [[TheDogBitesBack "Friends?" I thought he said we were the]] ''[[BackstabBackfire enemy.]]''\\
'''Banzai''': Yeah, that's what I heard.\\
'''Both:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]\\
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': At the end of the climax, [[spoiler:the Friends on the Other Side pull this off]] after Tiana [[spoiler:breaks Dr. Facilier's talisman, making it impossible for him to pay off his spiritual debt. They [[DraggedOffToHell take him to the Other Side]]]].
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the titular hero leaves the corrupt mayor Tortoise John at the mercy of Rattlesnake Jake, whom John had hired to get rid of Rango and then tried to kill [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he was no longer useful]]. Being a [[NobleDemon principled villain]], Jake acknowledges Rango as a WorthyOpponent before leaving town, dragging the screaming mayor with him to his implied death.
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': At the climax of the movie Iago, who was an outright villain in [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the first movie]] and is [[HeelFaceTurn starting to turn]], is the one to [[spoiler:push Jafar's lamp into lava and kill the evil genie for good]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift'', [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]] is implicitly devoured by [[OurSirensAreDifferent the sirens]].
-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' That's me!\\
'''Siren:''' Let's rule the seas together!\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' ''Aye-aye!''\\
'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')
* Simba from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' is too moral to give Scar the killing blow. However, the hyenas who Scar [[JustGivingOrders tried to blame for everything]] when things started looking bad... they have no such morals. And they haven't eaten in a while...
-->'''Scar:''' Ah! My friends!\\
'''Shenzi''': [[TheDogBitesBack "Friends?" I thought he said we were the]] ''[[BackstabBackfire enemy.]]''\\
'''Banzai''': Yeah, that's what I heard.\\
'''Both:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]\\
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': At the end of the climax, [[spoiler:the Friends on the Other Side pull this off]] after Tiana [[spoiler:breaks Dr. Facilier's talisman, making it impossible for him to pay off his spiritual debt. They [[DraggedOffToHell take him to the Other Side]]]].
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the titular hero leaves the corrupt mayor Tortoise John at the mercy of Rattlesnake Jake, whom John had hired to get rid of Rango and then tried to kill [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he was no longer useful]]. Being a [[NobleDemon principled villain]], Jake acknowledges Rango as a WorthyOpponent before leaving town, dragging the screaming mayor with him to his implied death.
to:
* Happens a lot in ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman''. With the Incursions threatening all existence, the Illuminati reform to try and find a way to stop them. However, their first option doesn't work, and their next option they consider far too horrific to actually do it. So [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] [[spoiler: reforms the Cabal, who for eight months handle the Incursions themselves, albeit with the wholesale slaughter of other universes thrown in for good measure. Elsewhere, Doctor Doom sets about analysing the Incursions, and learns far more about their mechanisms than the Illuminati ever did.]]
* In the 1947 ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story that introduces Joe Chill, the [[DeathByOriginStory killer of Bruce Wayne's parents]], Batman confronts Chill and, in a fit of anger, reveals his SecretIdentity to him. Since this was back when recurring villains didn't get to learn such secrets, but Batman doesn't kill, Chill is instead killed by his own enraged men after he tells them he is responsible for creating Batman... and, naturally, dies before he can say just who's behind the mask.
** The story was later adapted for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', but tweaks it by having Chill die in a freak accident before Batman's enemies could get him --
** In Post-''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' continuity, Joe Chill would be killed off by psycho vigilante The Reaper just as Batman is struggling with the decision to kill him himself or not.
*
** Similarly, when Batman finally goes after the leadership of the [[ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls Court of Owls]], he finds that they've all already been killed by [[spoiler:Lincoln March]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': In the last issues of Deadpool's first ongoing series, his friend and assistant Sandi is hospitalized after her boyfriend assaults her. When Deadpool and Taskmaster visit her, she makes Deadpool promise he'll only scare the [[AssholeVictim abusive boyfriend]] off, not kill him. Deadpool follows through with a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Taskmaster [[ExactWords didn't make any promises]]. Cue GoryDiscretionShot.
* At the
-->''Now who's stupid?''
* Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|Of America}}'' run introduced a character called the Fan. As one of the
* Namor has a history of this. During the ''Emperor Doom'' graphic novel, he was the one who ultimately stopped ComicBook/DoctorDoom's mind control machine by killing the Purple Man.
* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyNightmareKnights'', when Princess Luna finally regains her powers and has [[VillainOfTheWeek Eris]] dead to rights, at first she is royally pissed about everything the villainess has done and seems eager to exact revenge. However, she starts having second thoughts when Eris literally drops to her knees and pathetically [[VillainsWantMercy begs Luna for mercy]]. Unfortunately for her, [[TokenEvilTeammate Daybreaker]] will have none of it.
-->'''Princess Luna:''' Eris, I don't want to hurt you.
-->''[cue fireball enveloping Eris in flames, blasting her out of the window and into oblivion]''
-->'''Daybreaker:''' I do.
* In ''ComicBook/ThePunisher / ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' crossover ''Seventh Circle'', Matt Murdock arranges for the guilty-as-hell Antonov to be put on trial in Texas, as there's no way they can get an impartial jury in New York. Frank Castle (who doesn't know they're the same person) has a different theory: Murdock is setting up the trial in Texas as they still use the death penalty, ensuring Antonov dies legally rather than a sniper's bullet (Frank's plan). [[LetsYouAndHimFight Several people die because they can't agree on the ethics of the whole thing.]]
* In ''ComicBook/SecretSix'', someone once put out a hit on the Six, resulting in Scandal's beloved girlfriend Knockout being critically injured, and Scandal tracked down the would-be assassin and brought her back to their base. However, having tied the woman to a chair, she was unable to bring herself to finish her off. Her teammate Deadshot stepped in and shot the woman himself, sparing Scandal the trouble.
* In the final issue of ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'', the title character struggles with the idea of killing Topin, even after his former apprentice nearly destroyed the world, [[spoiler: kidnapped his daughter and was revealed to have influenced him into not contacting her or her mother]]. Before Rat-Man can steel himself and do the deed, [[TokenEvilTeammate Valker stomps on Topin's head]].
** Valker was rescued from the Shadow specifically for this trope: being [[ReformedButNotTamed a sociopathic villain who just happened to have a reason to side with the heroes]], namely [[spoiler:[[PapaWolf remembering that Rat-Man is his son]]]], he's more than willing to murder any of the Shadow's minions, and, as [[HeroKiller his body count of superheroes]] can attest, extremely capable at it.
* In a later ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comic, Shadow confronts Eggman and outright
* In
-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' That's me!\\
'''Siren:''' Let's rule the seas together!\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' ''Aye-aye!''\\
'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')
* Simba from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' is too moral to give Scar the killing blow. However, the hyenas who Scar [[JustGivingOrders tried to blame for everything]] when things started looking bad... they have no such morals. And they haven't eaten in a while...
-->'''Scar:''' Ah! My friends!\\
'''Shenzi''':
'''Banzai''': Yeah, that's what I heard.\\
'''Both:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]\\
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': At the end of the climax, [[spoiler:the Friends on the Other Side pull this off]] after Tiana [[spoiler:breaks Dr. Facilier's talisman, making it impossible for him to pay off
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the titular hero leaves the corrupt mayor Tortoise John at the mercy of Rattlesnake Jake, whom John had hired to get rid of Rango
* In an early ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' story (#14), the Thunderbolts have to kill
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''':
** In ''Transformers ComicBook/MoreThanMeetsTheEye'' Whirl believes he's already a monster and knows that sometimes to keep people safe there are difficult decisions in which there is no
** Rodimus can't bring himself to kill [[spoiler:Getaway]] while retaking the ''Lost Light'', going so far as to [[SaveTheVillain save him from a
** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersPunishment'', Slug says that the Dinobots are the group that "does the things so that the heroes can keep being heroes." During the Great War and actually well before
* ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'':
** ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'': Reed is fully aware of the things that Van Damme did, including his part in all this, but his moral code does not allow him to kill him. So he blames himself that he's partially responsible, because his
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Ultimates recruit Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, from the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy. Nick Fury points that this is not the first that the security services made deals with terrorists.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Xavier loathes mutants taking advantage of their superior powers to impose their will of regular humans, no matter the circumstances. Wolverine, on the other hand, has no problem making a display of his powers to a mafia boss so he accepts to leave Colossus alone.
* ''Wayne Shelton'' exploits this trope: the BigBad is killed by another villain. Shelton confesses that he hoped him to do this, and call this a bargain with his own conscience.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** In the graphic novel ''ComicBook/GodLovesManKills'', the X-Men and their erstwhile ally ComicBook/{{Magneto}} have captured a few of the enemy "Purifiers." The heroes are desperate for information about the BigBad's plans, but the Purifier they question refuses to talk. Magneto, who at this point has yet to enter the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, does...something...to the man to force him to answer.
** Something comparable happens in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #269. Here ComicBook/{{Rogue}} and the personality she absorbed from ComicBook/MsMarvel come out of the Siege Perilous as two separate persons; unfortunately, there is only life force for one of them to survive, and therefore the Ms. Marvel revenant (a separate being from Carol Danvers, who was then in outer space as Binary) tries to kill Rogue. Rogue manages to defeat her, but can't bring herself to kill her even to survive, and so "Ms. Marvel" turns the tables again. She is about to kill Rogue when Magneto intervenes and kills the Ms. Marvel revenant. This could possibly be interpreted as Magneto being a CombatPragmatist, but the subsequent story (#274-275) shows him starting on the road to becoming a villain again.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} considers himself damned already because of his past, so he's willing to cross lines actual heroes shouldn't. He does not want anyone else, especially kids, following his example.
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BeyondTheOuterGatesLiesAHighSchoolLibrary'': Combined with WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk by Harry. When a suspect refuses to cough up their intel on [[spoiler:the Loki faction]] because TheMobBossIsScarier, Harry simply lets him go... but notes that [[spoiler:the Loki faction]] likely isn't going to believe that he didn't fess up, ''especially'' since he was freed. The threat of being tracked down and tortured in order to learn what he supposedly told them is enough to make the suspect crack.
* In ''Fanfic/CelestiasRocketAdventures'', while Twilight and Ash are certainly willing to fight, they aren't the sort of people who are going to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example]] of fallen foes to terrify the rest into flight. But Giovanni is.
* ''Fanfic/CuteMeetsPsycho'': [[Film/{{Heathers}} J.D.]] makes [[Franchise/SailorMoon Hotaru]] his 18th victim, taking out Mistress 9 in the process, before the Sailor Scouts could ever even meet her.
* ''Fanfic/TheDarkLordsOfNerima'': PlayedWith - when Beneda escaped from the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask believed she was already dead due to an injury he'd inflicted, and they needed to leave the scene before the police arrived. However, the senshi assumed that Jadeite would employ his usual method of [[YouHaveFailedMe dealing with his failures]], meaning they didn't have to worry about her.
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'' has a couple of examples:
** When the Reapers invade the Alpha Quadrant, they do several things that inadvertently help out the rest of the galaxy, such as [[spoiler:killing the [[BigBadWannabe Mekon]]]] and breaking the power of the Orion Syndicate.
** When the Romulans help Blackfire take over Tamaran, they also take the time to destroy the Citadel Empire ([[OneSteveLimit not to be confused with the Citadel Council]]), which had been tormenting the Tamaraneans for years.
* [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] in ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters''; the Rebellion's reliance upon its {{Token Evil Teammate}}s to handle its dirty work is shown in a very poor light, with the rest of the Rebellion being disgusted by them.
* This is pretty standard procedure for Ulquiorra in ''Fanfic/AHollowInEquestria'' when something needs to be done that the ponies can't do themselves.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse''
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail''
*** [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailGraceMonroe Grace Monroe]], leader of a denizen killing cult, discusses this trope with Chloe Cerise, stating that there are some things that only adults should do -- one of them being [[spoiler:killing Walter just as he's strangling Chloe]]. She's also the one to ultimately disband her cult when she realizes how much damaged it has caused.
*** While [=UnSara=] had been assaulted by a million Pokémon moves beforehand, [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailParkerCerise Parker Cerise]] is ultimately the one to defeat the apparition for good, not only wishing for the Bad things she did to be followed by good things, but make sure those good things remain long after she's gone.
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBoilingPoint'': [[Characters/InfinityTrainBoilingPointHazel Hazel]] saves The Innocence from [[spoiler: The Trauma]] and then [[NeckSnap snaps their neck]] while verbally breaking down Grace.
* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': Just like in canon, the heroes ultimately do little to prevent Cinder from causing the Fall of Beacon and contribute nothing to her downfall. Instead, [[spoiler:Darth Nihilus]] is the one to foil Cinder's plans by [[spoiler:killing Roman before he can hijack control of Ironwood's army; causing Cinder's death, thus returning her half-Maiden powers back to Amber; absorbing the Wyvern before it can destroy all of Atlas' airships; and killing Adam just as he got the upper hand on Winter during their duel]]. Of course, none of this was intentional on his part and it was really more of a lucky side effect caused by him pulling an EvilerThanThou at just the right moment.
* In ''Fanfic/LittleBlackDeathNote'': Kira disposes of [[spoiler:Voldemort]], while Team Slytherin investigates Raito Yagami and Hondo Makurai.
* A bizarre example happens in ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors''. After [[ArcVillain Dumbledore]] is killed, the heroes need to burn his body, and they apparently do not have any other means to set a fire, so they have Franchise/HarryPotter, their (recently BackFromTheDead) enemy, burn it with fire magic, because he's going to hell anyway.
* ''Fanfic/ZeroVsKira'' has [[Manga/DeathNote Kira]] declaring war upon [[Anime/CodeGeass the forces of Brittania]] after being accidentally transported to their world.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Mortified}}'', Skulker leads an army of ghosts, filled with villains like Johnny 13 and Kitty, Desiree, Walker and his goons, and former Circus Gothica performers, to attack the GIW headquarters.
* ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'' features two examples:
** In ''Friends to the End'', [[spoiler:Hago kills Scar whilst his back is turned]].
** In ''The Interceptor's Challenge'', the Interceptor [[spoiler:rips Shocker's head off, before burying him underneath the ground for all eternity]].
* ''Fanfic/TheButterflyEffectElfenLied'': Kaede is going out of her way to avoid killing anyone. Lucy has no such qualms, going after anyone who targets Kaede and her loved ones.
* ''Fanfic/IsseiTheGamingGear'': While Issei thinks he managed to kill Armârôs during his battle with her. She actually just fled to the abandoned church home to Raynare's group. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a fatal move on her part, as Azazel designated her a rogue agent, giving Raynare the excuse to shoot her.
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': So far, all of the villains killed off have met their ends at the hands of [[VillainProtagonist Jade]] or her minions.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'', an [[UnstoppableRage enraged Tohru]] almost crosses the line by killing the new Squid Khan General [[spoiler:[[TheSociopath Simon Leston]]]]. Before he can, however, [[FallenHero Jade]] swoops in and handles it for him.
* In ''Fanfic/ChainsOfReality'', the morally grey [[spoiler:Stella]] is the one who stops Renee, Haiku and Giggles from making the situation worse than it already was.
* ''Fanfic/JulekaVsTheForcesOfTheUniverse'': When Juleka learns that Ms. Bustier is a ShipperOnDeck who intends to pair Marinette and Adrien up for an assignment despite how Marinette gets TongueTied and [[HumiliationConga constantly humiliated]] around him, she knows that their teacher won't listen to anything ''she'' has to say. So she points [[RichBitch Chloe]] her direction, knowing the SpoiledBrat will throw a fit over not getting her way -- and that Ms. Bustier constantly caves to Chloe's bullying.
* ''Fanfic/PhoenixsTearReignition'': {{Inverted}} by Avila in ''Protectorate of the Color Pandora''; after Stone Dragon proves to be a BadBoss, she deliberately turns a blind eye towards Hare and Mocchi's plan to stop him from [[spoiler:filling the shrine with flames]]. She then considers finishing him off herself, but decides to leave it to the rebels instead, sardonically referring to them as 'heroes'.
* In ''Fanfic/PerfectionIsOverrated'', the First District is dealt with in a similar manner to canon, but this time by [[spoiler:The [[BigBad Usurper-possessed Obsidian Lord]] and his minions]].
* ''Fanfic/DekuIThinkHesSomePro'': Shigaraki and the rest of the League end up [[spoiler:killing All For One after Izuku kickstarts an EnemyCivilWar by revealing to them that Shigaraki was born Quirkless, with All For One secretly giving him his Quirk and grooming him as a weapon]].
* ''Fanfic/WhisperedTribulation'' [[PlayingWith plays with this]] in its Appendix; [[spoiler:Stain and Himiko jump in to defend Izuku and Eri from Overhaul... by [[GroinAttack nailing him in the nads]]. Which Izuku did first; Stain and Himiko are following his lead]].
* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'': When the heroes have [[spoiler:[[TheUsurper Prince Jewelius]]]] cornered in the final battle, Queen Chrysalis arrives and has her Changelings [[spoiler:[[EatenAlive devour Jewelius]] as revenge for double-crossing them]], thus alleviating the heroes of having to dispose of him.
* ''Fanfic/AndrogyninjasADropOfPoison'': During the Konoha Crush, Kabuto attacks [[spoiler:Shimura Danzo]], rendering them comatose. This helps prevent them from taking advantage of Konoha's weakened state after the invasion and seizing power, or from immediately exploiting [[spoiler:the death of Sakura's parents]].
* ''[[Fanfic/GlassMarionetteNaruto Glass Marionette]]'': Kankuro recognizes that he can't deal with [[AbusiveParents Rasa]] himself; so instead, he opts to leave him to [[spoiler:Orochimaru, letting him KillAndReplace him as part of his scheming]].
* ''Fanfic/AGlassOfWine'': After Asuka spares them during the final battle, [[spoiler:Kaworu]] repays her by taking out the entire SEELE council by themselves.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10515746/1/Those-Silver-Eyes Those Silver Eyes]]'', Summer Rose refuses to kill Barbary, even though he's blatantly threatening to spark a second Faunus War to KillAllHumans. Even after he tries to kill her after she spared his life, she refuses to finish the job. Fortunately, he runs afoul of a pack of Ursa Majors, who have no such qualms.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Stabilization}}'', Paolo acknowledges ''himself'' as an example – honorable people are the benevolent authority figures, while the unsavory side of politics is left to people like him.
* ''Fanfic/SonicBoomHauntedMansionMystery'': {{Discussed}} near the ending, when Sticks warns the others that they should probably escape the titular mansion before Eggman carpet-bombs it out of existence.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', [[spoiler:Dr. Beljar makes it really easy for the Titans to not kill Beast Boy since he takes over control of the Dark Prognosticus, and it’s required that whoever controls the Prognosticus must die in order to close the void. This arguably ends up being a moot point, though, when Beast Boy dies anyway from injuries sustained in the battle.]]
* ''Fanfic/HomemadeHappyEnding'': Mad Mod decides to intervene and help Beast Boy and Terra reunite by disposing of Slade for them. Though naturally, he's also doing this to benefit ''himself'' by [[spoiler:using Slade's life energy to rejuvenate himself]].
* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': This is the reason why Heather is helping Gwen instead of Dawn or Jo. The latter is limited because of how the law works when it comes to using her authority in cases of domestic abuse while the former is constrained by her morals and ethics.
* Played With in ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13188285/1/Young-Justice-Outsiders-Now-We-Can-Be-Diamonds-Together Now We Can Be Diamonds Together]]''. In the story, Lian Harper draws a ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' OriginalCharacter base on her dad, and Will posts it online to show it to their friends and family. Unfortunately, this draws the unwanted attention, ire, and insults of the more toxic members of the fandom, [[DisproportionateRetribution with one man named Adam declaring that he'll find Lian and do something unspeakable to her]] [[WouldHurtAChild despite (or likely because) she's a child]]. Artemis manages to stop Will [[PapaWolf from heading out and killing the harrasser before he could hurt Lian]], and the heroes focus on exposing Adam's intended harassment at the girl along with his other crimes to his family and the police. As for actually killing him? That task is handled [[MamaBear by Lian's mercenary mother Jade Nguyen, AKA Chesire]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': At the climax of the movie Iago, who was an outright villain in [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the first movie]] and is [[HeelFaceTurn starting to turn]], is the one to [[spoiler:push Jafar's lamp into lava and kill the evil genie for good]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift'', [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]] is implicitly devoured by [[OurSirensAreDifferent the sirens]].
-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' That's me!\\
'''Siren:''' Let's rule the seas together!\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' ''Aye-aye!''\\
'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')
* Simba from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' is too moral to give Scar the killing blow. However, the hyenas who Scar [[JustGivingOrders tried to blame for everything]] when things started looking bad... they have no such morals. And they haven't eaten in a while...
-->'''Scar:''' Ah! My friends!\\
'''Shenzi''': [[TheDogBitesBack "Friends?" I thought he said we were the]] ''[[BackstabBackfire enemy.]]''\\
'''Banzai''': Yeah, that's what I heard.\\
'''Both:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]\\
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': At the end of the climax, [[spoiler:the Friends on the Other Side pull this off]] after Tiana [[spoiler:breaks Dr. Facilier's talisman, making it impossible for him to pay off his spiritual debt. They [[DraggedOffToHell take him to the Other Side]]]].
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the titular hero leaves the corrupt mayor Tortoise John at the mercy of Rattlesnake Jake, whom John had hired to get rid of Rango and then tried to kill [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he was no longer useful]]. Being a [[NobleDemon principled villain]], Jake acknowledges Rango as a WorthyOpponent before leaving town, dragging the screaming mayor with him to his implied death.
[[/folder]]
* ''Fanfic/BeyondTheOuterGatesLiesAHighSchoolLibrary'': Combined with WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk by Harry. When a suspect refuses to cough up their intel on [[spoiler:the Loki faction]] because TheMobBossIsScarier, Harry simply lets him go... but notes that [[spoiler:the Loki faction]] likely isn't going to believe that he didn't fess up, ''especially'' since he was freed. The threat of being tracked down and tortured in order to learn what he supposedly told them is enough to make the suspect crack.
* In ''Fanfic/CelestiasRocketAdventures'', while Twilight and Ash are certainly willing to fight, they aren't the sort of people who are going to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example]] of fallen foes to terrify the rest into flight. But Giovanni is.
* ''Fanfic/CuteMeetsPsycho'': [[Film/{{Heathers}} J.D.]] makes [[Franchise/SailorMoon Hotaru]] his 18th victim, taking out Mistress 9 in the process, before the Sailor Scouts could ever even meet her.
* ''Fanfic/TheDarkLordsOfNerima'': PlayedWith - when Beneda escaped from the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask believed she was already dead due to an injury he'd inflicted, and they needed to leave the scene before the police arrived. However, the senshi assumed that Jadeite would employ his usual method of [[YouHaveFailedMe dealing with his failures]], meaning they didn't have to worry about her.
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'' has a couple of examples:
** When the Reapers invade the Alpha Quadrant, they do several things that inadvertently help out the rest of the galaxy, such as [[spoiler:killing the [[BigBadWannabe Mekon]]]] and breaking the power of the Orion Syndicate.
** When the Romulans help Blackfire take over Tamaran, they also take the time to destroy the Citadel Empire ([[OneSteveLimit not to be confused with the Citadel Council]]), which had been tormenting the Tamaraneans for years.
* [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] in ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters''; the Rebellion's reliance upon its {{Token Evil Teammate}}s to handle its dirty work is shown in a very poor light, with the rest of the Rebellion being disgusted by them.
* This is pretty standard procedure for Ulquiorra in ''Fanfic/AHollowInEquestria'' when something needs to be done that the ponies can't do themselves.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse''
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail''
*** [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailGraceMonroe Grace Monroe]], leader of a denizen killing cult, discusses this trope with Chloe Cerise, stating that there are some things that only adults should do -- one of them being [[spoiler:killing Walter just as he's strangling Chloe]]. She's also the one to ultimately disband her cult when she realizes how much damaged it has caused.
*** While [=UnSara=] had been assaulted by a million Pokémon moves beforehand, [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailParkerCerise Parker Cerise]] is ultimately the one to defeat the apparition for good, not only wishing for the Bad things she did to be followed by good things, but make sure those good things remain long after she's gone.
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBoilingPoint'': [[Characters/InfinityTrainBoilingPointHazel Hazel]] saves The Innocence from [[spoiler: The Trauma]] and then [[NeckSnap snaps their neck]] while verbally breaking down Grace.
* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': Just like in canon, the heroes ultimately do little to prevent Cinder from causing the Fall of Beacon and contribute nothing to her downfall. Instead, [[spoiler:Darth Nihilus]] is the one to foil Cinder's plans by [[spoiler:killing Roman before he can hijack control of Ironwood's army; causing Cinder's death, thus returning her half-Maiden powers back to Amber; absorbing the Wyvern before it can destroy all of Atlas' airships; and killing Adam just as he got the upper hand on Winter during their duel]]. Of course, none of this was intentional on his part and it was really more of a lucky side effect caused by him pulling an EvilerThanThou at just the right moment.
* In ''Fanfic/LittleBlackDeathNote'': Kira disposes of [[spoiler:Voldemort]], while Team Slytherin investigates Raito Yagami and Hondo Makurai.
* A bizarre example happens in ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors''. After [[ArcVillain Dumbledore]] is killed, the heroes need to burn his body, and they apparently do not have any other means to set a fire, so they have Franchise/HarryPotter, their (recently BackFromTheDead) enemy, burn it with fire magic, because he's going to hell anyway.
* ''Fanfic/ZeroVsKira'' has [[Manga/DeathNote Kira]] declaring war upon [[Anime/CodeGeass the forces of Brittania]] after being accidentally transported to their world.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Mortified}}'', Skulker leads an army of ghosts, filled with villains like Johnny 13 and Kitty, Desiree, Walker and his goons, and former Circus Gothica performers, to attack the GIW headquarters.
* ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'' features two examples:
** In ''Friends to the End'', [[spoiler:Hago kills Scar whilst his back is turned]].
** In ''The Interceptor's Challenge'', the Interceptor [[spoiler:rips Shocker's head off, before burying him underneath the ground for all eternity]].
* ''Fanfic/TheButterflyEffectElfenLied'': Kaede is going out of her way to avoid killing anyone. Lucy has no such qualms, going after anyone who targets Kaede and her loved ones.
* ''Fanfic/IsseiTheGamingGear'': While Issei thinks he managed to kill Armârôs during his battle with her. She actually just fled to the abandoned church home to Raynare's group. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a fatal move on her part, as Azazel designated her a rogue agent, giving Raynare the excuse to shoot her.
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': So far, all of the villains killed off have met their ends at the hands of [[VillainProtagonist Jade]] or her minions.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'', an [[UnstoppableRage enraged Tohru]] almost crosses the line by killing the new Squid Khan General [[spoiler:[[TheSociopath Simon Leston]]]]. Before he can, however, [[FallenHero Jade]] swoops in and handles it for him.
* In ''Fanfic/ChainsOfReality'', the morally grey [[spoiler:Stella]] is the one who stops Renee, Haiku and Giggles from making the situation worse than it already was.
* ''Fanfic/JulekaVsTheForcesOfTheUniverse'': When Juleka learns that Ms. Bustier is a ShipperOnDeck who intends to pair Marinette and Adrien up for an assignment despite how Marinette gets TongueTied and [[HumiliationConga constantly humiliated]] around him, she knows that their teacher won't listen to anything ''she'' has to say. So she points [[RichBitch Chloe]] her direction, knowing the SpoiledBrat will throw a fit over not getting her way -- and that Ms. Bustier constantly caves to Chloe's bullying.
* ''Fanfic/PhoenixsTearReignition'': {{Inverted}} by Avila in ''Protectorate of the Color Pandora''; after Stone Dragon proves to be a BadBoss, she deliberately turns a blind eye towards Hare and Mocchi's plan to stop him from [[spoiler:filling the shrine with flames]]. She then considers finishing him off herself, but decides to leave it to the rebels instead, sardonically referring to them as 'heroes'.
* In ''Fanfic/PerfectionIsOverrated'', the First District is dealt with in a similar manner to canon, but this time by [[spoiler:The [[BigBad Usurper-possessed Obsidian Lord]] and his minions]].
* ''Fanfic/DekuIThinkHesSomePro'': Shigaraki and the rest of the League end up [[spoiler:killing All For One after Izuku kickstarts an EnemyCivilWar by revealing to them that Shigaraki was born Quirkless, with All For One secretly giving him his Quirk and grooming him as a weapon]].
* ''Fanfic/WhisperedTribulation'' [[PlayingWith plays with this]] in its Appendix; [[spoiler:Stain and Himiko jump in to defend Izuku and Eri from Overhaul... by [[GroinAttack nailing him in the nads]]. Which Izuku did first; Stain and Himiko are following his lead]].
* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'': When the heroes have [[spoiler:[[TheUsurper Prince Jewelius]]]] cornered in the final battle, Queen Chrysalis arrives and has her Changelings [[spoiler:[[EatenAlive devour Jewelius]] as revenge for double-crossing them]], thus alleviating the heroes of having to dispose of him.
* ''Fanfic/AndrogyninjasADropOfPoison'': During the Konoha Crush, Kabuto attacks [[spoiler:Shimura Danzo]], rendering them comatose. This helps prevent them from taking advantage of Konoha's weakened state after the invasion and seizing power, or from immediately exploiting [[spoiler:the death of Sakura's parents]].
* ''[[Fanfic/GlassMarionetteNaruto Glass Marionette]]'': Kankuro recognizes that he can't deal with [[AbusiveParents Rasa]] himself; so instead, he opts to leave him to [[spoiler:Orochimaru, letting him KillAndReplace him as part of his scheming]].
* ''Fanfic/AGlassOfWine'': After Asuka spares them during the final battle, [[spoiler:Kaworu]] repays her by taking out the entire SEELE council by themselves.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10515746/1/Those-Silver-Eyes Those Silver Eyes]]'', Summer Rose refuses to kill Barbary, even though he's blatantly threatening to spark a second Faunus War to KillAllHumans. Even after he tries to kill her after she spared his life, she refuses to finish the job. Fortunately, he runs afoul of a pack of Ursa Majors, who have no such qualms.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Stabilization}}'', Paolo acknowledges ''himself'' as an example – honorable people are the benevolent authority figures, while the unsavory side of politics is left to people like him.
* ''Fanfic/SonicBoomHauntedMansionMystery'': {{Discussed}} near the ending, when Sticks warns the others that they should probably escape the titular mansion before Eggman carpet-bombs it out of existence.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', [[spoiler:Dr. Beljar makes it really easy for the Titans to not kill Beast Boy since he takes over control of the Dark Prognosticus, and it’s required that whoever controls the Prognosticus must die in order to close the void. This arguably ends up being a moot point, though, when Beast Boy dies anyway from injuries sustained in the battle.]]
* ''Fanfic/HomemadeHappyEnding'': Mad Mod decides to intervene and help Beast Boy and Terra reunite by disposing of Slade for them. Though naturally, he's also doing this to benefit ''himself'' by [[spoiler:using Slade's life energy to rejuvenate himself]].
* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': This is the reason why Heather is helping Gwen instead of Dawn or Jo. The latter is limited because of how the law works when it comes to using her authority in cases of domestic abuse while the former is constrained by her morals and ethics.
* Played With in ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13188285/1/Young-Justice-Outsiders-Now-We-Can-Be-Diamonds-Together Now We Can Be Diamonds Together]]''. In the story, Lian Harper draws a ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' OriginalCharacter base on her dad, and Will posts it online to show it to their friends and family. Unfortunately, this draws the unwanted attention, ire, and insults of the more toxic members of the fandom, [[DisproportionateRetribution with one man named Adam declaring that he'll find Lian and do something unspeakable to her]] [[WouldHurtAChild despite (or likely because) she's a child]]. Artemis manages to stop Will [[PapaWolf from heading out and killing the harrasser before he could hurt Lian]], and the heroes focus on exposing Adam's intended harassment at the girl along with his other crimes to his family and the police. As for actually killing him? That task is handled [[MamaBear by Lian's mercenary mother Jade Nguyen, AKA Chesire]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': At the climax of the movie Iago, who was an outright villain in [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the first movie]] and is [[HeelFaceTurn starting to turn]], is the one to [[spoiler:push Jafar's lamp into lava and kill the evil genie for good]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift'', [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]] is implicitly devoured by [[OurSirensAreDifferent the sirens]].
-->'''Siren:''' (''emerging from a clamshell [[MasterOfIllusion in the form of]] [[spoiler:an ape mermaid]]'') Oh [[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]...\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' That's me!\\
'''Siren:''' Let's rule the seas together!\\
'''[[spoiler:Captain Gutt]]:''' ''Aye-aye!''\\
'''Siren:''' (''flashes a terrifying SlasherSmile at him and drags him into her shell'')
* Simba from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' is too moral to give Scar the killing blow. However, the hyenas who Scar [[JustGivingOrders tried to blame for everything]] when things started looking bad... they have no such morals. And they haven't eaten in a while...
-->'''Scar:''' Ah! My friends!\\
'''Shenzi''': [[TheDogBitesBack "Friends?" I thought he said we were the]] ''[[BackstabBackfire enemy.]]''\\
'''Banzai''': Yeah, that's what I heard.\\
'''Both:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]\\
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': At the end of the climax, [[spoiler:the Friends on the Other Side pull this off]] after Tiana [[spoiler:breaks Dr. Facilier's talisman, making it impossible for him to pay off his spiritual debt. They [[DraggedOffToHell take him to the Other Side]]]].
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the titular hero leaves the corrupt mayor Tortoise John at the mercy of Rattlesnake Jake, whom John had hired to get rid of Rango and then tried to kill [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he was no longer useful]]. Being a [[NobleDemon principled villain]], Jake acknowledges Rango as a WorthyOpponent before leaving town, dragging the screaming mayor with him to his implied death.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the second season finale of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Cal [[spoiler:kills Jiaying]] so that Skye doesn't have to.
* An interesting use occurs in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS02E10Reunion Reunion]]" when the main character leaves most of the key employees of [[BigBad Wolfram and Hart]] in a cellar with Drusilla and Darla, whom the lawyers had been helping (mainly just to piss Angel off and get under his skin), knowing full well that the two will kill most or all of them. Unusually, this is played as Angel becoming evil, or at least turning into an UnscrupulousHero even though it's technically villains doing the dirty work.
* In the second season finale of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Brother Blood finds out Oliver Queen is The Arrow, and their last conversation implies that he's very likely to blackmail Oliver with this knowledge. Then suddenly, Ravager shows up for a YouHaveFailedMe.
* ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'': In the penultimate episode "Judgment Day," [[GreaterScopeVillain the Dark Ones]] show up during Ash's showdown with [[BigBadDuumvirate Ruby and Kaya]], and promptly kill them both. They even expel Kaya's soul from [[spoiler: Kelly]]'s body in the process, which Ash needed to be able to bring her BackFromTheDead. Ash takes advantage of the distraction to steal the body and the Necronomicon and make a break for it.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
** It's obvious midway through "[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003S02E10Pegasus Pegasus]]" that [[InsaneAdmiral Admiral Cain]] is dangerous and has lost the plot, as she uses brutal and horribly immoral methods that are also often counterproductive, and thus she will need to be dealt with. The very next episode, both Cain and Adama are hatching plans to assassinate each other and assume total control of the fleet. Adama is ultimately too moral to go through with an assassination, and, to her credit, Cain declines (for now) to go through with assassinating Adama and was even helpful to the crew during a mission, but it's still obviously a matter of time before the two factions clash again, and Cain has the upper hand. Fortunately, [[spoiler: Baltar has let loose a Cylon with a grudge against Cain. The Cylon kills Cain and Adama is able to peacefully become commander of the combined fleet without the potentially devastating infighting that would otherwise happen]].
** In one episode, Roslin has Baltar in the brig and threatens to throw him out of an airlock if he won't tell her what she wants. Baltar says that she wouldn't go through with it, so she brings in Col. Tigh. [[spoiler: Even that was a bluff, but nobody doubts that Tigh would have done it.]]
* The ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' episode, "The Ape," ended with the Cartwrights joining a posse looking for a massive mentally disabled {{Manchild}}, Arnie, for murder. When Arnie tries to attack the posse, the Cartwrights are out of sight of the attack and the less sympathetic character are the ones who shoot him, to the Cartwrights' regret.
* In the final story arc of ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walter is [[spoiler: captured and arrested by his brother-in-law, who he refuses to kill because he's family]]. But then unexpectedly Jack Welker and his men show up and [[spoiler: kill Hank, allowing Walter to go free, although he's not too happy about it]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E6WildAtHeart Wild at Heart]]": The Scooby Gang don't kill werewolves, because they're human most of the time, but Oz's wolf side is amoral and thus free to kill Veruca.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo The Zeppo]]", Xander defeats his [[spoiler: undead]] VillainOfTheWeek with a BreakingSpeech, but lets him go. Moments after the departing baddie swears vengeance, he, too, is eaten by feral-werewolf-Oz.
** Buffy can't kill the Anointed One, partly because she's prophesied not to but mostly because he's a kid. Luckily, Spike does it for her in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]".
** Borderline case because he's not a ''bad'' guy, though he has apparently had his moments: in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Giles kills the hellgod Glory while Ben, the mortal human man with whom she shares a body, is the one on the surface because Buffy won't kill a defenseless human being.
* This is Michael Weston's modus operandi in ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael mostly abides by ThouShaltNotKill, [[spoiler: in part due to guilt over a past that includes having killed innocent people to get his target]], but, despite this, many a VillainOfTheWeek has wound up dying in incredibly horrible ways at the hands of their boss or criminal rivals due to Michael's actions. Seldom (if ever) has Michael or any other member of Team Weston batted an eye at this happening or expressed any moral qualms at indirectly causing the death of their target. As an example, Sam once goaded three criminals into a MexicanStandoff inside a house, then stood outside the house and fired his gun into the ground so that the three would [[BlastOut all pull the trigger at once and kill each other]]. Yipes.
** Note that none of the main characters ever expresses a moral objection to killing. (And frankly, considering their pasts in Special Forces [Sam], various spy agencies [Michael and Jessie], and as a [[IrishExplosivesExpert bomb maker for the IRA]] [Fiona], it would be surprising if any of them did have unresolved moral hangups on the subject.) Most of the early episodes have an obligatory scene where Fiona offers to murder the bad guys and Michael explains why that would cause more problems than it solves. They're all okay with bad guys being killed, it's just easier to accept them as the heroes if they don't do it themselves.
** It has more to do with pragmatism than anything else. Unexplained dead bodies attract police. If they let the bad guys kill each other, any investigation by the police will stop there.
* In the first episode of ''Series/CimarronStrip'', Marshal Crown is saved from death by two-bit alcoholic Screamer, who shoots the villain Ace Coffin [[InTheBack from behind]], even though he won't get a $10,000 prize for it. Not that Crown himself isn't above killing, even in self-defense.
* The season 6 episode ''War Zone'' of ''Series/TheCloser'' had two crime scenes: a triple murder of Army Rangers and the murder of a grocery owner (whose shop was under the protection of the local street gang) and his grandson. One of the gang members, the twin brother of one of the Army Rangers, tried to frame the shooter of the rangers for the murder in the grocery store. But once he got immunity from the DA, he made a full confession including of the murders of the shop owner and his grandson. Since LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson couldn't prosecute him for the double murder, she escorted him home where his ex-gang was already waiting for him and, once the police were gone, he was beaten to death.
* ''Da Ren Wu'' is a Chinese TV series based on a classic kung-fu novel set in medieval China. The heroes, as usual in wuxia literature, are staunch Confucianists: morally opposed to unwarranted violence and who don't approve of killing under any circumstances. At one point, Sisi, the main heroine, is tricked by some crooks who steal everything she owns and [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty give her to a Masqueraded School for whores]]. The boss and his cronies take great pleasure in tormenting defenseless girls and kill those who don't respond well to the training. Three characters come to Sisi's rescue, one after another: 1) Yang Fan is the first. He can't find Sisi in the School (the boss locked her in a hidden room), so he leaves convinced he made a mistake. 2) Qin Ge, a famous kung-fu master, is the second. He can't find Sisi either. He suspects something, but can't prove anything. He leaves as well. 3) The hunchback is the third. [[spoiler: He's a major bad guy. He needs Sisi for some nefarious plan. He waits till night, gets into the School, finds Sisi, and takes her with him. He pummels the cronies, and when the cross-dressing boss tries to stop him: the hunchback pulls a Fist of the North Star on him. After leaving the School with Sisi, the hunchback tracks the crooks who had tricked her. He finds them, makes them give back the stolen stuff and beg for mercy on their knees...and then kills them nevertheless, just because!]] They say the author was very surprised when the hunchback's popularity with the audience skyrocketed after this story arc.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', end of season two. [[spoiler: Sgt Doakes can prove that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, so Dexter locks him up in a lonely cabin until he can decide what to do. Dexter won't kill Doakes because he's a [[MoralSociopathy moral sociopath]]. Lila, who is as psychopathic as Dexter but with no such code, finds the cabin and blows it up.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], the Master has been captured by the Cybermen and is initially being forced to do their bidding. [[spoiler: He ends up turning the tables and wiping the whole lot of them out by skipping through a trap he's figured out the solution to, but conveniently forgets to tell his captors about.]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: The Master forces [[spoiler: Rassilon]] back behind the [[spoiler: time lock on the Time War, and won't let him take the Doctor with him, either.]]
** Subverted in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]]. [[spoiler: A good number of the Doctor's foes all band together to save the universe... from the Doctor, who they've been tricked into believing will destroy it, when in fact he's the only one who can stop the explosion that will destroy the universe.]]
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Elana March orders an attempt on Joan from prison, and there doesn't seem to be much the police can do to stop her - even from solitary confinement, she sends threatening letters that she will succeed next time. [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Jamie Moriarty]], however, won't have a [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou lesser villain]] interfere with her WorthyOpponent, and has Elana killed.]]
* Slightly downplayed example in ''Series/TheExpanse'': halfway through the third season Prax, a [[GuestStarPartyMember temporary new addition to the crew]] and the only one that is morally uncompromised, comes face to face with [[spoiler:[[MadScientist the doctor]] who kidnapped his young daughter Mei to use her in [[XenoNucleicAcid protomolecule experiments]], a process which would have certainly either killed Mei or destroyed her mind.]] Prax tries to work himself up to kill the evil doctor, but never having had to kill before, let alone in cold blood, ([[NonActionGuy Prax is a botanist]], not a former soldier, revolutionary, or criminal like the rest of the crew) he's having a difficult time. As Prax is struggling to pull the trigger, TokenEvilTeammate and [[MoralSociopathy quasi-sociopath]] Amos stops Prax and has him leave the room. He then turns and blows the doctor's brains out with absolutely no fanfare or hesitation whatsoever.
-->'''Amos:''' ''[whispering to Prax]'' You're not that guy. You're not that guy. ''[A tearful Prax leaves the room]''\\
[[spoiler:'''Doctor Strickland:''']] Oh thank you. Oh... thank you. ''[OhCrap face as Amos turns to him with a [[TranquilFury calm]] DeathGlare]''\\
'''Amos:''' I ''am'' that guy. ''[gunshot]''
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': In the episode "Prayer", it's ambiguous whether or not John knew Scorpius was going to [[spoiler: kill the merged Chiana-Aeryn]] when he brought him along to the alternate universe, but it's [[ShootTheDog what had to be done]]. See page quote.
** In an earlier episode, Moya is in orbit around a planet with notoriously sexist laws, and accepts a visit from a mechanic- accompanied by an armed security guard. Things go well, up until Chiana discovers that the mechanic is actually a woman, rebelling against the government by doing a SweetPollyOliver; just when it looks like they're becoming friends, the security guard shows up and, infuriated that he's had a woman under his nose all this time, holds both of them at gunpoint. Given that there's almost nobody else aboard the ship at the time, it looks as though the two of them are going to die...right up until Scorpius calmly drifts past and snaps the man's neck. All the more impactful because [[AffablyEvil Scorpius had been having a friendly chat with the guard before then]].
* In an episode of ''Series/{{The Flash 1990}}'' where a baddie had discovered his SecretIdentity and blackmailed him (with even a TheydCutYouUp threat). He ended up killed by other baddies, with a [[ExternalCombustion Car Starter Bomb]].
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Dr. Harrison Wells ([[spoiler: AKA the Reverse-Flash]]) is determined to keep Barry's secret safe at all costs, including getting rid of those who would exploit him for his abilities. To this extent, [[spoiler: he kills Simon Stagg and delivers General Eiling to Grodd]].
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', being a Franchise/{{Batman}} origin story, can't allow young Bruce Wayne to take a life. Young [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], on the other hand, is not so restricted.
** Later in the series, Bruce has found the identity of the man who killed his parents, and he needs Alfred's help to track him down. In return, Alfred demands that he be the one to kill the guy, instead of Bruce. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way...[[spoiler: Alfred is hospitalized and Bruce finds the killer on his own. He intends to kill him, and the man even [[DeathSeeker begs him to]], but he can't bring himself to do it, so the killer [[AteHisGun eats the gun]] after Bruce leaves the room.]]
** The series does this ALL THE TIME considering how many villains die at the hand of other villains -- often for all the wrong reasons. ComicBook/ThePenguin does this most often thanks to his tenuous, but not quite antagonistic so far, relationship with Jim, compared with the other criminals.
*** The most awesome example comes towards the end of season 2, when Theo Galavan[[spoiler:, resurrected in the form of Azrael,]] is about to kill Alfred, Bruce, and Jim. Cue his mortal enemy Penguin showing up... '''''with a [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill ROCKET LAUNCHER.]]'''''
---->'''Butch:''' Goodnight, fellas!
* In Chris Carter's short-lived ''Series/HarshRealm'' the Three Percenters are a population of virtual zombies caused by [[AIIsACrapshoot a glitch in the program]]. They can convert just about anyone playing the game and nearly do so to Hobbes and Pinocchio. [[TheDragon Mel Waters]] sees through them immediately and he's the one who eliminates the threat.
* In the third season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', [[spoiler:a [[BroughtDownToNormal depowered]] Peter heads off with [[AntiMagic the Haitian]] to kill his father Arthur Petrelli and destroy [[SuperSerum the Formula]]. Just as Peter shoots him, Sylar shows up, complete with recently stolen lie detection power, to ask Arthur if he's really a Petrelli. Naturally, Arthur lies, thus causing Sylar to allow the bullet he had paused in thin air to kill Arthur stone dead permanently.]] Sylar actually lampshades the fact that he's preventing Peter from becoming a murderer.
* For most ''Franchise/KamenRider'' shows, the monsters are often monsters taking the guises of humans. [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Double]] and [[Series/KamenRiderFourze Fourze]], however, do the opposite: humans who take the guise of monsters. While taking them out is a breeze (all that's needed is to break their TransformationTrinket and they will no longer be able to transform), taking out the higher-ranked members, some of which are {{Anti Villain}}s, might be a hassle, especially with Double being a detective who helps the police nab criminals and Fourze being the AllLovingHero. Leave it to the resident bad guys or self-dooming inflictions to do those villains in. Though Double and Fourze have their share of defeating the higher-ups, rarely killing them in the process (or putting one in a coma for one case).
** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' has a ThereCanBeOnlyOne approach and the protagonist is unwilling to kill anyone. Leave it to his badass partner to do the work for him. Though even ''he'' has hesitations to kill. Cue the Rider who's job prior to being a Rider was [[SerialKiller nothing BUT killing]].
*** Likewise in ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', though the protagonist ''did'' end up [[NeverSayDie sending a Rider]] to the [[FateWorseThanDeath Advent Void]].
** In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', the main hero is all about being the HopeBringer. Though the BigBad's hope is to [[spoiler:[[{{Necromantic}} revive his daughter]]]]. Well, [[AntiVillain noble goal]], right? Well, his means involve [[spoiler: sacrificing tons of people and converting them into monsters so as to power up a spell to revive her]]. What's a HopeBringer like Haruto to do in a situation like that, especially since he was going to do this all over again? [[spoiler: Cue TheDragon to come and run the BigBad through with his own sword. Although, because this action might cause people to think this Dragon is a hero, [[MoralEventHorizon he kills the Big Bad's daughter next]]]].
*** [[spoiler: It would be good to note that said HopeBringer has GoodIsNotNice tendencies and killed TheDragon, disregarding his wish to become human again. He was a monster even when he was still human so there was not much to pity.]]
** In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', this was done not so much as to spare the hero from killing someone, but to make it so the person doing the dirty work [[MoralEventHorizon crosses the line in doing so]] and becomes the local HateSink. Want context? Well, [[spoiler: Kouta is hesitant to fight a human that he saw transform into an Inves before his eyes and is dead set on trying to have him be human again. He gets to his breaking point and at that time, Sigurd arrives, easily kills the human, then rubs it in Kouta's face by claiming it as a heroic feat.]] A similar thing happens late in the series, when [[spoiler: MadScientist Ryoma has just vivisected Mai in his quest for the power that she now holds, killing her in the process and also [[BreakTheHaughty reducing another villain to tears in the process]]. Kouta might be too nice to kill him (and had been in a bad situation of nearly dying), but ''Kaito'' isn't; brutally beating Ryoma and driving him to suicide cemented himself as the series' final antagonist.]]
** [[spoiler: Gaim's finale subverts this as while Kouta had to kill Kaito or let him destroy the world so he could remake it in his image.]]
** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' pulls this off a bit differently. Throughout the series, the Roidmudes are presented as cruel and vicious towards the human race, to which the heroes must stop them. However, over time, Roidmudes who are actually ''good'' towards humans get slowly revealed. One such example is a Roidmude who befriends the cast and another is a Roidmude commander who considers every other Roidmude to be his friend. To spare the dilemma of killing off the former Roidmude, [[spoiler: one of the other commanders is revealed to be a genocidal {{yandere}} who murders said Roidmude to quell the number of Roidmudes not acting according to their programming.]] However, eventually even ''that'' commander is revealed to be an AntiVillain. The solution? [[spoiler: Bring in their inventor, who proves to be EvilerThanThou. The moment he is revealed to be the BigBad, every Roidmude death afterwards was either caused (in)directly by him or if it's by the hero's hands, have said Roidmude be BrainwashedAndCrazy]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Played straight and enforced as no matter how much the events had [[GoodIsNotSoft hardened]] [[AllLovingHero Emu]] he would never stop trying to save the villains. So obviously someone or something had to come in and fix it. [[spoiler: The first HateSink, Kuroto Dan was killed by [[TheDogBitesBack Parado]] and second HateSink, Masamune Dan, killed himself ''twice'' just to screw everyone over. Parado himself, on the hand, had been redeemed by Emu.]]
** This gets exaggerated with ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'', as the show slowly reveals that [[spoiler:Blood Stalk, later revealed to be Evolt]] was responsible for every single bad thing that happened to the protagonists, even removing [[TheAtoner Gentoku]] from the responsibility of plunging Japan into war and killing Ryuga's girlfriend via [[spoiler:members of Evolt's race reveal that they talked him into doing that.]] Another thing to note is that [[spoiler:Evolt is the one that removes the major powers from conflict: using Faust as a stepping stone and ditching it when it no longer served a purpose, putting Hokuto in a military coup, killing Seito's Prime Minister, and decimating Namba's forces]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has a minor example in regards to a MonsterOfTheWeek. In most cases, they're often the VictimOfTheWeek as well, being manipulated by the Time Jackers to become their puppet. Then we get to Yuko, who is an outright {{yandere}} who murdered someone before she even received her powers. After she's defeated, one of the Time Jackers, Ora, kills her due to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu her earlier fooling around with them]]. She would have otherwise walked away with nary a scratch.
* In the ''Series/LALaw'' episode "Beauty and Obese," Grace Van Owen has just joined a two-man law firm which is, unbeknownst to her, championed by a mobster named Frank Vincent. Vincent asks her to represent his nephew, who's charged with murder. Grace declines. Vincent takes her to lunch and makes it clear he's not politely asking anymore, and that people who go against his wishes sometimes get hurt. Grace still refuses and raises Vincent's ire; at that point [[spoiler: a gunman disguised as a waiter walks up and puts a bullet in Vincent's head.]] Later on in the series, Grace tells Frank Kittredge about this incident, saying, "I was relieved. Got him out of my life. Once these people have you, they don't let go."
* Inverted in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': When Rip Hunter thinks that they may need to kill their own teammate Martin Stein to keep the secret of the Firestorm matrix from falling into the hands of Vandal Savage, he turns to Sara Lance, the White Canary, rather than to hardened criminal Leonard Snart, Captain Cold. Lance, it is true, is a trained assassin, but she is not evil and has never been one of the bad guys. Snart was a villain on ''Series/TheFlash2014'' before being recruited by Hunter, and remains a cold-blooded criminal even in Hunter's service. Snart even [[WhatTheHellHero calls Lance out]] on this, pointing out that in all the jobs he pulled, no matter how bad things got, he never killed one of his own accomplices. Lance responds that if killing Stein is the only way to stop Savage and save the world, then she will [[IDidWhatIHadToDo do what she has to do]].
* This is one of the main ideas of ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.
** When Nate goes for revenge on the two men behind [[spoiler: his father's murder]], Elliot warns him that straight-up murder carries a much higher moral cost than their usual method of destroying a bad guy's life. In the end, Nate plays the two against each other (getting each of them to point out why they should want the other dead) then leaves them to fight over a gun with a single bullet. [[spoiler: They ''both'' fall off the nearby cliff while fighting over the weapon.]]
* Many episodes of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' involved manipulating characters associated with the target into killing them.
* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Iced" a low-level hood killed his gang's leader and then used text messages supposedly from said leader to take control of the gang. The team doesn't have enough evidence to get a conviction, so instead they hold the hood in interrogation while showing the gang's senior members exactly how they've been duped. The hood is dropped off at his gang's hideout and is found dead the next morning, executed gangland style and left in a dumpster.
* At the climax of ''Series/TheNightManager'', the heroes are able to screw up Richard Roper's arms deal and get him arrested, but he smugly predicts that his connections will prevent any actual jail time. [[spoiler: Then his very angry business partners show up and take him away from the police, clearly intending to kill him.]]
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** In the third season, [[AdaptationalVillainy Peter Pan]] and his Lost Boys kill previous {{Big Bad}}s Tamara and Greg, after they've [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness become no longer necessary]].
** In "Good Form", Regina mentions that she could [[BeatStillMyHeart tear out the lost boy's heart]] and use that to control him to deliver the message to Henry. Snow White freaks out, but Emma tells her to do it. Later she says something to this effect when Snow White says she doesn't want Emma to have to do those things.
-->'''Regina:''' She didn't, ''I'' did. [[DirtyBusiness That's what I'm here for.]]
* Inverted in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Schillinger]] and [[ManipulativeBastard O'Reily]]'s separate efforts to stop Adebisi's takeover of Em City fail miserably; instead, the noble and principled Saïd is the one who ultimately brings him down.
* The chief way ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' writes off its larger villains, who often can't simply be arrested legally. Even an existing legal avenue isn't a guarantee this won't occur: when Reese attempts to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Simmons for [[spoiler:killing Carter]], it is actually Fusco who tracks Simmons down and hands him over to the FBI. However, in the clearest example of this trope, Simmons never makes it to jail, as mob boss Elias brings in his own goon to strangle Simmons while he watches.
** By Season 5, the ethics of our heroes are starting to slip. When Elias uses a car bomb to blow up the VillainOfTheWeek, he suggests that Finch brought him along just to invoke this trope. Finch doesn't contest the idea.
* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' has this happen in the finale when [[TheStarscream Darkonda]] destroys [[GreaterScopeVillain Dark Specter]] with a planet-destroying missile, and Dark Specter [[TakingYouWithMe returns the favor by devouring Darkonda whole]]. All of this greatly simplifies the mission of the Rangers to simply having to stop [[BigBad Astronema]] and [[TheDragon Ecliptor]] from taking over the universe.
* This has happened tons of times in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
** Clark has to face people with dangerous superpowers, and while he can beat them readily enough, he can't very well run a super-jail or convince them to lead an honest life because, well, Kryptonite gives most people a god complex, and most krypto-freaks aren't stable/good to begin with. Having Clark kill or permanently disable them is far too {{squick}}y for a proto-Superman to do, so the preferred solution is to have them depowered or [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hoist by their own petard]]. The other solutions that pertain to this trope are to have them be killed by evil infighting among themselves or having Lionel (and later Lex) deal with them.
** A big one in season nine. Both the Justice League and Zod have a bone to pick with [[GovernmentConspiracy Checkmate]]. [[spoiler:Oliver and John get captured at different points, although they managed to escape. Chloe is also kidnapped and almost killed in an attempt to blackmail Clark into revealing more about their team.]] Zod, on the other hand? [[spoiler:He comes over to visit and burns down their entire castle base with [[EyeBeams heat vision]]. [[PunyEarthlings Zod will not tolerate human nonsense]]. KneelBeforeZod.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** Garak often falls into this trope, since his morality is almost always teetering on the line between gray and black. Probably the best example is from "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]", in which he [[spoiler:lies, extorts, and murders at least six people (a criminal, a Romulan senator, and his four aides) to bring Romulus into the Dominion War on the Federation's side. He notes at the end that that's exactly why Sisko sought his help because he was capable of doing the dirty work Sisko wasn't willing to do]].
** Sisko himself pulls this gambit in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E13ForTheUniform For the Uniform]]" in order to capture the renegade Maquis operative Eddington, by using (and threatening to continue using) a biogenic weapon to make a Maquis colony uninhabitable. For anyone else in the Federation, this would be far too heinous an action -- but for Sisko, ItsPersonal.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Subverted in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]". Chancellor Gowron offers Worf the chance to execute Toral, PuppetKing of the Duras family who've done Worf so much harm. Worf refuses. So Gowron just orders Kurn to do the deed, but Worf stops this too, pointing out that Gowron has granted Toral's life to Worf, and he's chosen to spare it.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', Elaine visits a trendy hair stylist(played by Ted Danson) and comes away with an atrocious hairdo. She, Alex, and Louie pay the stylist a visit to demand an apology and he rebuffs them. Elaine considers dumping a bowlful of hair dye on the stylist's head but decides not to, declaring "I'm better than you." Before they leave, Louie casually dumps the hair dye over the stylist and says, "She might be better than you, ({{beat}})...but I ain't!"
* ''Series/{{Teen Wolf}}'' has both Peter and Deucalion kill the third season's BigBad.
** Gerard also killed the Kanima's master a season earlier.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': The trope gets played with. Captain Jack Harkness fills the role of the trope, despite not actually being villainous. Torture, murder, kidnapping, or any other action that would normally fall under this trope and require a villain to perform it gets performed by Captain Jack at the protest of the other characters.
* In [[Recap/TheWireS05E10Thirty the finale]] of ''Series/TheWire'', the police department needs to explain several apparent murders (which Jimmy [=McNulty=], one of the series' protagonists) had faked at the scene(s) to look like the work of a serial killer that did not really exist). Rather than admitting that they were faked, the mayor wants to blame them on a mentally ill homeless person the police had recently picked up. [=McNulty=] objects to putting the blame on the mentally ill man; deputy of operations Bill Rawls (one of the series' antagonists), however, does so anyway, and it keeps [=McNulty=] from facing any legal consequences.
[[/folder]]
* In the second season finale of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Cal [[spoiler:kills Jiaying]] so that Skye doesn't have to.
* An interesting use occurs in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS02E10Reunion Reunion]]" when the main character leaves most of the key employees of [[BigBad Wolfram and Hart]] in a cellar with Drusilla and Darla, whom the lawyers had been helping (mainly just to piss Angel off and get under his skin), knowing full well that the two will kill most or all of them. Unusually, this is played as Angel becoming evil, or at least turning into an UnscrupulousHero even though it's technically villains doing the dirty work.
* In the second season finale of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Brother Blood finds out Oliver Queen is The Arrow, and their last conversation implies that he's very likely to blackmail Oliver with this knowledge. Then suddenly, Ravager shows up for a YouHaveFailedMe.
* ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'': In the penultimate episode "Judgment Day," [[GreaterScopeVillain the Dark Ones]] show up during Ash's showdown with [[BigBadDuumvirate Ruby and Kaya]], and promptly kill them both. They even expel Kaya's soul from [[spoiler: Kelly]]'s body in the process, which Ash needed to be able to bring her BackFromTheDead. Ash takes advantage of the distraction to steal the body and the Necronomicon and make a break for it.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
** It's obvious midway through "[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003S02E10Pegasus Pegasus]]" that [[InsaneAdmiral Admiral Cain]] is dangerous and has lost the plot, as she uses brutal and horribly immoral methods that are also often counterproductive, and thus she will need to be dealt with. The very next episode, both Cain and Adama are hatching plans to assassinate each other and assume total control of the fleet. Adama is ultimately too moral to go through with an assassination, and, to her credit, Cain declines (for now) to go through with assassinating Adama and was even helpful to the crew during a mission, but it's still obviously a matter of time before the two factions clash again, and Cain has the upper hand. Fortunately, [[spoiler: Baltar has let loose a Cylon with a grudge against Cain. The Cylon kills Cain and Adama is able to peacefully become commander of the combined fleet without the potentially devastating infighting that would otherwise happen]].
** In one episode, Roslin has Baltar in the brig and threatens to throw him out of an airlock if he won't tell her what she wants. Baltar says that she wouldn't go through with it, so she brings in Col. Tigh. [[spoiler: Even that was a bluff, but nobody doubts that Tigh would have done it.]]
* The ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' episode, "The Ape," ended with the Cartwrights joining a posse looking for a massive mentally disabled {{Manchild}}, Arnie, for murder. When Arnie tries to attack the posse, the Cartwrights are out of sight of the attack and the less sympathetic character are the ones who shoot him, to the Cartwrights' regret.
* In the final story arc of ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walter is [[spoiler: captured and arrested by his brother-in-law, who he refuses to kill because he's family]]. But then unexpectedly Jack Welker and his men show up and [[spoiler: kill Hank, allowing Walter to go free, although he's not too happy about it]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E6WildAtHeart Wild at Heart]]": The Scooby Gang don't kill werewolves, because they're human most of the time, but Oz's wolf side is amoral and thus free to kill Veruca.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo The Zeppo]]", Xander defeats his [[spoiler: undead]] VillainOfTheWeek with a BreakingSpeech, but lets him go. Moments after the departing baddie swears vengeance, he, too, is eaten by feral-werewolf-Oz.
** Buffy can't kill the Anointed One, partly because she's prophesied not to but mostly because he's a kid. Luckily, Spike does it for her in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]".
** Borderline case because he's not a ''bad'' guy, though he has apparently had his moments: in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Giles kills the hellgod Glory while Ben, the mortal human man with whom she shares a body, is the one on the surface because Buffy won't kill a defenseless human being.
* This is Michael Weston's modus operandi in ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael mostly abides by ThouShaltNotKill, [[spoiler: in part due to guilt over a past that includes having killed innocent people to get his target]], but, despite this, many a VillainOfTheWeek has wound up dying in incredibly horrible ways at the hands of their boss or criminal rivals due to Michael's actions. Seldom (if ever) has Michael or any other member of Team Weston batted an eye at this happening or expressed any moral qualms at indirectly causing the death of their target. As an example, Sam once goaded three criminals into a MexicanStandoff inside a house, then stood outside the house and fired his gun into the ground so that the three would [[BlastOut all pull the trigger at once and kill each other]]. Yipes.
** Note that none of the main characters ever expresses a moral objection to killing. (And frankly, considering their pasts in Special Forces [Sam], various spy agencies [Michael and Jessie], and as a [[IrishExplosivesExpert bomb maker for the IRA]] [Fiona], it would be surprising if any of them did have unresolved moral hangups on the subject.) Most of the early episodes have an obligatory scene where Fiona offers to murder the bad guys and Michael explains why that would cause more problems than it solves. They're all okay with bad guys being killed, it's just easier to accept them as the heroes if they don't do it themselves.
** It has more to do with pragmatism than anything else. Unexplained dead bodies attract police. If they let the bad guys kill each other, any investigation by the police will stop there.
* In the first episode of ''Series/CimarronStrip'', Marshal Crown is saved from death by two-bit alcoholic Screamer, who shoots the villain Ace Coffin [[InTheBack from behind]], even though he won't get a $10,000 prize for it. Not that Crown himself isn't above killing, even in self-defense.
* The season 6 episode ''War Zone'' of ''Series/TheCloser'' had two crime scenes: a triple murder of Army Rangers and the murder of a grocery owner (whose shop was under the protection of the local street gang) and his grandson. One of the gang members, the twin brother of one of the Army Rangers, tried to frame the shooter of the rangers for the murder in the grocery store. But once he got immunity from the DA, he made a full confession including of the murders of the shop owner and his grandson. Since LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson couldn't prosecute him for the double murder, she escorted him home where his ex-gang was already waiting for him and, once the police were gone, he was beaten to death.
* ''Da Ren Wu'' is a Chinese TV series based on a classic kung-fu novel set in medieval China. The heroes, as usual in wuxia literature, are staunch Confucianists: morally opposed to unwarranted violence and who don't approve of killing under any circumstances. At one point, Sisi, the main heroine, is tricked by some crooks who steal everything she owns and [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty give her to a Masqueraded School for whores]]. The boss and his cronies take great pleasure in tormenting defenseless girls and kill those who don't respond well to the training. Three characters come to Sisi's rescue, one after another: 1) Yang Fan is the first. He can't find Sisi in the School (the boss locked her in a hidden room), so he leaves convinced he made a mistake. 2) Qin Ge, a famous kung-fu master, is the second. He can't find Sisi either. He suspects something, but can't prove anything. He leaves as well. 3) The hunchback is the third. [[spoiler: He's a major bad guy. He needs Sisi for some nefarious plan. He waits till night, gets into the School, finds Sisi, and takes her with him. He pummels the cronies, and when the cross-dressing boss tries to stop him: the hunchback pulls a Fist of the North Star on him. After leaving the School with Sisi, the hunchback tracks the crooks who had tricked her. He finds them, makes them give back the stolen stuff and beg for mercy on their knees...and then kills them nevertheless, just because!]] They say the author was very surprised when the hunchback's popularity with the audience skyrocketed after this story arc.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', end of season two. [[spoiler: Sgt Doakes can prove that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, so Dexter locks him up in a lonely cabin until he can decide what to do. Dexter won't kill Doakes because he's a [[MoralSociopathy moral sociopath]]. Lila, who is as psychopathic as Dexter but with no such code, finds the cabin and blows it up.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], the Master has been captured by the Cybermen and is initially being forced to do their bidding. [[spoiler: He ends up turning the tables and wiping the whole lot of them out by skipping through a trap he's figured out the solution to, but conveniently forgets to tell his captors about.]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: The Master forces [[spoiler: Rassilon]] back behind the [[spoiler: time lock on the Time War, and won't let him take the Doctor with him, either.]]
** Subverted in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]]. [[spoiler: A good number of the Doctor's foes all band together to save the universe... from the Doctor, who they've been tricked into believing will destroy it, when in fact he's the only one who can stop the explosion that will destroy the universe.]]
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Elana March orders an attempt on Joan from prison, and there doesn't seem to be much the police can do to stop her - even from solitary confinement, she sends threatening letters that she will succeed next time. [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Jamie Moriarty]], however, won't have a [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou lesser villain]] interfere with her WorthyOpponent, and has Elana killed.]]
* Slightly downplayed example in ''Series/TheExpanse'': halfway through the third season Prax, a [[GuestStarPartyMember temporary new addition to the crew]] and the only one that is morally uncompromised, comes face to face with [[spoiler:[[MadScientist the doctor]] who kidnapped his young daughter Mei to use her in [[XenoNucleicAcid protomolecule experiments]], a process which would have certainly either killed Mei or destroyed her mind.]] Prax tries to work himself up to kill the evil doctor, but never having had to kill before, let alone in cold blood, ([[NonActionGuy Prax is a botanist]], not a former soldier, revolutionary, or criminal like the rest of the crew) he's having a difficult time. As Prax is struggling to pull the trigger, TokenEvilTeammate and [[MoralSociopathy quasi-sociopath]] Amos stops Prax and has him leave the room. He then turns and blows the doctor's brains out with absolutely no fanfare or hesitation whatsoever.
-->'''Amos:''' ''[whispering to Prax]'' You're not that guy. You're not that guy. ''[A tearful Prax leaves the room]''\\
[[spoiler:'''Doctor Strickland:''']] Oh thank you. Oh... thank you. ''[OhCrap face as Amos turns to him with a [[TranquilFury calm]] DeathGlare]''\\
'''Amos:''' I ''am'' that guy. ''[gunshot]''
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': In the episode "Prayer", it's ambiguous whether or not John knew Scorpius was going to [[spoiler: kill the merged Chiana-Aeryn]] when he brought him along to the alternate universe, but it's [[ShootTheDog what had to be done]]. See page quote.
** In an earlier episode, Moya is in orbit around a planet with notoriously sexist laws, and accepts a visit from a mechanic- accompanied by an armed security guard. Things go well, up until Chiana discovers that the mechanic is actually a woman, rebelling against the government by doing a SweetPollyOliver; just when it looks like they're becoming friends, the security guard shows up and, infuriated that he's had a woman under his nose all this time, holds both of them at gunpoint. Given that there's almost nobody else aboard the ship at the time, it looks as though the two of them are going to die...right up until Scorpius calmly drifts past and snaps the man's neck. All the more impactful because [[AffablyEvil Scorpius had been having a friendly chat with the guard before then]].
* In an episode of ''Series/{{The Flash 1990}}'' where a baddie had discovered his SecretIdentity and blackmailed him (with even a TheydCutYouUp threat). He ended up killed by other baddies, with a [[ExternalCombustion Car Starter Bomb]].
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Dr. Harrison Wells ([[spoiler: AKA the Reverse-Flash]]) is determined to keep Barry's secret safe at all costs, including getting rid of those who would exploit him for his abilities. To this extent, [[spoiler: he kills Simon Stagg and delivers General Eiling to Grodd]].
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', being a Franchise/{{Batman}} origin story, can't allow young Bruce Wayne to take a life. Young [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], on the other hand, is not so restricted.
** Later in the series, Bruce has found the identity of the man who killed his parents, and he needs Alfred's help to track him down. In return, Alfred demands that he be the one to kill the guy, instead of Bruce. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way...[[spoiler: Alfred is hospitalized and Bruce finds the killer on his own. He intends to kill him, and the man even [[DeathSeeker begs him to]], but he can't bring himself to do it, so the killer [[AteHisGun eats the gun]] after Bruce leaves the room.]]
** The series does this ALL THE TIME considering how many villains die at the hand of other villains -- often for all the wrong reasons. ComicBook/ThePenguin does this most often thanks to his tenuous, but not quite antagonistic so far, relationship with Jim, compared with the other criminals.
*** The most awesome example comes towards the end of season 2, when Theo Galavan[[spoiler:, resurrected in the form of Azrael,]] is about to kill Alfred, Bruce, and Jim. Cue his mortal enemy Penguin showing up... '''''with a [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill ROCKET LAUNCHER.]]'''''
---->'''Butch:''' Goodnight, fellas!
* In Chris Carter's short-lived ''Series/HarshRealm'' the Three Percenters are a population of virtual zombies caused by [[AIIsACrapshoot a glitch in the program]]. They can convert just about anyone playing the game and nearly do so to Hobbes and Pinocchio. [[TheDragon Mel Waters]] sees through them immediately and he's the one who eliminates the threat.
* In the third season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', [[spoiler:a [[BroughtDownToNormal depowered]] Peter heads off with [[AntiMagic the Haitian]] to kill his father Arthur Petrelli and destroy [[SuperSerum the Formula]]. Just as Peter shoots him, Sylar shows up, complete with recently stolen lie detection power, to ask Arthur if he's really a Petrelli. Naturally, Arthur lies, thus causing Sylar to allow the bullet he had paused in thin air to kill Arthur stone dead permanently.]] Sylar actually lampshades the fact that he's preventing Peter from becoming a murderer.
* For most ''Franchise/KamenRider'' shows, the monsters are often monsters taking the guises of humans. [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Double]] and [[Series/KamenRiderFourze Fourze]], however, do the opposite: humans who take the guise of monsters. While taking them out is a breeze (all that's needed is to break their TransformationTrinket and they will no longer be able to transform), taking out the higher-ranked members, some of which are {{Anti Villain}}s, might be a hassle, especially with Double being a detective who helps the police nab criminals and Fourze being the AllLovingHero. Leave it to the resident bad guys or self-dooming inflictions to do those villains in. Though Double and Fourze have their share of defeating the higher-ups, rarely killing them in the process (or putting one in a coma for one case).
** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' has a ThereCanBeOnlyOne approach and the protagonist is unwilling to kill anyone. Leave it to his badass partner to do the work for him. Though even ''he'' has hesitations to kill. Cue the Rider who's job prior to being a Rider was [[SerialKiller nothing BUT killing]].
*** Likewise in ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', though the protagonist ''did'' end up [[NeverSayDie sending a Rider]] to the [[FateWorseThanDeath Advent Void]].
** In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', the main hero is all about being the HopeBringer. Though the BigBad's hope is to [[spoiler:[[{{Necromantic}} revive his daughter]]]]. Well, [[AntiVillain noble goal]], right? Well, his means involve [[spoiler: sacrificing tons of people and converting them into monsters so as to power up a spell to revive her]]. What's a HopeBringer like Haruto to do in a situation like that, especially since he was going to do this all over again? [[spoiler: Cue TheDragon to come and run the BigBad through with his own sword. Although, because this action might cause people to think this Dragon is a hero, [[MoralEventHorizon he kills the Big Bad's daughter next]]]].
*** [[spoiler: It would be good to note that said HopeBringer has GoodIsNotNice tendencies and killed TheDragon, disregarding his wish to become human again. He was a monster even when he was still human so there was not much to pity.]]
** In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', this was done not so much as to spare the hero from killing someone, but to make it so the person doing the dirty work [[MoralEventHorizon crosses the line in doing so]] and becomes the local HateSink. Want context? Well, [[spoiler: Kouta is hesitant to fight a human that he saw transform into an Inves before his eyes and is dead set on trying to have him be human again. He gets to his breaking point and at that time, Sigurd arrives, easily kills the human, then rubs it in Kouta's face by claiming it as a heroic feat.]] A similar thing happens late in the series, when [[spoiler: MadScientist Ryoma has just vivisected Mai in his quest for the power that she now holds, killing her in the process and also [[BreakTheHaughty reducing another villain to tears in the process]]. Kouta might be too nice to kill him (and had been in a bad situation of nearly dying), but ''Kaito'' isn't; brutally beating Ryoma and driving him to suicide cemented himself as the series' final antagonist.]]
** [[spoiler: Gaim's finale subverts this as while Kouta had to kill Kaito or let him destroy the world so he could remake it in his image.]]
** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' pulls this off a bit differently. Throughout the series, the Roidmudes are presented as cruel and vicious towards the human race, to which the heroes must stop them. However, over time, Roidmudes who are actually ''good'' towards humans get slowly revealed. One such example is a Roidmude who befriends the cast and another is a Roidmude commander who considers every other Roidmude to be his friend. To spare the dilemma of killing off the former Roidmude, [[spoiler: one of the other commanders is revealed to be a genocidal {{yandere}} who murders said Roidmude to quell the number of Roidmudes not acting according to their programming.]] However, eventually even ''that'' commander is revealed to be an AntiVillain. The solution? [[spoiler: Bring in their inventor, who proves to be EvilerThanThou. The moment he is revealed to be the BigBad, every Roidmude death afterwards was either caused (in)directly by him or if it's by the hero's hands, have said Roidmude be BrainwashedAndCrazy]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Played straight and enforced as no matter how much the events had [[GoodIsNotSoft hardened]] [[AllLovingHero Emu]] he would never stop trying to save the villains. So obviously someone or something had to come in and fix it. [[spoiler: The first HateSink, Kuroto Dan was killed by [[TheDogBitesBack Parado]] and second HateSink, Masamune Dan, killed himself ''twice'' just to screw everyone over. Parado himself, on the hand, had been redeemed by Emu.]]
** This gets exaggerated with ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'', as the show slowly reveals that [[spoiler:Blood Stalk, later revealed to be Evolt]] was responsible for every single bad thing that happened to the protagonists, even removing [[TheAtoner Gentoku]] from the responsibility of plunging Japan into war and killing Ryuga's girlfriend via [[spoiler:members of Evolt's race reveal that they talked him into doing that.]] Another thing to note is that [[spoiler:Evolt is the one that removes the major powers from conflict: using Faust as a stepping stone and ditching it when it no longer served a purpose, putting Hokuto in a military coup, killing Seito's Prime Minister, and decimating Namba's forces]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has a minor example in regards to a MonsterOfTheWeek. In most cases, they're often the VictimOfTheWeek as well, being manipulated by the Time Jackers to become their puppet. Then we get to Yuko, who is an outright {{yandere}} who murdered someone before she even received her powers. After she's defeated, one of the Time Jackers, Ora, kills her due to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu her earlier fooling around with them]]. She would have otherwise walked away with nary a scratch.
* In the ''Series/LALaw'' episode "Beauty and Obese," Grace Van Owen has just joined a two-man law firm which is, unbeknownst to her, championed by a mobster named Frank Vincent. Vincent asks her to represent his nephew, who's charged with murder. Grace declines. Vincent takes her to lunch and makes it clear he's not politely asking anymore, and that people who go against his wishes sometimes get hurt. Grace still refuses and raises Vincent's ire; at that point [[spoiler: a gunman disguised as a waiter walks up and puts a bullet in Vincent's head.]] Later on in the series, Grace tells Frank Kittredge about this incident, saying, "I was relieved. Got him out of my life. Once these people have you, they don't let go."
* Inverted in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': When Rip Hunter thinks that they may need to kill their own teammate Martin Stein to keep the secret of the Firestorm matrix from falling into the hands of Vandal Savage, he turns to Sara Lance, the White Canary, rather than to hardened criminal Leonard Snart, Captain Cold. Lance, it is true, is a trained assassin, but she is not evil and has never been one of the bad guys. Snart was a villain on ''Series/TheFlash2014'' before being recruited by Hunter, and remains a cold-blooded criminal even in Hunter's service. Snart even [[WhatTheHellHero calls Lance out]] on this, pointing out that in all the jobs he pulled, no matter how bad things got, he never killed one of his own accomplices. Lance responds that if killing Stein is the only way to stop Savage and save the world, then she will [[IDidWhatIHadToDo do what she has to do]].
* This is one of the main ideas of ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.
** When Nate goes for revenge on the two men behind [[spoiler: his father's murder]], Elliot warns him that straight-up murder carries a much higher moral cost than their usual method of destroying a bad guy's life. In the end, Nate plays the two against each other (getting each of them to point out why they should want the other dead) then leaves them to fight over a gun with a single bullet. [[spoiler: They ''both'' fall off the nearby cliff while fighting over the weapon.]]
* Many episodes of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' involved manipulating characters associated with the target into killing them.
* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Iced" a low-level hood killed his gang's leader and then used text messages supposedly from said leader to take control of the gang. The team doesn't have enough evidence to get a conviction, so instead they hold the hood in interrogation while showing the gang's senior members exactly how they've been duped. The hood is dropped off at his gang's hideout and is found dead the next morning, executed gangland style and left in a dumpster.
* At the climax of ''Series/TheNightManager'', the heroes are able to screw up Richard Roper's arms deal and get him arrested, but he smugly predicts that his connections will prevent any actual jail time. [[spoiler: Then his very angry business partners show up and take him away from the police, clearly intending to kill him.]]
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** In the third season, [[AdaptationalVillainy Peter Pan]] and his Lost Boys kill previous {{Big Bad}}s Tamara and Greg, after they've [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness become no longer necessary]].
** In "Good Form", Regina mentions that she could [[BeatStillMyHeart tear out the lost boy's heart]] and use that to control him to deliver the message to Henry. Snow White freaks out, but Emma tells her to do it. Later she says something to this effect when Snow White says she doesn't want Emma to have to do those things.
-->'''Regina:''' She didn't, ''I'' did. [[DirtyBusiness That's what I'm here for.]]
* Inverted in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Schillinger]] and [[ManipulativeBastard O'Reily]]'s separate efforts to stop Adebisi's takeover of Em City fail miserably; instead, the noble and principled Saïd is the one who ultimately brings him down.
* The chief way ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' writes off its larger villains, who often can't simply be arrested legally. Even an existing legal avenue isn't a guarantee this won't occur: when Reese attempts to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Simmons for [[spoiler:killing Carter]], it is actually Fusco who tracks Simmons down and hands him over to the FBI. However, in the clearest example of this trope, Simmons never makes it to jail, as mob boss Elias brings in his own goon to strangle Simmons while he watches.
** By Season 5, the ethics of our heroes are starting to slip. When Elias uses a car bomb to blow up the VillainOfTheWeek, he suggests that Finch brought him along just to invoke this trope. Finch doesn't contest the idea.
* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' has this happen in the finale when [[TheStarscream Darkonda]] destroys [[GreaterScopeVillain Dark Specter]] with a planet-destroying missile, and Dark Specter [[TakingYouWithMe returns the favor by devouring Darkonda whole]]. All of this greatly simplifies the mission of the Rangers to simply having to stop [[BigBad Astronema]] and [[TheDragon Ecliptor]] from taking over the universe.
* This has happened tons of times in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
** Clark has to face people with dangerous superpowers, and while he can beat them readily enough, he can't very well run a super-jail or convince them to lead an honest life because, well, Kryptonite gives most people a god complex, and most krypto-freaks aren't stable/good to begin with. Having Clark kill or permanently disable them is far too {{squick}}y for a proto-Superman to do, so the preferred solution is to have them depowered or [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hoist by their own petard]]. The other solutions that pertain to this trope are to have them be killed by evil infighting among themselves or having Lionel (and later Lex) deal with them.
** A big one in season nine. Both the Justice League and Zod have a bone to pick with [[GovernmentConspiracy Checkmate]]. [[spoiler:Oliver and John get captured at different points, although they managed to escape. Chloe is also kidnapped and almost killed in an attempt to blackmail Clark into revealing more about their team.]] Zod, on the other hand? [[spoiler:He comes over to visit and burns down their entire castle base with [[EyeBeams heat vision]]. [[PunyEarthlings Zod will not tolerate human nonsense]]. KneelBeforeZod.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** Garak often falls into this trope, since his morality is almost always teetering on the line between gray and black. Probably the best example is from "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]", in which he [[spoiler:lies, extorts, and murders at least six people (a criminal, a Romulan senator, and his four aides) to bring Romulus into the Dominion War on the Federation's side. He notes at the end that that's exactly why Sisko sought his help because he was capable of doing the dirty work Sisko wasn't willing to do]].
** Sisko himself pulls this gambit in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E13ForTheUniform For the Uniform]]" in order to capture the renegade Maquis operative Eddington, by using (and threatening to continue using) a biogenic weapon to make a Maquis colony uninhabitable. For anyone else in the Federation, this would be far too heinous an action -- but for Sisko, ItsPersonal.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Subverted in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]". Chancellor Gowron offers Worf the chance to execute Toral, PuppetKing of the Duras family who've done Worf so much harm. Worf refuses. So Gowron just orders Kurn to do the deed, but Worf stops this too, pointing out that Gowron has granted Toral's life to Worf, and he's chosen to spare it.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', Elaine visits a trendy hair stylist(played by Ted Danson) and comes away with an atrocious hairdo. She, Alex, and Louie pay the stylist a visit to demand an apology and he rebuffs them. Elaine considers dumping a bowlful of hair dye on the stylist's head but decides not to, declaring "I'm better than you." Before they leave, Louie casually dumps the hair dye over the stylist and says, "She might be better than you, ({{beat}})...but I ain't!"
* ''Series/{{Teen Wolf}}'' has both Peter and Deucalion kill the third season's BigBad.
** Gerard also killed the Kanima's master a season earlier.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': The trope gets played with. Captain Jack Harkness fills the role of the trope, despite not actually being villainous. Torture, murder, kidnapping, or any other action that would normally fall under this trope and require a villain to perform it gets performed by Captain Jack at the protest of the other characters.
* In [[Recap/TheWireS05E10Thirty the finale]] of ''Series/TheWire'', the police department needs to explain several apparent murders (which Jimmy [=McNulty=], one of the series' protagonists) had faked at the scene(s) to look like the work of a serial killer that did not really exist). Rather than admitting that they were faked, the mayor wants to blame them on a mentally ill homeless person the police had recently picked up. [=McNulty=] objects to putting the blame on the mentally ill man; deputy of operations Bill Rawls (one of the series' antagonists), however, does so anyway, and it keeps [=McNulty=] from facing any legal consequences.
[[/folder]]
* Near the end of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the BigBad Momokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] invites the remaining students to vote for execution for putting everyone through the Killing School Life. Having survived this long without doing so, none of them are willing to pull the trigger and break out, especially since it just plays into the villain's hands. [[spoiler:So she pushes the execution button herself, happily following the Monokumas as they lead her to her doom.]]
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* Gaius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is a thief and general scoundrel. As he explains to BadassPreacher Libra, he considers it his duty to do the army's dirty work so that TheGoodKing Chrom doesn't have to.
** Likewise, SociopathicHero Henry from the same game. [[PlayerCharacter Robin]] takes issue with killing unless it is in self-defense. Henry has no such reservations and will do whatever it takes to end the war, even summoning an army of zombies that he has no idea how to control. If they overrun a few villages, oh well!
** Likewise, SociopathicHero Henry from the same game. [[PlayerCharacter Robin]] takes issue with killing unless it is in self-defense. Henry has no such reservations and will do whatever it takes to end the war, even summoning an army of zombies that he has no idea how to control. If they overrun a few villages, oh well!
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* Gaius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is a thief and general scoundrel. As he explains to BadassPreacher Libra, he considers it his duty to do the army's dirty work so that TheGoodKing Chrom doesn't have to.
**to. Likewise, SociopathicHero Henry from the same game. [[PlayerCharacter Robin]] takes issue with killing unless it is in self-defense. Henry has no such reservations and will do whatever it takes to end the war, even summoning an army of zombies that he has no idea how to control. If they overrun a few villages, oh well!well!
* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.
**
* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.
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[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Near the end of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the BigBad Momokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] invites the remaining students to vote for execution for putting everyone through the Killing School Life. Having survived this long without doing so, none of them are willing to pull the trigger and break out, especially since it just plays into the villain's hands. [[spoiler:So she pushes the execution button herself, happily following the Monokumas as they lead her to her doom.]]
* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Near the end of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the BigBad Momokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] invites the remaining students to vote for execution for putting everyone through the Killing School Life. Having survived this long without doing so, none of them are willing to pull the trigger and break out, especially since it just plays into the villain's hands. [[spoiler:So she pushes the execution button herself, happily following the Monokumas as they lead her to her doom.]]
* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
to:
* Near the end of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the BigBad Momokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] invites the remaining students to vote for execution for putting everyone through the Killing School Life. Having survived this long without doing so, none of them are willing to pull the trigger and break out, especially since it just plays into the villain's hands. [[spoiler:So she pushes the execution button herself, happily following the Monokumas as they lead her to her doom.]]
* Invoked and dissected in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. Any criminal suspect who escapes conviction by Barok van Zieks mysteriously dies by other grisly means within months, while he himself has a SuspiciouslyCleanCriminalRecord and an ironclad alibi for each death. Everyone recognizes that ''something'' is going on, but since all the victims are [[AssholeVictim bastards]] done in by other bastards, most just chalk it up to karma. Barok himself expresses disinterest when pressed, but the feeling of guilt builds up enough over the years that he simply gives a KarmicNod when [[spoiler:he's falsely charged with all of their deaths]]. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Stronghart actively engineered this correlation, outside of van Zieks's knowledge, knowing the public would accept karmic justice far more readily than [[SecretPolice extrajudicial assassinations]]]]. Van Zieks is appalled, particularly at himself for tacitly endorsing the murders through his indifference.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
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* A majority of the villains in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are killed and the cause is, if it's not a case of [[SelfDisposingVillain their own hands]], then at the hands of villains. Two notable examples include [[spoiler:Lionheart, a traitor who helped contribute to the fall of Beacon, [[YouHaveFailedMe being killed by Salem]] and Jacques, Weiss's abusive father, meeting his end via Ironwood's {{BFG}}.]] There's tons to count that it's easier to count how many villains ''did'' die by RWBY's hand: [[spoiler:Two: Adam Taurus and Ironwood indirectly when they had Atlas fall on Mantle]].
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* A majority of the villains in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are killed and the cause is, if it's not a case of [[SelfDisposingVillain their own hands]], then at the hands of villains. Two notable examples include [[spoiler:Lionheart, a traitor who helped contribute to the fall of Beacon, [[YouHaveFailedMe being killed by Salem]] and Jacques, Weiss's abusive father, meeting his end via Ironwood's {{BFG}}.]] There's tons to count that it's easier to count how many villains ''did'' die by RWBY's hand: [[spoiler:Two: Adam Taurus and Ironwood indirectly when they had Atlas fall on Mantle]].Mantle and Winter leaving him for dead]].
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* A majority of the villains in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', if it's not a case of [[SelfDisposingVillain their own hands]], then at the hands of villains. Two notable examples include [[spoiler:Lionheart, a traitor who helped contribute to the fall of Beacon, [[YouHaveFailedMe being killed by Salem]] and Jacques, Weiss's abusive father, meeting his end via Ironwood's {{BFG}}.]] There's tons to count that it's easier to count how many villains ''did'' die by RWBY's hand: [[spoiler:One: Adam Taurus]].
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* A majority of the villains in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are killed and the cause is, if it's not a case of [[SelfDisposingVillain their own hands]], then at the hands of villains. Two notable examples include [[spoiler:Lionheart, a traitor who helped contribute to the fall of Beacon, [[YouHaveFailedMe being killed by Salem]] and Jacques, Weiss's abusive father, meeting his end via Ironwood's {{BFG}}.]] There's tons to count that it's easier to count how many villains ''did'' die by RWBY's hand: [[spoiler:One: [[spoiler:Two: Adam Taurus]].Taurus and Ironwood indirectly when they had Atlas fall on Mantle]].
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** Jonathan Watson saw ''himself'' as this in [[https://globalnews.ca/news/6578746/inmate-confesses-child-molester-killing killing convicted child molesters David Bobb and Graham De Luis-Conti]]. Watson, already serving a life sentence for murder, had concluded he had nothing left to lose and that getting rid of them would be "do[ing] everybody a favour."
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* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After Saint Charlos tries yet again to kidnap and enslave Shirahoshi, her brothers quickly try to attack him in response. [[WhiteSheep Saint Mjosgard]] steps in the way and tells Fukaboshi to show restraint as a royal... before [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem giving Sai and Leo verbal permission]] to [[HammeredIntoTheGround flatten Charlos]]. Since they are pirates, their countries won't have to answer for their crimes.
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* ''Manga/OnePiece'': InUniverse example. After Saint [[IronicName Saint]] Charlos tries yet again to kidnap and enslave Shirahoshi, her brothers quickly try to attack him in response. [[WhiteSheep Saint Mjosgard]] steps in the way and tells Fukaboshi to show restraint as a royal... before [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem giving Sai and Leo verbal permission]] to [[HammeredIntoTheGround flatten Charlos]]. Since they are pirates, their countries won't have to answer for their crimes.
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'''Shenzi and Banzai:''' Ed?\\
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]
'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...]]
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'''Ed''': [[EvilLaugh Eh, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh...
'''Scar:''' [[OhCrap No! L-L-Let me explain!]] No, you don't understand! No, I didn't mean it! I--No! No! Look, I'm sorry I called you--No! '''''NO!''''' (''They all attack at him at once and maul him to death'')
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* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/AnimeAndManga
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* This tends to apply frequently to the main characters of ''Manga/ApocalypseNoToride'', although ''most'' of their actions could be written off as {{Villainous Rescue}}s. One particular instance of this is Yoshioka stabbing another inmate through the hand and pinning him to a table to divert the zombies, giving them a chance to escape.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** The Central 46 are {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s of the worst kind. Good thing [[spoiler:[[BigBad Aizen]] [[BoardToDeath kills them all]].]] Although the person who killed them had been frequently acting in their names, manipulating, or outright impersonating them for a long time now (all the decisions relating to Rukia's sentence were carried out by [[spoiler: Aizen]] and his accomplices impersonating them), so it's hard to tell just how obstructive they ''really'' were...
** After Giselle zombifies Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Kensei and Rose, [[MadScientist Mayuri]] states that having to fight his zombified comrades is more than his ([[TokenEvilTeammate non-existent]]) heart can handle... so instead he sics zombified Arrancar on them while he deals with Hitsugaya.
* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', Pisco knew of Haibara's true identity and there was no way the story could continue for Haibara if Pisco was still alive. But the heroes didn't even need to do anything about that as Gin suddenly killed Pisco for screwing up an assassination.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', hardly anyone outside of Britannia likes the Imperial Family, which the main character claims to be a symbol of evil that looks down on others. They promote Social Darwinism, support militarism and genocide, and/or are pretty much a band of over-privileged parasites. The only exception all three of these is Euphemia [[spoiler: and Lelouch accidentally geasses her into starting a massacre, forcing him to ShootTheDog by killing her.]] As for the rest, [[spoiler: Prince Schneizel does the world a favor by annihilating most of them in one swoop, though this doesn't change the fact that he blows up the entire capital with all its inhabitants in the process.]]
* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Gammamon's SuperpoweredEvilSide [=GulusGammamon=] firmly believes in PayEvilUntoEvil unlike his AllLovingHero Tamer Hiro, and showed up to finish off their more irredeemable opponents [[SerialKiller Sealsdramon]] & [[BrainFood Arukenimon]] when they had no options left. [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope Averted]] with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Myotismon]] however, as Hiro managed to talk Gammamon down and he instead reached his Ultimate form Canoweissmon before allowing [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Myotismon to escape]].]]
* ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' has it in for [[spoiler: Bel killing off Leva and Gula after they got defeated by Precure for the last time, effectively giving the team not only free from the duo but also getting their darkness to use it on Ira and Marmo.]]
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Vegeta's entire purpose, story-wise, for being on Namek is to kill every single minor villain so the heroes (or at least Goku) don't have to. Cui, Dodoria, Zarbon, 4/5ths of the Ginyu Force (two while helpless!)(and he gets the last one later) and most of Freeza's mooks. Goku clearly doesn't want him doing this, and even calls him out after killing the two helpless Ginyu Force members. [[spoiler:Though Goku kills Freeza himself, or would have if King Cold didn't show up to revive him... only for ''both'' of them to be killed off by [[GenerationXerox Vegeta's]] KidFromTheFuture.]]
* In ''Manga/EdensZero'', [[spoiler:Homura]] lets Madame Kurenai go. She runs off into some woods, laughing at her daughter's weakness. And promptly runs into [[spoiler:Cedric]] and his gang - and they definitely ''do not'' let her go, [[spoiler:Cedric]] repaying her disfigurement of him with high interest and a metal baseball bat. Not to mention what is implied to happen to her afterwards - and for a ''whole year''.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', after the eponymous guild is satisfied with just letting Grimoire Heart, the worst villains they faced so far who are clearly still evil, off with a scolding due to [[spoiler: their leader being the guild's former master]], Grimoire Heart leaves. As they lament their failure, Zeref, who they spent the entire series trying to get their hands on, approaches them. When they attempt to instigate their plan, he brushes them off, lets them know why he hates their guts, and makes their leader the third person in the series to be killed. Even functions as a KickTheDog moment: [[spoiler: Grimoire Heart spends years collecting the keys to "awaken" Zeref's true personality and unleash his true, genocidal self. But Zeref reveals he was never "sleeping"; that was simply a rumor spread to explain why he suddenly stopped killing, when in reality he stopped voluntarily.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** After Shou Tucker merges his dog and daughter into a chimera [[MergingMistake that is in constant pain]], it really seems a MercyKill is the best that could be done. However, Ed and Al were likely unwilling to do so, and [[BigBrotherIsEmployingYou their own government]] were taking the chimera in for [[PlayingWithSyringes medical experimentation]]. Luckily, [[NobleDemon Scar]] was in the vicinity.
** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', the brothers need to create the Philosopher Stone. Problem: By episode 40, [[spoiler: it became obvious that in order to do that, one needs to kill quite a lot of people. Solution: Scar did it. And died in the process.]]
* In the climax of ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'', The Frost Brothers betray everybody [[spoiler: and vaporize both the leaders of the New United Nations Earth and Space Revolutionary Army, i.e.: The assholes who started the Apocalyptic 7th Space War in the first place, and were trying to do it all over again.]] This leads to Gundam X being one of the few Gundam series' to have an unambigously happy ending.
* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[spoiler:Due]] disposes of the TSAB High Council, which was responsible for [[spoiler:having Scaglietti created]], preventing any such mistakes in the future.
* Johan from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' kicks off the plot by killing the corrupt doctors who screwed Tenma's career over. He also tends to kill any lesser villains who might be threatening Tenma or Nina.
* A recurring theme in ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'':
** In ''The Two Detectives'', William is the one who "cheats" and forces the killer to confess to his crimes when Sherlock's deductions come up just a bit short
** William and his brothers save Irene Adler's life when Sherlock can do nothing to help her against the British government
** William stops the Jack the Ripper murders while Sherlock doesn't even take the case
** William sends Bond and Patterson in to get the evidence needed to prove Chief Arterton's frame-ups, who passes the evidence along to Lestrade and Sherlock when they fail to get it themselves
** Sherlock uses the leverage gained by agreeing to stop William's crime spree to change Parliament
* ''Anime/MyHime'':
** One wonders what TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness group of old ladies who rule Japan (First Division) would have done to the cast had [[spoiler: Shizuru not gone crazy and killed them all]] after the cast ''kills their god.'' It's doubtful that they were [[spoiler: resurrected along with the rest of the cast.]] A scene with the Obsidian Lord indicates that he was planning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill them himself anyway]], but [[spoiler: Shizuru]] got to them first.
** In Mai's fight with Shiho, she's unable to go on the offensive, realizing that as both of them consider Yuuichi their most important person, either of their Childs being destroyed will result in his death (Shiho, being overcome with jealous rage, fails to realize this). Yuuichi, not wanting them to fight, orders Mai to destroy Shiho's Child ''while fully knowing that he'll kick it'', but she refuses. Then [[spoiler: a brainwashed Mikoto jumps in, having been conditioned to attack Mai's enemy, and destroys Shiho's child. Yuuichi thanks Mikoto for this before he passes away]].
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[RivalTurnedEvil Sasuke]] kills [[spoiler:Danzo]] when there's no way for the good guys to get rid of him without a huge political mess [[spoiler: because he was their acting leader at the time]]. His action enables [[spoiler:Tsunade to resume leadership once she awakens from her coma]] without any complications such as a power struggle.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After Saint Charlos tries yet again to kidnap and enslave Shirahoshi, her brothers quickly try to attack him in response. [[WhiteSheep Saint Mjosgard]] steps in the way and tells Fukaboshi to show restraint as a royal... before [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem giving Sai and Leo verbal permission]] to [[HammeredIntoTheGround flatten Charlos]]. Since they are pirates, their countries won't have to answer for their crimes.
* At the very end of ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', [[spoiler:Brau-1589, the first robot to kill a human being and a Hannibal Lector {{Expy}} who spent most of the manga giving [[BreakThemByTalking breaking speeches]] to his visitors in prison, breaks free and kills TheManBehindTheMan[=/=]BigBad]].
* In one episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', the heroes arrive at a festival dedicated to the Pokemon Wobbuffet, and several party-crashers come and start destroying things. The festival people explain that since Wobbuffet can't hurt the enemy except by reflecting attacks, in honor of that they will not attack the party crashers. Ash & co know the guys must be stopped but are unwilling to break the rules of the festival. [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Team Rocket]], on the other hand, have no such qualms. [[CurbStompBattle Ass kicking]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown ensues.]]
* Discussed, but subverted in ''Manga/RaveMaster''. After defeating Hardner and learning about his sad past the heroes and their allies of the week are wondering what to do with him when Lucia comes out of nowhere and stabs him in the back, claiming they should be grateful that he solved the problem for them. Due to quick action, Hardner is instead saved and becomes the only ''Rave Master'' villain not to suffer from RedemptionEqualsDeath.
* The big bads of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' kill off most of their own subordinates who fail them, which keep Sailor Moon and company from having to get their hands dirty. This courtesy does not, of course, extend to the BigBad themselves or often to their [[TheDragon Dragon]], who Sailor Moon will more often than not kill ''personally''. In [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], they regularly kill most of their adversaries.
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', at the end of the Koryo arc, Syaoran talks Chunyan out of killing the ryanban, but he is conveniently taken care of by his own previously mind-controlled servant.
[[/folder]]
* This tends to apply frequently to the main characters of ''Manga/ApocalypseNoToride'', although ''most'' of their actions could be written off as {{Villainous Rescue}}s. One particular instance of this is Yoshioka stabbing another inmate through the hand and pinning him to a table to divert the zombies, giving them a chance to escape.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** The Central 46 are {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s of the worst kind. Good thing [[spoiler:[[BigBad Aizen]] [[BoardToDeath kills them all]].]] Although the person who killed them had been frequently acting in their names, manipulating, or outright impersonating them for a long time now (all the decisions relating to Rukia's sentence were carried out by [[spoiler: Aizen]] and his accomplices impersonating them), so it's hard to tell just how obstructive they ''really'' were...
** After Giselle zombifies Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Kensei and Rose, [[MadScientist Mayuri]] states that having to fight his zombified comrades is more than his ([[TokenEvilTeammate non-existent]]) heart can handle... so instead he sics zombified Arrancar on them while he deals with Hitsugaya.
* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', Pisco knew of Haibara's true identity and there was no way the story could continue for Haibara if Pisco was still alive. But the heroes didn't even need to do anything about that as Gin suddenly killed Pisco for screwing up an assassination.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', hardly anyone outside of Britannia likes the Imperial Family, which the main character claims to be a symbol of evil that looks down on others. They promote Social Darwinism, support militarism and genocide, and/or are pretty much a band of over-privileged parasites. The only exception all three of these is Euphemia [[spoiler: and Lelouch accidentally geasses her into starting a massacre, forcing him to ShootTheDog by killing her.]] As for the rest, [[spoiler: Prince Schneizel does the world a favor by annihilating most of them in one swoop, though this doesn't change the fact that he blows up the entire capital with all its inhabitants in the process.]]
* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Gammamon's SuperpoweredEvilSide [=GulusGammamon=] firmly believes in PayEvilUntoEvil unlike his AllLovingHero Tamer Hiro, and showed up to finish off their more irredeemable opponents [[SerialKiller Sealsdramon]] & [[BrainFood Arukenimon]] when they had no options left. [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope Averted]] with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Myotismon]] however, as Hiro managed to talk Gammamon down and he instead reached his Ultimate form Canoweissmon before allowing [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Myotismon to escape]].]]
* ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' has it in for [[spoiler: Bel killing off Leva and Gula after they got defeated by Precure for the last time, effectively giving the team not only free from the duo but also getting their darkness to use it on Ira and Marmo.]]
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Vegeta's entire purpose, story-wise, for being on Namek is to kill every single minor villain so the heroes (or at least Goku) don't have to. Cui, Dodoria, Zarbon, 4/5ths of the Ginyu Force (two while helpless!)(and he gets the last one later) and most of Freeza's mooks. Goku clearly doesn't want him doing this, and even calls him out after killing the two helpless Ginyu Force members. [[spoiler:Though Goku kills Freeza himself, or would have if King Cold didn't show up to revive him... only for ''both'' of them to be killed off by [[GenerationXerox Vegeta's]] KidFromTheFuture.]]
* In ''Manga/EdensZero'', [[spoiler:Homura]] lets Madame Kurenai go. She runs off into some woods, laughing at her daughter's weakness. And promptly runs into [[spoiler:Cedric]] and his gang - and they definitely ''do not'' let her go, [[spoiler:Cedric]] repaying her disfigurement of him with high interest and a metal baseball bat. Not to mention what is implied to happen to her afterwards - and for a ''whole year''.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', after the eponymous guild is satisfied with just letting Grimoire Heart, the worst villains they faced so far who are clearly still evil, off with a scolding due to [[spoiler: their leader being the guild's former master]], Grimoire Heart leaves. As they lament their failure, Zeref, who they spent the entire series trying to get their hands on, approaches them. When they attempt to instigate their plan, he brushes them off, lets them know why he hates their guts, and makes their leader the third person in the series to be killed. Even functions as a KickTheDog moment: [[spoiler: Grimoire Heart spends years collecting the keys to "awaken" Zeref's true personality and unleash his true, genocidal self. But Zeref reveals he was never "sleeping"; that was simply a rumor spread to explain why he suddenly stopped killing, when in reality he stopped voluntarily.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** After Shou Tucker merges his dog and daughter into a chimera [[MergingMistake that is in constant pain]], it really seems a MercyKill is the best that could be done. However, Ed and Al were likely unwilling to do so, and [[BigBrotherIsEmployingYou their own government]] were taking the chimera in for [[PlayingWithSyringes medical experimentation]]. Luckily, [[NobleDemon Scar]] was in the vicinity.
** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', the brothers need to create the Philosopher Stone. Problem: By episode 40, [[spoiler: it became obvious that in order to do that, one needs to kill quite a lot of people. Solution: Scar did it. And died in the process.]]
* In the climax of ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'', The Frost Brothers betray everybody [[spoiler: and vaporize both the leaders of the New United Nations Earth and Space Revolutionary Army, i.e.: The assholes who started the Apocalyptic 7th Space War in the first place, and were trying to do it all over again.]] This leads to Gundam X being one of the few Gundam series' to have an unambigously happy ending.
* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[spoiler:Due]] disposes of the TSAB High Council, which was responsible for [[spoiler:having Scaglietti created]], preventing any such mistakes in the future.
* Johan from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' kicks off the plot by killing the corrupt doctors who screwed Tenma's career over. He also tends to kill any lesser villains who might be threatening Tenma or Nina.
* A recurring theme in ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'':
** In ''The Two Detectives'', William is the one who "cheats" and forces the killer to confess to his crimes when Sherlock's deductions come up just a bit short
** William and his brothers save Irene Adler's life when Sherlock can do nothing to help her against the British government
** William stops the Jack the Ripper murders while Sherlock doesn't even take the case
** William sends Bond and Patterson in to get the evidence needed to prove Chief Arterton's frame-ups, who passes the evidence along to Lestrade and Sherlock when they fail to get it themselves
** Sherlock uses the leverage gained by agreeing to stop William's crime spree to change Parliament
* ''Anime/MyHime'':
** One wonders what TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness group of old ladies who rule Japan (First Division) would have done to the cast had [[spoiler: Shizuru not gone crazy and killed them all]] after the cast ''kills their god.'' It's doubtful that they were [[spoiler: resurrected along with the rest of the cast.]] A scene with the Obsidian Lord indicates that he was planning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill them himself anyway]], but [[spoiler: Shizuru]] got to them first.
** In Mai's fight with Shiho, she's unable to go on the offensive, realizing that as both of them consider Yuuichi their most important person, either of their Childs being destroyed will result in his death (Shiho, being overcome with jealous rage, fails to realize this). Yuuichi, not wanting them to fight, orders Mai to destroy Shiho's Child ''while fully knowing that he'll kick it'', but she refuses. Then [[spoiler: a brainwashed Mikoto jumps in, having been conditioned to attack Mai's enemy, and destroys Shiho's child. Yuuichi thanks Mikoto for this before he passes away]].
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[RivalTurnedEvil Sasuke]] kills [[spoiler:Danzo]] when there's no way for the good guys to get rid of him without a huge political mess [[spoiler: because he was their acting leader at the time]]. His action enables [[spoiler:Tsunade to resume leadership once she awakens from her coma]] without any complications such as a power struggle.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After Saint Charlos tries yet again to kidnap and enslave Shirahoshi, her brothers quickly try to attack him in response. [[WhiteSheep Saint Mjosgard]] steps in the way and tells Fukaboshi to show restraint as a royal... before [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem giving Sai and Leo verbal permission]] to [[HammeredIntoTheGround flatten Charlos]]. Since they are pirates, their countries won't have to answer for their crimes.
* At the very end of ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', [[spoiler:Brau-1589, the first robot to kill a human being and a Hannibal Lector {{Expy}} who spent most of the manga giving [[BreakThemByTalking breaking speeches]] to his visitors in prison, breaks free and kills TheManBehindTheMan[=/=]BigBad]].
* In one episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', the heroes arrive at a festival dedicated to the Pokemon Wobbuffet, and several party-crashers come and start destroying things. The festival people explain that since Wobbuffet can't hurt the enemy except by reflecting attacks, in honor of that they will not attack the party crashers. Ash & co know the guys must be stopped but are unwilling to break the rules of the festival. [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Team Rocket]], on the other hand, have no such qualms. [[CurbStompBattle Ass kicking]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown ensues.]]
* Discussed, but subverted in ''Manga/RaveMaster''. After defeating Hardner and learning about his sad past the heroes and their allies of the week are wondering what to do with him when Lucia comes out of nowhere and stabs him in the back, claiming they should be grateful that he solved the problem for them. Due to quick action, Hardner is instead saved and becomes the only ''Rave Master'' villain not to suffer from RedemptionEqualsDeath.
* The big bads of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' kill off most of their own subordinates who fail them, which keep Sailor Moon and company from having to get their hands dirty. This courtesy does not, of course, extend to the BigBad themselves or often to their [[TheDragon Dragon]], who Sailor Moon will more often than not kill ''personally''. In [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], they regularly kill most of their adversaries.
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', at the end of the Koryo arc, Syaoran talks Chunyan out of killing the ryanban, but he is conveniently taken care of by his own previously mind-controlled servant.
[[/folder]]
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* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork/VideoGames
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars Dual Strike'', the BigBad is defeated and at the player's mercy. But the machine he hooked himself up to is still draining the planet, and he needs to be killed. Von Bolt taunts Jake, asking if he can really shoot a defenseless old man. The player is offered a choice of whether to shoot him or not and if you don't, [[spoiler: Hawke shows up and does it for you.]] The odd thing about this is that [[spoiler:''either way'', the shooter just destroys Von Bolt's machine itself.]]
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', Ezio promises Suleiman that he will spare the Templar Leader, [[spoiler:Suleiman's uncle, Ahmet]] if he can. [[spoiler:During the confrontation, Selim, Suleiman's father and Ahmet's brother, interrupts, strangles Ahmet, and throws him to a DisneyVillainDeath.]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' The Joker murders Gillian Loeb to sow chaos and dethrones Roman Sionis and usurps his empire. Loeb was a politically corrupt douchebag who was as untouchable as he was corrupt, and Sionis was the top crime boss in town. So while the Joker's intentions weren't pure, he perversely got rid of two of the biggest sources of rot within Gotham. [[VillainHasAPoint Joker later gloats to Batman that he has "done more in two nights than [Batman has] done in two years"]].
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', Talia kills the Joker during the climax because she knows Batman won’t do it. However, it’s [[spoiler:not the real Joker. He kills her but ends up dying after the next boss fight from his illness]].
* Invoked by AntiHero Booker [=DeWitt=] in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': After Elizabeth [[spoiler:is tortured by Comstock's men]], she insists that they find and kill Comstock rather than escaping the city as they had planned. Booker does not want her to become like him.
-->'''Booker''': I'm not gonna let you kill him.\\
''(Elizabeth summons tornado)''\\
'''Elizabeth''': Really, Booker? What are you going to do to stop me?\\
'''Booker''': Not a damn thing. Because I'm gonna do it for you.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} 2'', it transpires that one of the pact knights that keeps the Goddess Seal intact is [[spoiler:[[DeathSeeker Ulrich]], a party member and Nowe's BigBrotherMentor]], and must be killed to break the seal. Despite wanting to destroy the seal, Nowe can't bring himself to do it. Fortunately, [[RogueProtagonist Caim]] happens to be in the area and is [[KillAllHumans more than happy]] to oblige, even if it means having to go through Nowe to do it. ''Especially'' if he has to go through Nowe to do it, really...
* Reaver's job in ''VideoGame/FableIII'' is to do this. He stands in court to argue in favor of the evil option when making decisions as king. While these options are generally quite despicable and having an orphanage would be fine and dandy in the long run, you could really do with the 1,250,000 you would make from opening a brothel right now to [[spoiler:fight back the EldritchAbomination that threatens to destroy Albion]].
** He also does this in the [[VideoGame/FableII previous game]]. If the player does not kill Lucien in the middle of his MotiveRant, Reaver will take the chance to shoot him.
* Gaius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is a thief and general scoundrel. As he explains to BadassPreacher Libra, he considers it his duty to do the army's dirty work so that TheGoodKing Chrom doesn't have to.
** Likewise, SociopathicHero Henry from the same game. [[PlayerCharacter Robin]] takes issue with killing unless it is in self-defense. Henry has no such reservations and will do whatever it takes to end the war, even summoning an army of zombies that he has no idea how to control. If they overrun a few villages, oh well!
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', if you're taking the pacifist path, [[spoiler:two of the bosses get backstabbed by their underlings; conveniently meaning you don't have to kill them]]. This was actually added in since earlier versions meant a completely innocent run was impossible.
* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'': In the Arcade Ladder mode, almost all character endings for supervillains, anti-heroes, and [[FallenHero Regime members]] have [[BigBad Brainiac]] killed often in brutal and cruel ways, while he survives in most superhero endings where he is jailed instead. The only heroes to explicitly kill him are [[Franchise/MortalKombat Sub-Zero and Raiden]], who by DC standards could qualify as anti-heroes but are actually two of the greatest champions of good in their setting. In the story mode, this trope becomes a plot point when [[spoiler:at the end, the Regime elects to kill him since he is considered TooPowerfulToLive, but Batman and his allies disagree and a fight breaks out between the two factions, with the player deciding who is right]].
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3: Corruption'', Dark Samus kills [[spoiler:the corrupted Hunters]] after [[YouHaveFailedMe you defeat them]]. Samus probably couldn't bring herself to ShootTheDog, making Dark Samus quite convenient in a twisted, twisted way.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' by Sialeeds. She performs a FaceHeelTurn to the Godwins' side in part because, if the Prince's faction won the war cleanly after the New Queen's Campaign, he would be forced to spare corrupt nobles like Salum Barows and leave the system of nobility in place, and that would risk starting the whole circus up again a generation down the line. Instead, she joins the Godwins to prolong the war a bit and [[ThePurge Purge]] Salum and the remaining Nether Gate assassins, knowing full well that [[ThanatosGambit she will be killed in action]]. When the war is finally over, nobody is left alive to oppose Queen Lymsleia's reforms, and she and the Prince have clean hands to do it with.
* A borderline example between this and VillainousRescue occurs in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3''. Anavel Gato's claim to fame in his [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory show of origin]] is ''launching a stolen nuke at a peace conference''. He reenacts this scene in the game, but this time the "peace conference" is between [[VillainTeamUp two villainous factions]]. What makes this a borderline example is the fact that the heroes congratulate him on this and gladly accept his HeelFaceTurn application, suggesting that they may have done the same thing if they had a nuke lying around.
* In ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', after defeating the FinalBoss [[spoiler:Lazarevic]] in a blatant example of GetItOverWith, [[spoiler:Lazarevic dares the protagonist to shoot him and end it. True to character, Nathan is not the one that has to end it. The Guardians, originally mini-bosses, arrive to finish the job for you.]]
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is pretty devoted to this trope.
** Selvaria's going to crush the militia! What do we do? [[spoiler: Have Faldio shoot Alicia and awaken her Valkyria powers so she doesn't have to accept responsibility for becoming one herself.]]
** You also have Georgios Geld in a side chapter. A notorious war criminal who tortured and killed [[spoiler: Eleanor Varrot's lover]], he is nonetheless released in an IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim moment. Naturally, someone this bad can't be allowed to get off scot-free, so he flees back to the Imperial headquarters... [[spoiler: only to be court-martialed and executed ''by his own side''!]] Also doubles as EvenEvilHasStandards. It also sorta falls flat because Geld's superiors knew all about his war crimes, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality they just didn't care until they noticed a protagonist wasn't cool with it, apparently.]]
** General Damon is an asshole with no apparent positive qualities, and he spends the entire game sending Squad 7 out on suicide missions in order to keep his success record looking good. When Squad 7 finally manages to capture Selvaria alive, he immediately leaps in to take all the credit for it. [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Welkin and Alicia get upset at Damon for not being nice to her (apparently they've forgotten how she's been killing thousands of Gallians, some of which might be Squad 7 members depending on how you play)]] but he's the top brass, so they can't stop him and are assigned to escort the Imperial soldiers away from the battleground at Selvaria's request. [[spoiler: And then Selvaria fries the entire army with a SuicideAttack, so Damon gets his comeuppance, Varrot becomes the only authority Squad 7 answers to, Selvaria is no longer an obstacle, and the good guys don't get a single drop of blood on their hands.]]
** Maximillian's on the ropes and the land battleship is about to explode; it's too dangerous to approach and Welkin and Alicia can't capture him alive! How do we solve this? [[spoiler: Have Faldio show up out of nowhere, grab Max, and pitch himself into the exploding inner workings of the machine, killing them both.]] Again, the villains get their punishment, and our heroes are utterly unconcerned.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a rather bizarre version where YOU are the bad guy/antihero. A quest in Borean Tundra has the Kirin Tor capturing a Beryl Sorcerer that needs to be interrogated. The Kirin Tor laws prohibit them from using torture on their prisoners. YOU, however, have made no oaths and they'll give you an electrical device so you can get the information they need while they look the other way.
* A staple of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' franchise.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
[[/folder]]
* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars Dual Strike'', the BigBad is defeated and at the player's mercy. But the machine he hooked himself up to is still draining the planet, and he needs to be killed. Von Bolt taunts Jake, asking if he can really shoot a defenseless old man. The player is offered a choice of whether to shoot him or not and if you don't, [[spoiler: Hawke shows up and does it for you.]] The odd thing about this is that [[spoiler:''either way'', the shooter just destroys Von Bolt's machine itself.]]
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', Ezio promises Suleiman that he will spare the Templar Leader, [[spoiler:Suleiman's uncle, Ahmet]] if he can. [[spoiler:During the confrontation, Selim, Suleiman's father and Ahmet's brother, interrupts, strangles Ahmet, and throws him to a DisneyVillainDeath.]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' The Joker murders Gillian Loeb to sow chaos and dethrones Roman Sionis and usurps his empire. Loeb was a politically corrupt douchebag who was as untouchable as he was corrupt, and Sionis was the top crime boss in town. So while the Joker's intentions weren't pure, he perversely got rid of two of the biggest sources of rot within Gotham. [[VillainHasAPoint Joker later gloats to Batman that he has "done more in two nights than [Batman has] done in two years"]].
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', Talia kills the Joker during the climax because she knows Batman won’t do it. However, it’s [[spoiler:not the real Joker. He kills her but ends up dying after the next boss fight from his illness]].
* Invoked by AntiHero Booker [=DeWitt=] in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': After Elizabeth [[spoiler:is tortured by Comstock's men]], she insists that they find and kill Comstock rather than escaping the city as they had planned. Booker does not want her to become like him.
-->'''Booker''': I'm not gonna let you kill him.\\
''(Elizabeth summons tornado)''\\
'''Elizabeth''': Really, Booker? What are you going to do to stop me?\\
'''Booker''': Not a damn thing. Because I'm gonna do it for you.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} 2'', it transpires that one of the pact knights that keeps the Goddess Seal intact is [[spoiler:[[DeathSeeker Ulrich]], a party member and Nowe's BigBrotherMentor]], and must be killed to break the seal. Despite wanting to destroy the seal, Nowe can't bring himself to do it. Fortunately, [[RogueProtagonist Caim]] happens to be in the area and is [[KillAllHumans more than happy]] to oblige, even if it means having to go through Nowe to do it. ''Especially'' if he has to go through Nowe to do it, really...
* Reaver's job in ''VideoGame/FableIII'' is to do this. He stands in court to argue in favor of the evil option when making decisions as king. While these options are generally quite despicable and having an orphanage would be fine and dandy in the long run, you could really do with the 1,250,000 you would make from opening a brothel right now to [[spoiler:fight back the EldritchAbomination that threatens to destroy Albion]].
** He also does this in the [[VideoGame/FableII previous game]]. If the player does not kill Lucien in the middle of his MotiveRant, Reaver will take the chance to shoot him.
* Gaius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is a thief and general scoundrel. As he explains to BadassPreacher Libra, he considers it his duty to do the army's dirty work so that TheGoodKing Chrom doesn't have to.
** Likewise, SociopathicHero Henry from the same game. [[PlayerCharacter Robin]] takes issue with killing unless it is in self-defense. Henry has no such reservations and will do whatever it takes to end the war, even summoning an army of zombies that he has no idea how to control. If they overrun a few villages, oh well!
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', if you're taking the pacifist path, [[spoiler:two of the bosses get backstabbed by their underlings; conveniently meaning you don't have to kill them]]. This was actually added in since earlier versions meant a completely innocent run was impossible.
* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'': In the Arcade Ladder mode, almost all character endings for supervillains, anti-heroes, and [[FallenHero Regime members]] have [[BigBad Brainiac]] killed often in brutal and cruel ways, while he survives in most superhero endings where he is jailed instead. The only heroes to explicitly kill him are [[Franchise/MortalKombat Sub-Zero and Raiden]], who by DC standards could qualify as anti-heroes but are actually two of the greatest champions of good in their setting. In the story mode, this trope becomes a plot point when [[spoiler:at the end, the Regime elects to kill him since he is considered TooPowerfulToLive, but Batman and his allies disagree and a fight breaks out between the two factions, with the player deciding who is right]].
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3: Corruption'', Dark Samus kills [[spoiler:the corrupted Hunters]] after [[YouHaveFailedMe you defeat them]]. Samus probably couldn't bring herself to ShootTheDog, making Dark Samus quite convenient in a twisted, twisted way.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' by Sialeeds. She performs a FaceHeelTurn to the Godwins' side in part because, if the Prince's faction won the war cleanly after the New Queen's Campaign, he would be forced to spare corrupt nobles like Salum Barows and leave the system of nobility in place, and that would risk starting the whole circus up again a generation down the line. Instead, she joins the Godwins to prolong the war a bit and [[ThePurge Purge]] Salum and the remaining Nether Gate assassins, knowing full well that [[ThanatosGambit she will be killed in action]]. When the war is finally over, nobody is left alive to oppose Queen Lymsleia's reforms, and she and the Prince have clean hands to do it with.
* A borderline example between this and VillainousRescue occurs in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3''. Anavel Gato's claim to fame in his [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory show of origin]] is ''launching a stolen nuke at a peace conference''. He reenacts this scene in the game, but this time the "peace conference" is between [[VillainTeamUp two villainous factions]]. What makes this a borderline example is the fact that the heroes congratulate him on this and gladly accept his HeelFaceTurn application, suggesting that they may have done the same thing if they had a nuke lying around.
* In ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', after defeating the FinalBoss [[spoiler:Lazarevic]] in a blatant example of GetItOverWith, [[spoiler:Lazarevic dares the protagonist to shoot him and end it. True to character, Nathan is not the one that has to end it. The Guardians, originally mini-bosses, arrive to finish the job for you.]]
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is pretty devoted to this trope.
** Selvaria's going to crush the militia! What do we do? [[spoiler: Have Faldio shoot Alicia and awaken her Valkyria powers so she doesn't have to accept responsibility for becoming one herself.]]
** You also have Georgios Geld in a side chapter. A notorious war criminal who tortured and killed [[spoiler: Eleanor Varrot's lover]], he is nonetheless released in an IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim moment. Naturally, someone this bad can't be allowed to get off scot-free, so he flees back to the Imperial headquarters... [[spoiler: only to be court-martialed and executed ''by his own side''!]] Also doubles as EvenEvilHasStandards. It also sorta falls flat because Geld's superiors knew all about his war crimes, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality they just didn't care until they noticed a protagonist wasn't cool with it, apparently.]]
** General Damon is an asshole with no apparent positive qualities, and he spends the entire game sending Squad 7 out on suicide missions in order to keep his success record looking good. When Squad 7 finally manages to capture Selvaria alive, he immediately leaps in to take all the credit for it. [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Welkin and Alicia get upset at Damon for not being nice to her (apparently they've forgotten how she's been killing thousands of Gallians, some of which might be Squad 7 members depending on how you play)]] but he's the top brass, so they can't stop him and are assigned to escort the Imperial soldiers away from the battleground at Selvaria's request. [[spoiler: And then Selvaria fries the entire army with a SuicideAttack, so Damon gets his comeuppance, Varrot becomes the only authority Squad 7 answers to, Selvaria is no longer an obstacle, and the good guys don't get a single drop of blood on their hands.]]
** Maximillian's on the ropes and the land battleship is about to explode; it's too dangerous to approach and Welkin and Alicia can't capture him alive! How do we solve this? [[spoiler: Have Faldio show up out of nowhere, grab Max, and pitch himself into the exploding inner workings of the machine, killing them both.]] Again, the villains get their punishment, and our heroes are utterly unconcerned.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a rather bizarre version where YOU are the bad guy/antihero. A quest in Borean Tundra has the Kirin Tor capturing a Beryl Sorcerer that needs to be interrogated. The Kirin Tor laws prohibit them from using torture on their prisoners. YOU, however, have made no oaths and they'll give you an electrical device so you can get the information they need while they look the other way.
* A staple of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' franchise.
** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', [[AmbitionIsEvil Akira Nishikiyama]] kills [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]].
** ''Videogame/Yakuza2'' has [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]] killing [[BigBadWannabe Toranosuke Sengoku]] and [[TheChessmaster Ryo Takashima]].
** Happens again in ''Videogame/Yakuza3'' with [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mine]] jumping off a roof and taking Richardson with him.
** The prequel ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Makoto's guardian figure try to protect Makoto by creating a dead BodyDouble. Majima refuses to do it, but in leaving the plan's ingredients in the trash, he inadvertently allows another yakuza to complete the plan himself, which puts Majima under a microscope with his current boss, a Shimano officer who wants Makoto dead.
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* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' a young girl forced into slavery by the people who killed her parents has the opportunity to kill her tormentor but can't bring herself to take a human life. Qwenthur does it instead and tells the girl that this is merely proof she's a good person; it's up to people like Qwenthur, the bad people, to kill others.
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* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' ''Literature/HeavyObject'' a young girl forced into slavery by the people who killed her parents has the opportunity to kill her tormentor but can't bring herself to take a human life. Qwenthur does it instead and tells the girl that this is merely proof she's a good person; it's up to people like Qwenthur, the bad people, to kill others.
